


Proteus

by saengie, YeonAh



Category: SS501, Super Junior
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Denial of Feelings, M/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 22:44:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 408,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16105337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saengie/pseuds/saengie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/YeonAh/pseuds/YeonAh
Summary: A routine cargo mission turned this crew of simple haulers into fugitives. With nowhere to turn, and two lives to protect, they head for unclaimed territory. With their eyes now opened to the dangers of their government, the crew finds themselves in the middle of a war.But, how far can they really trust their new crewmates, who aren't what they appear?





	1. Chapter 1

"...And we'll just need you to sign here, and here."

Pointing out the lines on the screen, the young man leaned back and waited for his older counterpart to sign over the cargo completely. It was a tricky process, considering the cargo needed to travel several thousand light years to reach its destination. You didn't want to forget any technicality when it meant you could be sued within an inch of your life should the crates become damaged, misplaced, or the ship's hold catch on fire. It happened far too often for his sanity.

Not that he was usually the one to deal with this nonsense; he was usually inspecting the cargo thoroughly as ship captain, but there had been slight...complications. As in, they hadn't even been in the colony for ten hours and somehow their negotiator had a whole gang of angry pilots after him. They'd ended up locking him in his cabin, both for his safety and for theirs.

HyunJoong glanced at the door to his right, before returning his attention to the merchant signing off the cargo. It was being loaded in his ship this very moment. 

Shifting uncomfortably behind the captain, KyuJong kept his eyes moving around the room to watch for any threats. You could never be too careful when it came to their line of work. Business partners you'd been working with for years could turn a gun on you any second. Not that he had any real idea of what he was supposed to be doing; this was his first job with this crew after all.

That and he was a pilot, not some hired muscle. Unfortunately, there wasn't anyone else to accompany the captain, so KyuJong's ever-expanding role on board the _Proteus_ now included bodyguard.

The merchant was finishing up with the necessary signatures, and a thumb print or two later they would be heading back to dry dock and be off this planet.

Watching as the merchant completed the electronic paperwork, HyunJoong turned his attention to the instructions that came along with this shipment. The planet it was destined for was familiar to him; he'd been there before, it belonged to one of the Federation bases.

Flicking through the information, one line caught his attention and the captain frowned slightly, holding up a hand to draw the merchant's attention. "It states here the cargo is not to be opened?" He looked up at the merchant. "That is against our safety regulations."

All cargo had to be opened and inspected, both to make sure it was secured properly (jumping into warp was hell on the crates sometimes) and to make sure everything was legal. You could get into all sorts of trouble otherwise.

"Each crate has the Federation's seal of approval," the merchant explained. "You can verify if the seal is authentic if you like."

"..." HyunJoong pursed his lips. If the Federation seal was on it, then that was fine. "Very well." Though he would have to make sure it was legitimate before leaving the atmosphere.

A few moments later and everything was signed and accounted for. HyunJoong tapped the thin disc the size of his palm and the holographic screen disappeared, the young man tucking the disc into his bag.

"Safe travels," the merchant bowed, and he bowed back before nodding at KyuJong and turning to leave the room.

Only once they were out and walking down the hallways towards dry dock did he sigh softly. "Radio the ship and let them know we're on our way back." He asked, looking at the younger man. "And get HyungJoon to check the seal on that cargo, we're not leaving until we're sure it's authentic." 

"Yes sir," KyuJong nodded, fishing out his com device from his pocket as he followed along behind HyunJoong. It took a few minutes before HyungJoon responded and he relayed the orders. HyungJoon sounded distracted though so it took a few tries, and speaking very slowly before the younger man understood. 

Shaking his head when he put the device back in his pocket, KyuJong clasped his hands behind his back. "He said he'd get on the seals, the crates are in the hold and the merchant's men just left. Should know one way or another when we get there."

Nodding, HyunJoong looked out the windows to the outside as they walked. This planet wasn't as bad as it could be; at least they could breathe the air. But dust fields did absolutely nothing to make him feel at home. He'd been raised on the Hera space colony; it had been a no-brainer that he'd wanted to pursue a career traveling in space. He wouldn't feel secure until he was on the _Proteus_ again.

The walk back to the docks was silent; he wasn't much of a talker, and he barely knew the young man beside him. Finally they were outside the shuttle bay, and boarding the shuttle that would take them to his ship stationed for repairs farther out.

"Once we arrive, we'll chart a course for the Federation base," he said, leaning against the shuttle wall as he watched the desert fly by. "As well as additional stops for supplies and fuel." 

"I'll make sure we have the necessary star charts before we leave atmo," KyuJong said, looking out the window. Having been born and lived most of his life on ships, KyuJong had never felt entirely comfortable on planets. It was always too bright and the air too thick with things a good environmental scrubber would choke on.

Glancing over at the other man, KyuJong chewed on the inside of his cheek. There was something about the captain that set his nerves on edge. It wasn't that he was a bad guy, he just always seemed to give KyuJong the cold shoulder, and KyuJong couldn't figure out what he'd done to get on his bad side. It's not like he'd been there very long, only a couple of weeks. 

Sighing, KyuJong crossed his arms and looked up at the sky, counting the moons. "Decent pay for such small cargo," he said.

HyunJoong glanced at the pilot beside him, then out at the dust again. "We were lucky with this one. There were no other freighters in the area that weren't already full with cargo. It's a good trip though, we should try and hit a few other colonies on the way to pick up more shipments."

Decent pay or not (and it was very decent pay, he'd been surprised to see the numbers) there wouldn't be much of it left once you factored in fuel to go that far. Since they were heading that way anyways, might as well see if they could split the cost of fuel with a few other shipments.

"Hire more crew too?" KyuJong asked, looking at HyunJoong out of the corner of his eyes. He wasn't dumb, a ship that size needed more than four hands to run it. He'd been hired as a pilot, but was spending more time cooking than flying. He wasn't that great of a cook, but he'd been told about HyungJoon's experimentations before he arrived and quickly took over there.

The captain's lips pressed firmly together. "Yes, we will look for more crew as well. At the very least, if we are still missing hands by the time we reach the Federation, there should be plenty of young recruits there."

He could see the ships docked for repairs drawing closer. "I suppose we should let JongWoon out of his cabin as well," he mused wryly. That man was hopeless. But at the same time, he and HyungJoon were his most loyal crewmates and friends, and for all the trouble they caused on the ship he didn't know what he would do without them. 

"You think it's safe to do so before we leave the planet?" KyuJong chuckled, looking towards their ship. "I'm not sure I heard a straight version of what happened yet, he didn't seem that willing to tell earlier." He smiled sadly as the shuttle started to slow down at the platform. It was painfully obvious there was a dynamic to the crew that he wasn't a part of yet. 

If he wasn't in the room, he could hear the three being loud and rowdy, laughing obnoxiously to whatever it was they were discussing. As soon as he would come in though, they acted more mild and subdued than they had been. There was also a hint of distrust that he wasn't sure what to make of.

HyunJoong leaned against the wall, arms folded over his chest. "Basically the same thing that happened when we hired you. He went 'exploring' where he wasn't supposed to, broke something expensive and important, and barely managed to get out with his head attached. But no, maybe we should leave him there until we've at least cleared the atmosphere."

The shuttle docked to the platform and the doors opened with a hiss, HyunJoong stepping out. "Go on ahead and prepare to leave, I need to have a word with the repairmen." He headed off down the hallway without looking back at the younger man. 

"Oh, okay," KyuJong tried not to roll his eyes at how quickly he was dismissed yet again. Looking up at the ship, KyuJong had to smile wryly. It wasn't a pretty ship, but it was his first job as a real pilot. The cargo bay doors were open, and he didn't see anyone in sight as he walked up the gangplank and into the hold.

The first thing he noticed were the two containers secured to the floor. They were pretty decent sized, but he couldn't tell what they would be holding. There were no indicators on the outside that he could see, which was more than a little unusual for a Federation drop. Usually their containers were plastered with warnings and contents lists.

"Where's the Captain?" A voice called from above. KyuJong looked up to the catwalks where HyungJoon was seated, swinging his legs over the edge as he tapped at a data pad.

"Talking to the repairman, did you get those authentications?" KyuJong said, turning away from the containers to head towards the stairs.

"Sure did, everything looks legit," HyungJoon shrugged. "Well, as legit as these things get. I mean if we were on a Fed planet I wouldn't question it, but we're not, so..."

"So...?" KyuJong sighed, climbing up the stairs to where HyungJoon was seated.

"So it's highly improbable that these are forgeries, but the Captain should take a look still," HyungJoon said, grinning up at KyuJong.

"Right, let him know," KyuJong said, moving past him towards the hatch at the other end of the walk. "I'm going to get us started up, we'll be leaving soon as he's on board. Oh, and uh, don't open the containers," he said over his shoulder, opening up the hatch.

"Why not?" HyungJoon blinked, scrambling to his feet.

"That's our orders," KyuJong shrugged, stepping through and closing the hatch behind him.

"And Cap'n agreed to that?" HyungJoon called after him, loudly.

"Captain agreed to it as long as the seal is authentic," HyunJoong's voice echoed in past him as he headed up the gangplank into the hold. "The ship's back at 100%, they were able to repair any damage from the last asteroids field." Normally their shields took care of those inconveniences, but the shield had been fluctuating randomly and a few asteroids had gotten past. "They also fixed the problem with the shield."

Moving first to the controls beside the gangplank, he sealed the cargo hatch properly. Then he turned his attention to the two containers secured in the middle of the room. "Huh, so this is it? They're smaller than I thought they would be." They were each about his height, instead of the large industrial containers they usually moved.

"So, do the seals hold up?" he asked HyungJoon, walked around the containers and was surprised to see no other indicators of what was inside it. 

Tapping the back of the data pad against his palm, HyungJoon headed down the stairs. "Scan says their legit, but if you want me to run it again I can," he said, handing over the readout. Chewing on his lip, he gave the containers another once over. "What do you think is in there?"

"Knowing Federation? Probably robot pieces or something. What else could be in something this small?" HyunJoong looked over the containers again. "If they're legit, then there should be no problems. For the pay, and the fact it's Federation property, I'm not going to put up too much of a fuss." Federation cargo was a pain to deal with if lost or damaged, but otherwise safe.

He gave his friend a lopsided smile. "Get everything ready to leave, and meet us in the bridge once we clear the atmosphere? We'll need to look over some star charts...and you can let JongWoon out then too, once there's no way he can sneak off ship again," he shook his head in amusement. 

"He needs a full time baby sitter," HyungJoon sighed, scratching at the back of his head. "Next planet, he's not allowed off the ship. I don't like having to pay for whatever it is he breaks." Making sure the containers were secure and the magnetic locks were holding, HyungJoon started towards a large hatch at the other end of the hold. "I'll go make sure the engine doesn't fly apart when we take off."

HyunJoong laughed. "Always a good thing. Call up if you need anything." He watched the younger man leave before heading up the stairs towards a different hatch.

It let him out into the ship's main hallways, and he walked down to join KyuJong in the bridge. Checking the displays on the walls to make sure the rest of the ship was ready to fly, he planned out the different stops they would have to make en route for supplies, fuel and crew.

A minute later he arrived in the bridge, nodding to KyuJong and heading to the navigator's post. It was a good thing he knew how to do the vast majority of the jobs on the ship; with only three other hands on board, it meant he did just as much multitasking as his crew, if not more. "Everything's set for take-off?" 

"All set," KyuJong nodded, flicking a couple of switches over his head. "Just waiting on clearance from the ground crew." Eyes trained on a monitor at his side, KyuJong gripped the steering column until a few lines scrawled across the screen. "Docking clamps released, we're given the okay."

KyuJong had been flying ships almost before he could walk. His father had been a pilot, one of the best, and he had learned how to fly just about everything in space. Taking off from a planet was tricky, but KyuJong handled it with ease and within minutes they were clearing the last levels of the atmosphere. "And we're clear," he said, hitting a few more buttons and turning to the terminal beside him to lay in their course.

Nodding, HyunJoong watched the monitors to make sure everything held up. All green lights. "Good. For now, set a course to..." He looked over the star chart displayed, of their current position. "Lenor's Moon, we'll plot out the rest of the course when the other two get here." The moon was right at the edge of that system in the direction of the Federation base, and would be their first fuel stop. 

"Yes sir," KyuJong typed in a few things into the terminal. "We'll be on auto once we get out of this system, too many asteroids." Turning away from the terminal, he took the steering again, keeping his eye on the sensors for anything coming their way. "Did you take a look at those seals?" he asked, making minor adjustments.

"Yes, they're legit Federation seals so there shouldn't be a problem." It was unusual for the containers not to have any markings on them, but not overly so that he was worried.

Finishing up with the system scans, HyunJoong picked up their star charts and laid them out along the table at the end of the bridge, looking for the ones they would need. It was a long haul that would take about three weeks to reach their destination.

"No worries then," KyuJong sighed, relaxing a bit in his seat. It would take a few minutes to get out of the system and get through the asteroid belt at the edge.

The hatch to the bridge opened and HyungJoon poked his head through. "We out of this system yet?"

HyunJoong looked up from the charts, shaking his head. "In a few minutes. Is JongWoon with you?" From the lack of commotion behind his friend he assumed not. 

"JongWoon?" HyungJoon blinked in confusion before it clicked. "Oh! Uh.. yeah, hold on," he disappeared and the hatch shut behind him. KyuJong laughed and shook his head.

Sliding down the ladder to the crew deck, HyungJoon whistled as he made his way down the corridor and stopped at one of the doors. Tapping on it lightly, he leaned against the wall next to the access panel. "Yah! You ready to come out of there now?"

"I was ready to come out four hours ago when you stuck me in here," floated out a voice that was trying to sound irritated but just sounded whiny instead. "We're off the planet now, right? Can I please come out? _Without_ the threats of being sent out the airlock?" 

"Long as you promise not to break anything!" HyungJoon called back, but pressed the security code into the panel anyway, unlocking and opening the door. "But the Captain said to come get you, so you can thank him. If it were up to me you'd be in there for another couple of days."

"That's why he's Captain and not you," JongWoon sniffed, getting out of the room quickly before HyungJoon could close it on him. "It was an accident, don't pretend you don't break things too. Their fault for making the room so dark." 

"Hey, I at least break _my own_ stuff, not someone elses," HyungJoon snorted, pushing off the wall to head back to the ladder. "I think the reason it was dark was because, I don't know, someone's private property that you shouldn't have been snooping in?"

"Then they should have locked the door. I'm sorry if after being on the ship 90% of the year, I want to get out a little," the older man tried not to pout as he followed HyungJoon. "I thought people were supposed to respect their hyungs, not lock them in their cabin." 

"I was just following orders," HyungJoon said, climbing back up the ladder. "You're lucky Captain's a good talker or you'd be strung up right now in some backwater planet's jail."

JongWoon grinned sheepishly. "Yeah...I'll have to thank him for that." The last time he'd ended up in a jail cell hadn't been fun.

Following the younger man up the ladder and into the bridge, JongWoon scooted behind HyungJoon a little as HyunJoong looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you done getting yourself into trouble?" he asked mildly.

His negotiator ducked his head sheepishly. "Yes sir, I'll be more careful." 

"That'll change in three days," HyungJoon snorted, leaning against the table HyunJoong was looking at the charts on. "So, what's up now?"

"Now, we're setting up our course to the Fourth Federation Base." HyunJoong spread out the star charts properly. "It's a while off, so we'll need to make stops along the way. If we can pick up more cargo as well, great. Right now, we're heading to Lenor's Moon." He tapped his finger against the moon marked on the map. 

Pursing his lips, HyungJoon made a show of looking over the course and nodding. "I guess that sounds okay," he said, looking up at HyunJoong. "It's been a while since we've been to Lenor's Moon, you don't think they'll recognize us, do you?"

"I doubt it," HyunJoong's lips curled in amusement. "It'll just be a fuel stop, we've a good stock of supplies. Should we go around in pairs just in case?" 

"Probably, or just lock JongWoon in his cabin again," HyungJoon chuckled, glancing over at the negotiator.

"Do I want to ask what happened the last time?" KyuJong asked, looking over his shoulder for a moment before looking back to the sensor panel. They were heading into the asteroid field, he needed to keep focused.

"No, you don't," HyunJoong shook his head. JongWoon started protesting loudly until HyunJoong hit him off the head with a star chart. "Quiet you."

JongWoon wrinkled his nose and rubbed the top of his head. "So what was the pick-up, anyways?"

"Federation shipment," HyunJoong shrugged. "We have instructions not to open the containers, which means _you_ don't go anywhere near them."

"Can't open them?" JongWoon blinked. "What's inside?" 

"We don't know, cause we can't open them," HyungJoon said, speaking slowly to JongWoon. "So keep that curiosity of yours to a minimum."

"I'd suggest you all take a seat," KyuJong said, hitting a few switches. "Getting through this asteroid field now, it's going to be a little bumpy."

Nodding, HyunJoong sat down in the captain's seat.

"There's no labels or anything?" JongWoon blinked, more preoccupied with his questions than actually taking KyuJong's advice. 

"No, there's not," HyungJoon shook his head, taking a seat at the navigation station and buckling up. "It's a Fed drop, we probably shouldn't inquire too much. You should sit." As soon as he said that the ship made a hard bank to the left.

JongWoon flailed and fell over onto his rear with a shriek.

"They warned you," HyunJoong shook his head, turning back to the controls with a smile. It always took JongWoon a few faceplants before he actually listened.

The negotiator crawled to the closest available seat, pulling himself up onto it. "I think he did that one on purpose." 

"Are you trying to imply something about my flying?" KyuJong smirked, his eyes glancing between the sensors and the window.

"I think he's trying to say you enjoy making him fall over," HyungJoon chuckled.

"Flying is serious business, can't be goofing off like that," KyuJong said, trying to hide the smirk.

"I see that evil look, you can't fool me," JongWoon stated loudly, waving one arm accusingly at their new pilot before nearly pitching out of his seat when the ship turned again.

"Buckles exist for a reason," HyunJoong pointed out as the older man buckled himself into the seat. 

"You just make it too easy, JongWoon," KyuJong laughed, steering around a particularly large asteroid. "Can't tell me your old pilot didn't have a little fun at your expense as well."

JongWoon blinked, before grinning a little nervously, glancing at HyunJoong then back to the star charts. "Yeah, he sent me into the terminal a few times. Do we still need these out, or can I put them away before they end up across the window?" He asked, changing the subject. 

Clearing the asteroid field, KyuJong turned back to the monitor and set in the course for their first stop. He frowned slightly at how quickly the conversation had changed. Seemed like it was a touchy subject with how they avoided talking about any of the old crew.

Seeing as how the ship was back to stable, HyungJoon unbuckled his seatbelt and got up to help JongWoon with the charts. "I think we're done with those for now," he said.

JongWoon unbuckled himself as well, gathering together the charts he could reach. "So what is there to do until we reach the moon? Besides make sure the ship doesn't blow up?"

"The usual maintenance checks," HyunJoong replied, looking through a datapad. "If you're bored, I'm sure HyungJoon wouldn't mind a little help." 

"Oh no, don't shuffle him off on me," HyungJoon said, shaking his head. "You're not getting anywhere near my engine, JongWoon."

"He can help me recalibrate sensors," KyuJong said, looking up from the terminal. "It's a two person job, and he shouldn't get into too much trouble."

Pouting after HyungJoon's words, JongWoon perked up. "I can do that!" He finished putting the charts away before going over to KyuJong.

"Good luck, and try to resist any temptation to throw him out the airlock," HyunJoong told their pilot, a hint of a smile on his lips as he stood up. 

"If you just want to sit at this terminal," KyuJong said, sliding out of the seat to crawl underneath the piloting station. "I'll tell you what to do from there."

"As much as I'd love to stay and watch JongWoon get fried, I'm going to go give the shield generator a once over, never can be too sure about repairs on out of the way planets," HyungJoon said, heading to the hatch. 

"I'll update the logs and meet you in the engine room," HyunJoong said, following him out. "Once you're done with the adjustments, KyuJong, you should get some sleep," he called over his shoulder. 

"Yeah yeah," KyuJong called from under the station. HyungJoon could only see his feet sticking out as he went through the hatch. Once out in the corridor he looked at HyunJoong askance.

"You never come to the engine room, what's up?"

HyunJoong shrugged, walking along the corridor slowly. "It's one of the things I don't know how to work on the ship, most of it anyways. Figure I might as well get some training in since there won't be much to do until we reach the moon." He'd been doing training on all the different positions on the ship since half their crew left, either for practice or because he didn't know enough about the position to fill in if he needed to. 

HyungJoon frowned slightly at him but shrugged. "Alright, but don't mess anything up. At least you listen better than JongWoon," he shook his head, putting his hands in his pockets. "So, our new pilot seems to be doing pretty good, don't you think?"

Pausing, HyunJoong nodded. "He's a decent flier, and learned his way around soon enough. We'll have to see how he fairs on this drop." So far they'd only done short hauls with their new pilot, since it took a while for them to become accustomed to how the ship worked, but KyuJong had been fairing well. HyunJoong supposed he should take that as a good sign. 

"I think he'll be fine," HyungJoon said as they reached one of the ladders to go down to the lower decks. "I kind of like him, he's got a good sense of humor. Give him a couple weeks and he'll fit right in here."

"We'll see what happens," HyunJoong nodded, following HyungJoon down onto the lower deck. "I'll meet you in an hour." He turned and went the other way, to get some of his own work done.

He was glad KyuJong was starting to fit in, but at the same time he couldn't help but be skeptical. The crew in many ways was like a family to him, but one more family member meant one more person who could leave. 

******************

Staring out the window in the bridge, KyuJong could get lose himself for hours just watching the stars go by. At the speed in which they were traveling though, points of light got blurred at the corners of his vision. Most people got nauseous if they watched for too long, especially those who hadn't spent their entire lives staring out at space like he had. It was soothing, the closest thing to normal KyuJong had in his life, and felt like home.

It also helped pass the time. After three days of travel, the normal routine repairs weren't holding his interest anymore, and so he spent what free time he had just staring out the window.

Standing in the doorway with JongWoon, HyungJoon leaned over to his friend. "You think he's dead?"

JongWoon blinked owlishly at KyuJong for a moment before looking back at HyungJoon. "Maybe? Maybe we should check before going in there, in case he's turned into a zombie or something." He'd been watching too many old horror movies again; he had a stack of movies in his room, most of them horror despite the fact he usually scared himself so badly he ended up crawling into bed with HyungJoon.

Looking around, he spotted a plastic cover for one of the star chart tubes hanging around. So instead of calling KyuJong's name like most people would do, he picked up the light plastic and shot it at the back of the pilot's head. 

Yelping and jumping up when something hit the back of his head, KyuJong whirled around, looking to see what had hit him. Seeing the other two he blinked at them wide eyed. "What'd you do that for?"

"We were just trying to see if you were alive or not," HyungJoon said, trying not to laugh. "You were kind of zoned out there."

"You could have done something other than hit me in the back of the head," KyuJong said, rubbing at where he'd been hit. "There something I can do for you?"

"It was just a piece of plastic, it wouldn't hurt," JongWoon grinned. "We're bored out of our minds, the Captain's disappeared doing captain work, and we were hoping you could entertain us for a while. Unless you're busy staring at the autopilot."

They were on their second day of the trip, and as usual it hadn't taken much for them to become bored. They were used to having a bunch of people around to joke around and play games with, not just four people in the whole ship. 

Looking between the two, KyuJong sighed. "Well what do you want to do then?" he asked, standing up and stretching. He wasn't going to turn down an invite; this was the first time any of them had made a gesture to really include him. "I don't know what you people do for fun around here."

"Well, we could play some cards in the mess hall," HyungJoon said, looking to JongWoon. "Maybe have some snacks."

"Snacks! Food!" JongWoon perked up. Both of them were banned from entering the kitchen when neither KyuJong nor HyunJoong were around. "Do you think the Captain would kill us if we played poker?" It wasn't as if they had much to bet with. 

"As long as we're not playing strip poker again," HyungJoon said, laughing at the face KyuJong made. "We're not drinking this time, so no worries." Linking his arm with JongWoon's, HyungJoon pulled his friend from the doorway and headed towards the ladder.

"Remind me to not drink with you people," KyuJong mumbled under his breath, making sure they were still on course before following after them to the mess hall.

"Why not? It's fun, and you get to see HyungJoon trip over thin air," JongWoon grinned, nudging his friend's hip lightly. "Or run into closed doors thinking they're open." 

"You're not any better you know!" HyungJoon protested, punching JongWoon in the arm after he let go to start down the ladder.

"I doubt the captain would appreciate us drinking when we're on a job," KyuJong said, waiting for the other's to go down first before climbing down.

"Are you kidding, he drinks too," JongWoon rolled his eyes. "It would take the entire stock of alcohol to make him drunk. And as long as one of us stays sober enough to watch over the controls he really doesn't care." Their job was boring; well, as boring as flying through space could be. There was rarely anything going on, and the most exciting parts of their day was encountering an asteroid belt or JongWoon exploding part of the cargo hold. 

"Good to know," KyuJong laughed, shaking his head slightly. Entering the mess hall, he flicked on the overhead lights and headed towards the little makeshift kitchen. "I'll make some snacks then," he said, looking through their cupboards.

"I'll look for the cards," HyungJoon went to a cabinet at the side of the room, starting to poke through the shelves when his comm device went off. Blinking, he pulled it out of his pocket and flicked it open. "Yes?"

It was HyunJoong on the other end of the line. _"Could you come by my quarters for a few minutes? I need your input on one of the logs."_

JongWoon pouted. "Drats, just when we dragged KyuJong out of hibernation. Bring him down for a game or two when he's done with those?" 

"Yeah, be there in a sec," HyungJoon said, closing the device and shrugging at JongWoon. "I'll try, but he's been in one of his moods lately. Be back in a bit," he said, heading back towards the hatch and disappearing.

"Hibernation?" KyuJong frowned, looking at JongWoon.

"Yeah, you hibernate," JongWoon grinned at the younger man. "Except with your eyes open." He stretched. "It could be a while before he gets back, checking through the logs usually takes a while. We can go find something else to do in the meantime, cards with just two people isn't much fun." 

"I like watching the stars," KyuJong said with a slight pout. No one seemed to be able to understand the hold stars had on him. "What'd you have in mind?" he asked, coming out of the kitchen area toward him.

"I don't know. Walk around and see if we find anything interesting?" JongWoon swung his arms back and forth, bored out of his mind. "Unless you know of something better," he grinned. "The stars are nice and all, but if I stare at them too long I fall asleep." 

"Alright, let's go find something to do then," KyuJong shrugged. He didn't really have any better ideas, and JongWoon knew the ship better than him. "Just... don't drag me into any trouble, okay?"

"What trouble can we get up to?" JongWoon pouted. "It's not as if I'm going to go sabotage the engine or something. Come on, let's go!" He walked over to the corridor again. "How are you liking your first few weeks here, by the way?" 

"From what I've heard, that's just the kind of thing you would do," KyuJong said, following after him. He shrugged a little. "It's not that bad. Will take some getting used to, but it's a nice ship, and you all are pretty nice guys I guess."

"You seem to be picking up things fast, so that's always good," JongWoon grinned over his shoulder at the pilot. "Don't worry about the Captain, he's a little weird at first but he's a great guy." He jammed his hands in his pockets. "Why did you sign up for this, anyways? I mean, you seem like a decent pilot, why not join the military and fly a fighter jet instead?" 

"Thought about it, but it's not for me," KyuJong shook his head. "I'm not cut out for the military, someone always telling you what to do and where to go. I was raised on a civilian transport, it's where I belong."

"Well, technically, we have to tell you where to go and what to do too," JongWoon shrugged. "It's just a lot quieter than with the military. I wanted to go with the military, but never got past the evaluations," he grinned sheepishly. 

"Oh? What'd you want to do?" KyuJong asked. They were meandering through the halls towards the cargo bay. Not that there was much to do there, but it was easier to go through the hold to get to the rest of the ship.

"Medic," JongWoon smiled sadly. "And before you say something about putting people back together inside out, I'm actually a decent medic...I just had really bad luck in the evaluations. So I tried for negotiator instead, but they didn't accept me for that either, until Captain offered me a spot here." 

"It's good he gave you a chance," KyuJong chuckled, opening up the hatch into the cargo hold and heading out onto the cat walk. "I'm told you can do your job pretty well, as long as you're not confined to your quarters of course."

"It's a far cry from negotiating for hostages and things like that, but it's a good job," JongWoon smiled, following him out onto the cat walk. He flicked the lights on as they went, so that they wouldn't fall off the catwalk in the dark. The containers caught his attention. "Those things are strange, we've never gotten unmarked containers before." 

"It is weird," KyuJong nodded, heading towards the stairs to climb down. "Especially since it's a Fed drop. They're usually so anal about tags on their stuff. I wonder what's inside they don't want anyone to see?"

"No idea." JongWoon slid down the stairs railing and landed with a whoop, barely managing to avoid falling into his face as he staggered over to the containers. "They're tiny things too, usually Feds have bigger shipments than this." He knocked on one of the containers and blinked owlishly at the echoing sound. 

Raising an eyebrow at the sound, KyuJong walked around the other container. "You think it's dangerous? I've heard the Fed were developing super weapons. Maybe they're tiny little bombs or something." At that thought he took a step back. "Maybe we should just leave them alone."

"It wouldn't be echoey if it were bombs," JongWoon pursed his lips, knocking again. "Leaving bombs to roll around without any padding would have blown us up on leaving the atmosphere. If it's echoey, I don't think whatever's in it is properly padded. We better not get a bill for damages." 

"Their instructions were pretty clear, so if they have a problem with how the contents show up, then it's their problem," KyuJong shrugged. "And would you stop knocking on it? If the Captain finds us messing with them we'll be spaced."

"Don't let his threats fool you, he hasn't spaced anyone yet, he just likes making people jump." JongWoon continued to poke around the container curiously, then went to randomly tapping numbers into the keypad that opened the container. He didn't know the combination, but he was bored. "Hey look, the thing isn't even airtight," he blinking, leaning up on his toes until he was eye-level with the tiny holes in the side of the container. 

"Isn't that against regulations?" KyuJong blinked, coming around to look where JongWoon was looking. He wasn't up on the shipping code, but he was pretty sure everything had to be vacuum sealed in case of emergency dumps into space. "Stop messing with it!" he hissed.

"Do I look like I know the code? I'm just wondering if it'll help us figure out what's in there." JongWoon poked at the keypad with a pout. "It _is_ against regulations, the people who sealed this up must be morons to not have any labels or even an airtight co—"

 _Beep_.

The keypad flashing green was the only warning JongWoon had before the front popped open, and he yelped as he scrambled out of the way to avoid being flattened as it lowered to the ground. 

"HyunJoong is going to _kill_ you," KyuJong said, jumping back when the door opened. "See what you get for messing with stuff?" Curiosity got the better of him though and he peeked around the corner of the container. "Oh shit...." his eyes widened once he saw what was inside. "Shit shit shit," he fumbled with his pocket, trying to pull out his com device. "Captain, you had better get down to the cargo hold," he spoke into it, trying to keep his voice calm.

 _"What's wrong?"_ HyunJoong's voice came through, sounding confused.

Poking his head around the edge of the container as well, JongWoon stared, mouth open. "What...the _hell_..." 

"You aren't even going to believe it if I tell you," KyuJong said, shaking his head. "Just.. come down here." He closed the device and his arm dropped to his side. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is _definitely_ against regulations."

"I think this is against more than just regulations...shit..." JongWoon continued to stare at the man strapped to the inside of the container. "Is he...dead? _Please_ don't tell me we're shipping a dead body," he whined. "Maybe it's an android. I hope it's an android." 

"Let's just wait for the Captain," KyuJong said, taking a deep breath. "I don't think it's an android though, why would they have a sleep mask on him? That's only for deep space travel."

"That means he's not dead too, right?" JongWoon asked nervously. He shuffled on the spot, wanting to go check the man's vital signs but not quite daring to get into the container. "Does that mean...there's another person in there?" The negotiator looked at the other container, unopened. 

"Uh, probably," KyuJong nodded slowly. The containers were pretty much identical, so it made sense. "But... it's illegal to transport people like this. Shit, if we get caught, no one's going to believe those seals are legit!"

"We have the paperwork, right?" JongWoon asked desperately. "We can prove we were handed the containers, with the instructions not to open it, we can talk our way out of it somehow? But what the hell is the Fed doing, putting two people in cargo like this?" He wandered nervously in front of the two containers.

HyunJoong appeared on the catwalk a moment later, HyungJoon right after him. "What's going—" He blinked, seeing one of the containers open. Able to guess right away who had caused it, he scowled at JongWoon. "JongWoon, those were supposed to stay _closed_ , why..." He trailed off at the way the negotiator pointed frantically to the containers, looking white as a sheet, and KyuJong wasn't much better. 

"What the hell are you two thinking?" HyungJoon frowned, starting down the stairs. "You know we weren't supposed to open those containers," he said, coming up to where the two were standing. "Well, might as well-" he stopped, mouth open. "What the...."

"Okay, it's bad that the container got opened, but shit, HyunJoong, _look_ ," KyuJong said, looking toward the Captain. "If we get caught we're in deep shit."

Heading down the stairs as well, HyunJoong followed behind HyungJoon to see what was going on and stopped dead, staring as well. "...What the hell..."

JongWoon continued to flail nervously. "What do we do? We can't just close the container and pretend we never saw him, and there's probably a second person in the other container."

Staring at the person, HyunJoong drew in a deep breath before stepping up into the container. The very first thing he did was check the man's vitals; who knew how long he'd been in the container for. His heart was beating much slower, but that was usual for deep space travel.

"...First thing we're going to do is get him and whoever's in that other container to the medical bay." He looked back at his crew. "HyungJoon, get that other container open, JongWoon go on ahead and set up the medical bay. KyuJong, come help me with this one." The questions would have to wait until these people were seen to. 

Nodding, HyungJoon went to start working on the keypad of the other container. Following the captain in, KyuJong swallowed nervously and looked at the man. "They could have at least put some decent clothes on him," he murmured, seeing as he was just in some basic leggings. "He looks heavy."

"Which is why I'm going to need your help." HyunJoong looked at the data pad attached to the container beside the man. "The security's very basic. Undo the restraints, and I'll carry him to med bay." He went in front of the man to stop him from falling once the restraints were off, frowning slightly as he noticed something. A collar around the man's neck. 

"Yes sir," KyuJong nodded, moving to start undoing the restraints around the man's wrist. He noticed the look on HyunJoong's face and followed his gaze to the collar. "What do you supposed that's for?" he murmured, moving around to the other side to the get the other restraint.

"Nothing good, that's for sure," HyunJoong shook his head. "They might be a...slave shipment," he murmured, really hoping that wasn't true. Slavery was supposed to have been abolished. The collar didn't look like slave collars though, and he was sure he could remember seeing it from somewhere...

He put that aside for the moment though, carefully holding the strange man up so that he wouldn't fall as the restraints were undone. 

"What would the Fed be doing with slaves?" KyuJong blinked, moving down to pull the man's feet from the leg supports. "Okay, he's clear, you want me to help carrying him?" He was cut off by HyungJoon's loud protests.

"Hey, uh, help please!"

"... He probably needs help with getting the restraints off, you got him?" KyuJong asked.

"I'm fine," HyunJoong nodded, carefully adjusting the asleep man on his back. He was dead weight right now, but he could manage for the time it took to get to medical bay. "Bring the other one up to the medical bay, call up if you're having any problems," he said, carefully getting out of the container and towards the stairs. 

Following out after him, he watched HyunJoong carry the man for a second before HyungJoon started whining again. Entering the other container, he frowned. This man was a bit shorter than the other, but he had the same collar and sleep mask on. HyungJoon was holding the man up, managing to get one of the restraints off.

"Help?"

"Just hold him still," KyuJong sighed, moving to help him. 

Once the restraints and leg supports were off, between the two of them they managed to slowly carry the man towards the medical bay.

JongWoon had set up two beds for their sudden 'guests', as well as gone a little crazy with the life support machines. "JongWoon, we don't need all these, they're alive," HyunJoong sighed, carefully easing the man on his back down onto a bed with JongWoon's help. Getting the machines they didn't need out of the way for when the others came, he watched JongWoon hook the man up to one of the monitors, checking his heart rate and brain activity. From what he could see, the man was healthy...just in deep sleep. 

Bringing the other one in, KyuJong and HyungJoon careful laid him down on the other bed. KyuJong looked between the two, chewing on his lip. "What are we going to do with them Captain?" he asked, moving out of the way for JongWoon, dragging HyungJoon back by his collar.

"We should flag down the first Fed ship we find," HyungJoon put in first. "We got hoodwinked."

"The question is, would they believe us?" HyunJoong asked, looking back at them. "Would the paper trail hold up? We're not in the best situation right now."

"What is the Fed doing with _people_ in the cargo in the first place?" JongWoon asked, finishing up and checking all the monitors. "Well, they look healthy enough...should we wake them up?" he bit his lower lip, looking back at them. 

"You really think it's the Fed?" HyungJoon looked around. KyuJong shrugged, shaking his head lightly. He didn't know what to think about this.

"I guess we're only going to get answers if we wake them up, they should be able to tell us something," KyuJong said after a moment, looking to HyunJoong.

HyunJoong nodded slowly, and sighed, looking back at JongWoon. "Wake them up; be careful, who knows how long they were under for."

Nodding, JongWoon set about removing the masks that had kept the two men in deep sleep, making sure their condition remained stable. "It'll probably take a few minutes for them to come to," he said, setting the mask belonging to the petite man aside and moving on to the other one. "What's with the collar?"

"They don't look like slave collars, I remember seeing them before...I can't remember where though," HyunJoong frowned, watching and waiting for signs of one of them waking up. 

HyungJoon paced back and forth nervously until KyuJong kicked him to make him stop. Yelping he hit KyuJong back in the arm, making a fuss at being hit.

"Shh, stop, one of them's waking up," KyuJong hissed, pointing at the smaller of the two men. The eyelids fluttered open and blinked repeatedly as a soft moan emanated from him. KyuJong and HyungJoon exchanged a look before their attention returned to the man on the bed.

It seemed to register that there were other people in the room, the man's eyes narrowed. That was the only warning they got when the man rolled off the table, snagging an instrument off the bedside table and backing up slowly towards the wall.

"Woah," KyuJong jumped when the man moved so quickly, holding up his hands. "It's okay, calm down."

HyunJoong held up his hands as well, frowning. Why was he reacting like this. "Relax, we're not going to hurt you," he said slowly, hoping the man understood Korean. He only knew a little of the other interplanetary languages, though hopefully enough to make that intent clear.

There was a choked 'eep' from behind them, and HyunJoong turned around quickly, eyes widening. The second man was awake and had a similar reaction to the first. But instead of grabbing a sharp medical instrument, he'd grabbed the distracted JongWoon and now had him in a headlock. JongWoon's eyes were wide with panic, obviously realizing his neck could be snapped like this.

"Let him go," HyunJoong spoke, though he knew there was little he could do with one of his crew held hostage. "Please. This is a civilian freighter, we mean you no harm." Pausing, he carefully repeated that in the primary language out in space, his accent thick and awkward but getting the meaning out.

The redheaded man holding JongWoon in a headlock stared at him with narrowed, angry eyes, making no move to let go of his captive as he slowly backed up with the negotiator.

The shorter man was edging towards the redhead, dark eyes flitting between them and then looked to the redhead almost in question. KyuJong idly wondered if they knew each other, but it really wasn't the time to think about that. 

"What do we do Captain?" KyuJong said lowly under his breath. He still had his hands up, watching the two.

"We need to get JongWoon," HyungJoon hissed, he was trembling in fear at seeing his best friend's life in danger.

"No shit," KyuJong retorted, kicking HyungJoon in the leg. He was watching the shorter man, and could tell he was conflicted. The man kept looking between them and then at the redhead like he wanted to say something, but wasn't sure of the words. Swallowing roughly, KyuJong took a step forward.

"Hey, it's okay, we don't want to hurt you," he said in a calm slow voice. "We want to help you, but you need to let him go."

The redhead looked from the crew to the shorter man edging towards him, eyes narrowing slightly. When KyuJong took a step forward, he took another step back towards the wall, JongWoon choking slightly as the grip was tightened.

"Don’t get too close," HyunJoong murmured, reaching out to grip KyuJong’s arm. They would have to go through this carefully, and getting too close seemed to alarm them.

"This is the last time I go around opening strange containers, I swear it," JongWoon whimpered, and HyunJoong had the feeling that if they managed to get him out of this alive, he’d be very docile for a long, long while.

HyunJoong drew in a breath. "You are on the _Proteus_ , we’re just in the transportation industry. You were found in deep sleep inside containers we were transporting, and you’re now in our medical bay. Please, we don’t mean to hurt you, we want to know what happened for you to be placed in such a state. Let go of our crewmate, and we’ll talk about this, all right?" He had no idea if they even understood him. 

It was a tense moment as the crew and the two men stared at each other. There seemed to be a great deal of confusion on both sides, and KyuJong couldn't figure out which side was more confused.

"Please," KyuJong started again, the dark haired man turning his attention to him again. "Just let him go, and we can talk about this. We just want to know what's going on." He spoke slowly, hoping that message got across.

After another moment, the dark haired man looked to the redhead, and nodded.

The redhead scowled at that, obviously not liking this idea at all. After a moment he grudgingly loosened his grip on the negotiator, pushing JongWoon away. The older man stumbled and nearly fell, immediately retreating to where HyungJoon was standing and holding his throat.

HyunJoong released a slow breath. So they could be understood then, at least partly. "Thank you. Please, have a seat?" He motioned to the beds and the chairs, before carefully lowering himself into one, keeping his hands out where they could see them.

"What were you both doing inside Federation containers?" He asked, speaking carefully and clearly. "Human cargo is illegal, please tell us who did this to you."

The two men shared a look, but neither made a move to sit. HyungJoon was clinging to JongWoon, making sure he was okay and checking his throat for bruises. Making sure the negotiator was okay first, KyuJong turned back to the two. The shorter one was regarding them with apprehensive eyes.

"You're not Federation?" the shorter man whispered, his voice soft enough that KyuJong almost missed it that he had spoke.

"No, we're not Federation," KyuJong confirmed, shaking his head. The shorter man regarded the redhead again, his lips pursed, before turning back.

"Your military did this," the man said, shifting closer to the redhead.

That wasn’t something any of them had been expecting. "The…Federation military?" JongWoon stared at them, shocked. "Seriously?"

"Is there any other large military?" The redhead snapped, keeping beside the dark-haired man. JongWoon immediately held up his hands at the angry tone to show he meant no harm.

HyunJoong stared at them both, not sure what to make of this. "Why would the military transport people like that…and why would the government not say anything?" he murmured, not understanding. This didn’t make any sense. "Slavery was abolished."

The redhead snorted at that.

KyuJong looked over at HyunJoong, chewing nervously on his cheek. If the military really was responsible for this, what could they do? They couldn't just shove these two back in the containers and ignore them.

"Why's the military taking slaves?" HyungJoon asked, still standing close to JongWoon.

The dark eyes of the shorter man regarded him with pursed lips. "Why don't you ask them that yourselves?" he hissed.

"Look, we're just trying to understand," KyuJong said, holding up his hands to calm people down. "What were they doing with you two?" The shorter man looked over at the redhead but said nothing.

"We’re not playing this game with you," the redhead spoke after a moment, eyes narrowed. "Let us go, right now."

"It’s not that simple," HyunJoong said, gaze focused on those two. He was sure he’d seen those collars somewhere before… "We’re in space, and at least two days away from the nearest hospitable planet at the speed we’re going. This ship can’t go much faster without damaging the engine. Our only shuttle is small and meant for 12 hour repair trips, not traveling on its own through space."

"Well, we've got a few days to figure things out then, right?" KyuJong said, looking around. "We do want to help, honest."

"What's your names?" HyungJoon piped up, earning himself a kick from KyuJong. The shorter man frowned, and looked up at the redhead.

Shaking his head at the other man, the redhead frowned at the people on the other side of the room, on edge.

"Would it help if we said our names first?" JongWoon asked nervously, still half-hiding behind HyungJoon. "I’m JongWoon, and this is HyungJoon. He’s KyuJong," he pointed, "And he’s Captain HyunJoong," he finished, pointing to their captain.

"…" The redhead didn’t look happy at all, but after a moment he muttered "JungMin." 

The shorter man sighed, his shoulders slumping a little. It was the first time KyuJong had seen him somewhat relax. "YoungSaeng."

"Okay, JungMin, YoungSaeng, it's nice to meet you," KyuJong said with a smile.

"Are you guys hungry or anything? We can get you something to eat after JongWoon here checks you over," HyungJoon said, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet.

"No tests," YoungSaeng snapped, his body immediately stiffening again and shifting closer to JungMin.

JongWoon jumped a little at the snap. "O-okay, no checkups, got it. It’s just that, there might be some complications coming out of sleep like that, we just wanted to make sure neither of you caught a superbug or are about to spontaneously combust or anything."

JungMin stared at him like he had grown a second head.

Shaking his head, HyunJoong stood up, the strangers’ attention snapping back to him at the movement. "Since we’re not doing any medical checks, would it make you both feel better if you were out of this room?" All the instruments probably weren’t helping. "We can bring you down to the mess hall for now." 

YoungSaeng looked up at JungMin for a second before he turned back to HyunJoong and nodded. All the equipment in the room was obviously putting the two of them on edge.

"Okay, we'll show you to the mess hall then, just follow us," KyuJong said with a smile, edging over toward the door.

"You guys want some clothes?" HyungJoon blurted out. He'd been trying not to stare at the fact that they weren't wearing much, and were probably cold standing in the medical bay of the ship that was usually a few degrees below comfortable.

JungMin paused at that, then nodded slowly, glancing at YoungSaeng beside him.

"I-I think we have clothes that might fit, we’ll bring them to you," JongWoon said nervously. He grabbed HyungJoon’s sleeve and pulled him out of the room, and down towards the crew quarters.

HyunJoong watched them go before turning to their ‘guests’. "We have spare cabins you both can stay in, we’ll show you to them once you’ve had something to eat," he said, heading to the door as well. "Please follow us." He could see the redhead looking them over, probably checking for weapons, his eyes narrowed.

He must have seen nothing to justify his obvious suspicions, because he looked at YoungSaeng before taking a step forward. 

Walking slightly behind HyunJoong, KyuJong glanced over his shoulder a few times to make sure the other two were keeping up and not veering off somewhere they shouldn't be. It was strange how quiet the two were, but he guessed that should be expected considering their situation.

There was also the relationship the two had. They obviously knew each other by the way the kept looking at each other, but it didn't seem like they were very close. Or at least that's what he could tell.

Back in the mess hall, KyuJong immediately went to the kitchen to start putting something together for the two to eat. Having been in deep sleep before he knew how famished they must be, even for a short amount of time it sapped your reserves.

"Please have a seat," HyunJoong smiled at the two, hands clasped in front of him. "We have a bit of time to figure things out, and I can assure you you’ll be safe on this ship."

JungMin narrowed his eyes at that, but didn’t say anything, and didn’t sit down either. His eyes glanced between HyunJoong and the two doors, body stiff.

A minute later JongWoon and HyungJoon reappeared, the former carrying a clean set of the crew uniform. "I think this might fit you, uh…YoungSaeng, right?" he asked hesitantly, holding it out while not coming too close. No way was he getting in grabbing range again.

Eyeing the clothes hesitantly, YoungSaeng reached out to take the them, nodding slightly in thanks as he pulled on the shirt and pants.

"Uh, we didn't have any extra uniforms that would fit you," HyungJoon said nervously holding out some civilian clothes towards JungMin. "Sorry Kyu, we had to borrow some from you."

"It's fine," KyuJong nodded, glancing over his shoulder from where he was preparing the food.

Looking down at the offered clothing, JungMin glanced in the direction of the kitchen for a moment before taking the clothing with a stiff nod. He backed up a few steps before getting changed into the new clothes. It fit weird around the shoulders, but other than that was fine.

JongWoon shuffled a little uncomfortably, eyeing the two strangers. "So…why were you both in those containers?" He asked hesitantly. "They were heading for the Fourth Federation Base."

Coming out of the kitchen with a few couple of bowls of rice, KyuJong set them down at one of the tables with utensils. He'd heard the question and was looking between the two, but it didn't seem like they were going to answer.

"We can't tell you," YoungSaeng said after a moment, looking at JungMin.

"Why not?" HyungJoon frowned.

"Because it's not any of your business," YoungSaeng said sharply, narrowing his eyes at the engineer.

"On the contrary, considering you’re on our ship right now and we can all get a lifelong jail sentence for carrying cargo with people inside, it is our business," HyunJoong replied calmly, leaning against the table a little. "We still have a few days before we reach the next planet, so there’s no immediate pressure, but we would like some answers." 

"Why don't you two just eat and then get some rest," KyuJong said lightly, motioning towards the bowls of rice. "You just woke up from deep sleep, your bodies need a bit to adjust." He glanced between the two with a light smile.

"...alright," YoungSaeng nodded tensely, sitting down slowly at the table, pulling JungMin to sit as well. "Thank you, for the food," he said quietly as he started eating.

"Uhh.. so will you two want to share a room then? Just.. you know so I know how many to prepare," HyungJoon said.

"..." JungMin glanced at YoungSaeng beside him before nodded. "We will," he said, poking through the rice warily as though he expected to find something other than just food in the bowl before slowly starting to eat as well. HyunJoong noticed how despite the fact the two were finally sitting down, they still watched the crew's every move out of the corner of their eyes.

Hovering nervously, JongWoon glanced at HyungJoon, looking utterly lost. What were they supposed to do now? Just who were these people, and how were they going to get out of the situation they had been landed in?

"We'll go get the rooms ready," he said, pulling HyungJoon back out of the room. As the door slid closed behind them, he cast his best friend a desperate look. "We're so dead." 

"This is your fault, going around poking through things you shouldn't be," HyungJoon hissed, dragging him towards the crew quarters.

"We would have been dead anyways, we just wouldn't know why," JongWoon protested, stumbling along beside him. "We're never leaving any planet without checking the cargo first, who cares if they say not to touch it. Why would the Fed be shipping _slaves_?" 

"How am I supposed to know?" HyungJoon grumbled, turning a corner. "We are in way over our heads here. We're going to have to forge manifest papers now, and damn the Captain for agreeing to this. Who ever heard of a Fed drop not allowed to be checked?"

"I've heard it happens sometimes, but so rare, and there's usually a ton of warnings and a list of contents." JongWoon followed him down to the crew deck. "Usually if there's some sort of gas inside that could escape, you know? We have the paperwork that says where we got the containers from, and that it was marked not to be opened...but you know..." He paused, looking scared.

"If those two were really in there cause of the military, then how are we supposed to report any of this _to_ the military? Even with a paper trail?" 

HyungJoon shook his head, stopping outside one of the empty crew quarter's doors and put in the security code to open it. "No idea, I don't like any of this. They're not exactly forthcoming with any details either." He looked at JongWoon with wide eyes. "I don't like any of this, not one bit. That JungMin looked like he was going to kill you."

One of JongWoon's hands went to his throat. "Felt like he would. Snapping necks wasn't something they covered in pre-military training, but it felt like he knew exactly what to do." Would a slave know that?

"Should we hope that if they don't cooperate, HyunJoong will actually follow through with his airlock threats?" he asked feebly as they stepped into the room. He went to the wall that hid the second, stored bed, pulling it down. 

"You know the Captain just as well as I do, I don't think he has it in him to do that," HyungJoon shook his head, helping JongWoon with the bed. "Especially if we've fed them." Getting the bed set up and new sheets and blankets from the cabinet, he started to make up the beds. "I don't know what to think, did you see the look JungMin gave when HyunJoong called him a slave?"

"He didn't seem particularly happy?" JongWoon winced. "They don't seem like slaves though, collar aside. I mean, I'm going by history books here, but aren't slaves usually a little more docile than grabbing people and threatening to snap their necks?" He helped out HyungJoon the best he could without getting in the way. "We'll have to have something figured out before we reach the moon, or that's it, we're done." 

Smoothing out the blankets once they were on, HyungJoon straightened and sighed heavily, checking to make sure everything was ready. "I don't know what slaves are supposed to act like, but if they were then you'd think they'd be a little more grateful to being helped right?" He shook his head and went back to the door. "I have a feeling it's going to be a long night."

"You're probably right," JongWoon winced. "Well, no one can say life on a cargo freighter is boring now." He followed HyungJoon to the door and out into the hallway. "Maybe we should take a look at those containers again once they're settled, see if we find anything?" 

"I'm not going near those things unless the Captain orders it," HyungJoon shook his head, pointing at JongWoon. "Same goes for you, next few days we need to make sure we don't put a toe out of line."

"Yes sir," JongWoon replied meekly, one hand still against his throat. He was probably going to be very careful for the next little while. "Should we be worried about locking our cabin doors while sleeping?" 

"Considering we're going to lock them into their, I'm not sure it would make any kind of difference," HyungJoon said, giving JongWoon a pained smile. 

"You don't think they can break through the locks, do you?" JongWoon asked with wide eyes as they headed back up the stairs. 

"I don't know about you, but I'm sleeping with a gun under my pillow," HyungJoon said. "So don't be watching any of those horror movies tonight and try to sneak into my bed. I don't want to shoot you."

"No horror movies, got it, probably wasn't going to watch them anyways," JongWoon shivered. Seeing they were approaching the mess hall door, he drew in a breath and looked back to HyungJoon. "Well, shall we?" 

Chewing uncomfortably on his lip, HyungJoon shook his head. "No, but we have to anyway, don't we," he whined a little.

"Yes, Captain really would space us if we left him and KyuJong in there with those two," JongWoon winced. "Poor KyuJong, he's not even used to _normal_ things here." Shaking his head, he placed one hand against HyungJoon's back and headed them both towards the door. 

"Trial by fire?" HyungJoon smirked, opening up the door and heading in. The two 'guests' were done eating but it seemed just as tense as it was when they left. "Uh, rooms are ready," he piped up, edging around the room towards where the Captain and KyuJong were sitting.

HyunJoong looked to them and nodded with a small smile. "Would you both like to be shown to your rooms now?" he asked JungMin and YoungSaeng. "Some rest will help you recover." Any further discussion would have to wait for when they were a little more at ease, and he'd had a chance to speak to his crew about what needed to be done.

He wasn't used to things like this happening on his ship; it was a peaceful life, a civilian ship rather than a military one. But all the same, he was Captain here, and he was determined to see this through and make sure his crew was safe.

JungMin glanced to YoungSaeng beside him, then to the two who'd just came back before nodding, lips pressed firmly together. 

"Okay, well if you just want to follow us," HyungJoon said, motioning back the way they had come. 

Mirroring JungMin's look, YoungSaeng slowly stood up, waiting for the redhead before heading towards the door. HyungJoon was pulling JongWoon back through the hatch and the four of them disappeared.

KyuJong let out a deep breath and turned to HyunJoong. "Well, that was intense."

"That's one word for it," HyunJoong sighed, looking tired before he shook his head and stood. "We need to have a meeting as soon as those two are settled." They all needed to be on the same page about what was going on and have a plan to deal with it, or they would end up in prison the second they landed on the moon. 

KyuJong nodded, standing up to clear away the bowls. "I'll go check on the controls, make sure we're not flying straight into an asteroid or something," he said, dumping the bowls in the sink to wash later. "It's going to be a long night, isn't it?"

"It's always a long night in space," HyunJoong smiled tiredly. "We have a bit of time to figure things out, let's hope our guests are a little more talkative when they wake up." They couldn't do anything if they didn't know what was going on. "After the meeting, get some sleep if you can." He would stay up to make sure their guests didn't leave their new cabin, just in case.

"What about you?" KyuJong asked, heading towards the hatch. "You need your sleep too sir."

"At least one person should be awake at any given time for the next little while," HyunJoong replied, following him. "And we need you fully-rested to keep us out of the asteroid fields," he smiled a little at the younger man. 

Moving out into the corridor, KyuJong nodded, putting his hands in his pockets. "You think JongWoon will be able to stand guard without freaking out and running off?"

"He might radio HyungJoon a few times, but I think he'll be fine if he puts that overactive imagination to rest." HyunJoong shook his head, thinking about his two friends. "What about you? This is a little more than you signed up for." A little more than any of them signed up for. 

"You don't really hear me complaining," KyuJong chuckled, stopping at the ladder to head to the upper decks. "I take it as a good omen. If the worst things happen within the first week? Rest of my time here will be smooth sailing."

"...That's one way to look at it," HyunJoong murmured, lips quirking slightly before following KyuJong up.

A moment later, his comm device beeped and JongWoon's voice came through. "They're settled in the cabin, sir."

HyunJoong pulled the device out of his pocket, holding it up. "Meet us in the bridge then."

Settling in the pilot chair once they were in the bridge, KyuJong looked over the terminals to check their trajectory. He went over the sensor logs and found nothing unusual from the past hour or so they'd been occupied with the 'guests'. By the time he was done with his maintenance, HyungJoon and JongWoon were coming through the hatch.

The hatch closed behind them as JongWoon dropped down into the first available seat with a groan, repeating what had been his mantra for the past hour. "We're so dead."

"Not if we handle this right," HyunJoong shook his head, watching the stars pass by through the window. He looked over to his crewmates. "We'll work on getting more information from them once they're awake, but for now we need a plan. I think it's a pretty unanimous decision that we're not delivering the cargo as planned." 

"Well what are we going to do then? They're going to notice when we don't show up," HyungJoon said, chewing on his thumb.

"We've got two weeks to figure that out, possibly three," KyuJong shrugged, turning around. "What we need to worry about first is crew manifest. Anyone good at forging official documents?"

"They didn't exactly cover that in pre-military training, but I can give it a shot," JongWoon said nervously. "Since I'm usually the one who deals with the paperwork anyways, aside from the Captain."

HyunJoong nodded. "It's easier to let JongWoon handle the logs. HyungJoon, I want everything in those containers analyzed, maybe it will give us some clue what's going on." He tapped his fingers against the table, thinking. "Since we've two extra mouths to feed, it looks we'll be stopping for more than fuel at Lenor's Moon." 

"I'll go over our supplies and get a list together before we dock," KyuJong nodded. "Wouldn't hurt to see if there's anything else they need."

HyungJoon looked around, still nervous. "What are we going to do with them after that? If we're not going to drop them off at the Fed station I mean..."

"We'll have to find out more about what happened before we figure that out," HyunJoong said quietly. "But if it's because of the military they were in those containers, we can't let the Federation know about this." As it was, they could have the situation turned against them.

"They could have been lying, or confused," JongWoon tried helplessly.

"Maybe, but for now, we'll just continue on course and figure things out as we go." HyunJoong shook his head. 

Sitting quietly for a moment, HyungJoon nodded and got to his feet. "Well, I'll get started on those containers then," he said, heading towards the hatch. "I'll let you know if I find anything Captain."

"Will do," HyunJoong nodded. As the other man left, he turned to his two other crew members. "I suggest you both get some sleep, your shifts were supposed to have ended by now. Radio if you need anything, but I'll be watching the cameras so you don't need to worry."

JongWoon slowly stood up, still looking a tad too pale. "Sleep would be good."

"Yeah, I'm sure we can get more answers once everyone's had some sleep," KyuJong nodded, standing up and stretching. As he headed towards the hatch, he looked over at HyunJoong, frowning. "Don't forget to wake one of us in a couple hours so you can get some sleep too," he said.

"Yes yes," HyunJoong chuckled, turning to a terminal to switch camera views. "Rest well." JongWoon had already disappeared. 

"Have fun," KyuJong smirked, heading out and closing the door behind him. It had been a very unusual day, but it made him feel a little better strangely enough. The appearance of these two strangers was enough to make him finally feel like part of the crew. Once in his quarters he settled down on his bed, staring up at the bulkhead above him and slipped into an uneasy sleep.

*****************************

It was a few hours later when JongWoon woke up again, a nightmare of cold hands around his neck snapping him back awake. Panting a little as he stared up at the bulkhead, he touched his throat slightly to make sure it was still there before sitting up. Well, that was it, he couldn't sleep anymore.

Splashing water on his face first to clear his mind, he headed through the corridors to see who was up in the bridge now. He spared a nervous glance at the closed door belonging to their two guests. Well, being closed was a good sign.

Just what were they going to do?

He reached the bridge a minute later, stepping inside and pausing when HyunJoong looked up from the terminal.

"Thought so," JongWoon pursed his lips. "What happened to waking someone up?"

"You all need your sleep, and I'm waiting for HyungJoon to report in," the Captain shrugged.

"Well you need your sleep too. KyuJong doesn't know how bad you are at actually listening, but Joonie and I do, so off to bed," JongWoon said, pointing at the hatch.

HyunJoong watched him in amusement. "So _now_ you decide to actually act your age, _hyung_?"

"Now that we're out of life-threatening danger for the moment, yes," JongWoon pouted.

Whistling his way down the corridor, HyungJoon scurried up the ladder to the bridge and opened up the hatch when he reached it. "Oh, Captain, you're still awake," he blinked, not expecting that. "Why are you still awake?"

"Watching the cameras," HyunJoong smiled.

"He's being stubborn again Joonie," JongWoon groaned. "Did you find anything?"

"Standard shipping containers, or at least they would be if they still had their outer casing," HyungJoon shrugged. "I did find this in one of the inner compartments though," he said, taking out a small flat device that had a few different colored buttons on it and handed it to HyunJoong. "No idea what it is though."

Taking the device from HyungJoon, the older man frowned as he looked down at it. Something was tugging at his memory, like he knew what this was. He turned it over in his hand, searching for something to help place the hazy memory. "I've seen this before..."

"Where?" JongWoon blinked, leaning over HyunJoong's shoulder to see it. He looked back at HyungJoon. "Which container was it in?" 

"Uh, the one JungMin was in," HyungJoon said, blinking at HyunJoong. "What do you think it is Captain?"

HyunJoong shook his head, frowning. "I can't remember." He sighed in frustration, running one hand over his face.

"Maybe you should listen to people and get some sleep," JongWoon suggested. "You might remember easier if you're not tired." 

"You think the other two might know?" HyungJoon asked, looking between them. "I mean, it was with them, they'd probably have some idea, right?"

"They might know, we can run it by them when they're awake," HyunJoong nodded. They had a lot to ask JungMin and YoungSaeng. He sighed after a moment, standing. "Come on Joon, let's get some sleep. You'll be able to watch things from here without blowing the ship up, JongWoon?"

"I'm not touching anything this time, promise," JongWoon smiled weakly. 

HyungJoon nodded and followed along behind HyunJoong out of the bridge, waving goodnight to JongWoon. He yawned loudly as they went down the ladder to the crew deck. "Hopefully KyuJong will be up in a little bit to keep an eye on him."

"I think JongWoon's had his fill of getting into trouble for a while," HyunJoong chuckled, walking along beside the younger man. "Get some sleep, we'll figure this out when we can all think straight," he clapped his friend's shoulder, squeezing reassuringly before heading down a different corridor to the Captains quarters. 

"Sleep well," HyungJoon called after him, opening up the door to his quarters and flopping down haphazardly on his bed. "What a mess," he grumbled, turning off the overhead light and rolling over to bury himself in the blankets.

*************************************

HyunJoong woke up some hours later, feeling considerably better than when he'd gone to sleep. It didn't take long for the events of the past 24 hours to come back, a soft sigh leaving him as he sat up and looked around his quarters. Today was going to be a long day.

Taking a look at the time, he assumed KyuJong would be up and keeping JongWoon company in the bridge, and HyungJoon would be up soon as well if he wasn't already. Their guests would be up now as well (and had probably realized they were locked in if they hadn't before going to sleep).

Picking up his comm device and clearing his throat a little so he didn't sound like he was still asleep, he flicked it on. "How are things up there?" 

KyuJong was zoned out, staring out the window at the stars, completely oblivious to JongWoon being there. He hadn't slept well, but that wasn't unusual considering the day they had had. When the com went off next to him, KyuJong shrieked, nearly falling out of the chair as he flailed about at the sudden interruption.

Catching his breath, he pressed the button for the com system. "Uh, just dandy sir."

Nearly jumping through the ceiling when KyuJong shrieked, JongWoon blinked owlishly at the younger man. "Uh, yes Captain, though you might have given our pilot a heart attack."

HyunJoong shook his head in amusement. "I think it's time we let our guests out for breakfast. Want to head down to the mess hall while I wake up HyungJoon and get them?"

"Yes sir," KyuJong said, turning off the com and exhaling. "Well if I wasn't awake before," he grumbled, checking the sensors one last time before standing up and stretching. "This is going to be a fun meal."

"You didn't look awake before," JongWoon blinked at him, standing as well. "You were in zombie mode again." He headed to the hatch, looking back at KyuJong. "Do you think it'll go any better now?" 

"Maybe? Waking up from deep sleep isn't exactly pleasant, so hopefully we can blame it on that," KyuJong shrugged, following him out. "If not... well, I'm sure the captain will know what to do, right?"

JongWoon grinned a little nervously. "He usually doesn't, but he's _very_ good at improvisation."

Heading down the hallway to HyungJoon's room, HyunJoong knocked lightly on the metal door to wake the other man up if he wasn't already.

"Five more minutes!" HyungJoon whined, stuffing his head under his pillow and trying to ignore the knocks.

"Five more minutes and you'll be asleep again," HyunJoong called. "Up, before I send JongWoon down to drag you out of bed." 

Grumbling, HyungJoon sat up and scrubbed his hand through his hair. "Okay okay, I'm up!" he said, grabbing his shirt off the floor and pulling it on as he padded over to the door. "Why are you waking me up?" he asked once the door was open, pouting at HyunJoong.

"Because we have work to do," the Captain retorted, knocking on the younger man's head lightly. "Come on, we're getting our guests up for breakfast. Get any sleep?" He stepped to the side so HyungJoon could get out of the room. 

"Yes, but not enough," HyungJoon yawned again and shuffled out of the room, closing the door behind him. "I guess it was an uneventful night if JongWoon's still alive then?"

"Guess so," HyunJoong chuckled. He headed down the hallway towards the cabin they'd set up for JungMin and YoungSaeng, hands in his pockets. "I hope the day will be just as calm, but the chances of that happening aren't that high." 

"Probably not," HyungJoon nodded. When they reached the door, HyungJoon looked at HyunJoong nervously. "Um... you're the captain," he said, shrinking behind him to hide. "You open it."

"Chicken," HyunJoong mused, looking behind him at the younger man before turning back to door. He entered the lock code into the keypad beside the door and heard a light click as the door unlocked. He knocked on it to let the two inside know they were going to have company before opening the door. "Did you both sleep well?" 

HyungJoon peeked over HyunJoong's shoulder at the two in the room, a little startled at what he saw. They were both curled up on the same bed, YoungSaeng staring at them warily as he slowly sat up, looking to JungMin before turning back to the two in the doorway.

"Yes," YoungSaeng said, nodding slowly. "What are you going to do with us?"

"Breakfast time," HyungJoon piped up, not moving from behind HyunJoong.

JungMin sat up as well, red hair falling out of his eyes as he narrowed his eyes at them. If HyunJoong had hoped they would be a little more trusting after some rest, he could see now they were not.

Even so, the promise of food seemed to win out as JungMin carefully got to his feet, making sure YoungSaeng was able to do the same before turning his attention to the two in the doorway, lips pursed.

HyunJoong nudged HyungJoon back so he could get out of the way, leaving room for them to step out into the hallway. 

Shuffling backwards, HyungJoon stayed pretty much attached to HyunJoong's hip as they started down the corridor to the mess hall. He glanced over his shoulder at the other two who were following behind. YoungSaeng's expression was hesitant and wary, but not overly hostile as compared to the redhead. He wondered what sort of relationship the two had, since they didn't look exactly comfortable together either.

Reaching the mess hall, HyungJoon scurried over to the kitchen to help KyuJong. Or try to at least, but was immediately chased away by a knife wielding KyuJong.

"He doesn't want help," JongWoon said belatedly, sitting down at the table. He smiled a little nervously as the two guests were brought to the table. "Uh...morning?"

JungMin didn't say anything, hovering for a moment like he wasn't sure what to do before slowly sitting down. JongWoon shrunk back at the look that he was given, and promptly jumped back to his feet. "Uh, c-can I get you something to drink?" 

"Water's fine," YoungSaeng said, glancing over at JungMin. HyungJoon cautiously came closer to sit down. He was trying to understand their dynamic. YoungSaeng seemed to make their decisions, or at least voiced them, but was so soft spoken it was hard to catch what he was saying.

"Breakfast will be done in just a bit," KyuJong said over his shoulder.

When JungMin nodded to YoungSaeng's decision, JongWoon hurried into the kitchen to get them water, careful to keep out of KyuJong's way. He'd had enough of being in mortal danger. Getting two glasses full, he headed back to the table and placed them in front of the two guests, before dropping into the seat next to HyungJoon and scooting closer to his best friend.

JungMin picked up the glass in front of him, looking at the water before taking a sip. His eyebrows furrowed slightly as he looked at the two across from them, like he was trying to figure them out just as they were trying to understand him and YoungSaeng.

"What do you want with us?" he demanded after a moment.

"We told you before, we want to help you," HyunJoong spoke quietly, leaning against the wall. It was clear JungMin didn't believe him.

"Why?" YoungSaeng asked, not touching his water.

"Er... why wouldn't we?" HyungJoon blinked, looking to HyunJoong and then back. "It's not like we condone what the military does all the time, especially something like slaves."

YoungSaeng didn't say anything to that, just stared at him with narrowed eyes. 

"Let's just eat, and then we can discuss this more later," KyuJong said, bringing over a couple plates for JungMin and YoungSaeng. "I'm sorry it's not anything fancy, I'm not really the best cook."

JungMin held his gaze on the Captain for a long moment, staring at him with untrusting eyes before finally turning his attention to the plate of food.

JongWoon let out the breath he'd been holding as at least the redhead started to eat. "Kyu's the best cook here though, you really don't want any of us in the kitchen," he joked feebly. "Except maybe the Captain, on a good day." 

"I'm not sure how they survived before I arrived," KyuJong chuckled, going back to the kitchen to get the rest of them plates.

"We had a cook at one time," HyungJoon sighed dramatically. "He was really good too." KyuJong smacked him in the back of his head with his elbow as he passed by.

"Oops, sorry," KyuJong smiled innocently when HyungJoon yelped. Glancing over at the other two, KyuJong could have sworn he saw the barest hint of a quiver on YoungSaeng's lips as he ate. 

Going to help KyuJong with the rest of the plates, HyunJoong brought them over to the table before sitting down. JongWoon patted HyungJoon's shoulder before settling in to eat, popping a bite into his mouth and chewing happily. "It's good to me. It's got a flavor other than burnt, and I can tell what I'm eating, so it wins over Joonie's food any day." 

HyungJoon made a loud whine of protest at that, but even he knew it was true. He was a terrible cook. With the others taking up the one whole side of the table, KyuJong nervously took a seat next to YoungSaeng, feeling the man's eyes on him as he started to eat.

"I hope the food is to your liking," KyuJong said, looking over at the other two with a small smile. YoungSaeng eyed him for another minute before returning to his plate, his shoulders shrugging slightly.

The meal was awkward, none of them really knowing what to say. Their two guests remained quiet as well, not offering a conversation, and HyunJoong could feel their wary gazes. JongWoon cracked a few jokes every now and then, before falling back into silence as well.

JungMin finished first, putting the chopsticks down and tapping his fingers lightly against the table. He glanced around with a frown, eyes going to the window where space could be seen outside the ship.

"...A little better view than the inside of a container, huh?" JongWoon asked weakly, trying to start a conversation again, and winced a little at the look JungMin gave him.

HyungJoon had been watching JungMin, curious about the quieter of the two. Something about the man scared him, probably because he was a bit taller than him and didn't look all that friendly.

Finishing up after JungMin, YoungSaeng looked to HyunJoong. "So what now? Are we to stay locked in that room?" he asked.

HyunJoong pursed his lips in a light frown. "I don't see why you would have to be," he said calmly. "As long as you pose no threat to my crew, we can show you around the ship. There will be some areas of course you won't be allowed in without one of us there—" that meant he'd actually have to activate the locks set up everywhere, "—but you won't be confined to the room."

He set his own chopsticks down, looking at them. "We would still like to know a little more about what happened for you to be here," he said, meeting YoungSaeng's eyes since he seemed to be the spokesperson for them. "As you can probably understand, my crew and I are in a very delicate position right now." 

YoungSaeng looked over at JungMin, he seemed caught in indecision with the way his eyes narrowed. After a moment he shook his head and turned back to HyunJoong. "No, we can't tell you," YoungSaeng said firmly.

"Can't? Why can't you?" HyungJoon asked, his mouth full of food. KyuJong kicked him under the table.

"We do want to help," KyuJong said delicately, meeting YoungSaeng's hard gaze and flustering slightly with how close he was. Looking away from YoungSaeng's eyes, he noticed the collar again. "We at least can get those collars off, you'd like that wouldn't you?"

"You can't get them off," JungMin snorted.

"You can't say that without at least letting us try," HyunJoong replied, before remembering about the strange device HyungJoon had found. "Maybe you could tell us about this at least," he said, taking it out of his pocket and placing it down on the table. "HyungJoon found this in the container you were in," he said, looking at JungMin.

He was sure he didn't imagine the spike of fear in the redhead's eyes, before JungMin turned his head away. "Never seen it before." 

"I'm sure I can get the collars off, if you'd just let me look at them," HyungJoon offered, looking to YoungSaeng instead of JungMin. He frowned at how YoungSaeng was looking at the device, his lips set in a thin line.

"What are the collars for?" KyuJong asked, getting YoungSaeng's attention.

"What do you think they're for?" YoungSaeng retorted, eyes narrowed.

"I.. I don't know," KyuJong shook his head, looking helplessly at HyunJoong. They weren't getting very far.

"Will you at least allow us to take a look at the collar?" HyunJoong asked them, frowning.

JungMin immediately shook his head.

"..." The Captain sighed. "We can't do anything to help you if you won't let us." 

"We never asked for your help," YoungSaeng said shortly.

"Would you rather we put you back into the containers?" HyungJoon asked, shifting uncomfortably at the looks he was given by the other two.

"We need to meet on a mutual ground here," KyuJong said lightly. "We're not putting you back into the containers, but we have no idea what to do with you right now if you don't give us any information or let us help."

"You don't get it, do you?" JungMin bristled. "You _can't_ help us."

"We won't know that unless we try, right?" HyunJoong asked quietly. "Because as of now, we only have two options. One, continue with the shipment as planned, which none of us wants to do so we can't even consider that as an option now. Two, we land on the moon and report this, which will most likely result in all four of us being imprisoned for life for human trafficking, and because of the power the military has, we can't guarantee that either of you would go free as well."

Fuming, JungMin glanced at YoungSaeng then down at the table, scowling a little. 

YoungSaeng sighed, his shoulders slumping as he looked at JungMin then at the others. "Do you really think you can remove the collars?" he asked softly.

"Well, won't know unless I get a better look at them," HyungJoon shifted in his seat. "But I haven't met a device I couldn't figure out."

JungMin glared down at the table, before finally consenting with an unhappy "fine, okay."

HyunJoong sighed a little in relief, glad they were making that much process. Then JungMin glanced to one side, and suddenly stiffened, hissing "don't play with that!"

JongWoon, looking over the strange device in his hands for any sign of what it was, froze. 

"I thought you didn't know what it was?" KyuJong asked, his brow furrowed as he looked between them. YoungSaeng's hands were clenched tight on the table and was looking down at his plate.

"Can I see that?" HyungJoon held out his hand to JongWoon for the device. He hadn't taken that close a look at the device before.

Nodding, JongWoon reached out to hand the device to HyungJoon. As it was transferring hands though, they fumbled slightly, JongWoon's thumb accidentally hitting one of the small colored buttons. A small light on the front of JungMin's collar turned on.

A harsh crackle snapped through the air and JungMin shrieked in pain, jerking slightly in the seat before falling off of it. HyunJoong's eyes widened and he jumped out of his seat right away, going around the table to see if the redhead was all right. He was sitting on the floor, both hands against his collar and head bowed, panting. 

Jumping when JungMin yelled and fell over, HyungJoon stared wide eyed at the device. "Ohhhh..."

"Don't touch it," YoungSaeng hissed, reaching over the table to snatch the device out of JongWoon's hand. Glaring at the two for another second before he turned and knelt down next to JungMin to see if he was okay.

"Is he all right?" HyunJoong frowned, not coming any closer to avoid alarming them.

JungMin seemed entirely disorientated for a few seconds, breathing uneven as he held his head in his hands. Once he had recovered enough to look up, dark anger sparked and he leapt back up to his feet. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?! What brilliant idea is it to go and press the button right after you're told not to?" He yelled at JongWoon, the older man's eyes wide as he tried to sink lower in his seat.

"I-I'm sorry, it was an accident," he stammered, holding on to HyungJoon's sleeve. If looks could kill, both he and HyungJoon would be a puddle on the floor right now. But how were they supposed to have known it was the control for a shock collar? 

YoungSaeng put a restraining hand on JungMin's arm, pulling him back. "It was an accident," he said, looking up at JungMin with a frown. "All the more reason to get these collars removed."

JungMin looked down at the shorter man, and HyunJoong could have _sworn_ he saw something change in the redhead's eyes, a draining of color. But then JungMin scowled and dropped the gaze, and HyunJoong figured it was just a trick of the light.

"Well, now that we know what the collars are for, I think it's definitely a good idea to take them off," HyunJoong said firmly, glancing at HyungJoon then back to their guests. "If you both will sit down and let HyungJoon take a look at them?"

That just gave them one more question though...why _shock_ collars? That was just as bad as slavery, because it was like treating them as animals.

Watching JungMin for a moment, YoungSaeng gave a short nod and turned to HyungJoon, who was still clinging to JongWoon and looking absolutely petrified.

"Fine, he can start with mine," YoungSaeng said, sitting back down at the table.

"Uh, yeah, ok, let me just go grab some equipment," HyungJoon said, slowly getting up. "JongWoon, help," he pulled the other man's arm to get him up.

HyunJoong turned back to watch JungMin slowly sit down again, one hand still holding the collar like he thought he could tear it right off his neck. "Is there anything we can get you?" he asked quietly. Being shocked couldn't have been a very pleasant experience.

JungMin shook his head, sticking close to YoungSaeng.

"Would that mean there is a control for your collar as well?" HyunJoong asked YoungSaeng.

YoungSaeng watched HyungJoon and JongWoon leave the room, before turning his eyes to HyunJoong. He stared at the other man before nodding curtly. "Yes."

"Is it in the container we found you in?" KyuJong asked, swallowing when YoungSaeng gaze turned to him, the other man nodding again. KyuJong looked to HyunJoong, chewing on his lip before looking back at YoungSaeng. "I think, we need to know more about this," he said. "Why did they put collars on you?"

"No more questions," JungMin bristled; he was definitely the least willing to trust them with anything, or at least vocalizing it the most. "You know too much already."

"That the military for some reason find the need to collar and ship you like wild animals?" HyunJoong asked, and the redhead went completely stiff, shooting him an angry glare.

Leaning forward in the chair, YoungSaeng smoothed his hands over the top of the table, his lips pursed. He seemed to be considering something the way he glanced over at JungMin and then back down again. "There is nothing that you need to know that would help the situation," he said softly.

"If we don't know why the Fed is shipping slaves across the galaxy then we're kind of in the dark as to how to help you," KyuJong said with a frown.

"Just drop it," JungMin growled. HyunJoong looked at them both before sighing and placing a light hand on KyuJong's shoulder. They'd pushed as much as they could for the moment, and after accidentally shocking one of them, they didn't look like they'd be gaining their trust anytime soon.

A minute later, the door slid open again and JongWoon and HyungJoon returned, seeming to be arguing over who was going to walk in first. JongWoon quickly put down what he was carrying on the table and retreated to the corner.

Fidgeting nervously, HyungJoon approached where the two were seated, setting down the equipment he had in his hand. "Um, so, I'll just get started then," he said, opening up some of the boxes he had and putting together some instruments. YoungSaeng was watching, dark eyes unreadable.

Sitting down next to YoungSaeng, HyungJoon was holding up two sensors with cords that were attached to a box with a display. "If you could just hold your hair back, so I can..." YoungSaeng frowned slightly at him but did as asked, nudging JungMin to help him hold his long hair up so his arms weren't in the way.

Once HyungJoon was more focused on the devices than YoungSaeng's glare, he was able to work without fumbling fingers. Finding spots to attach the sensors, he turned on the display and tapped a few times on it before grabbing another instrument. "This is some pretty complicated stuff," he said, pressing the instrument to a seam in the collar.

HyunJoong watched HyungJoon work, glad when other than glaring, the two guests didn't protest to what was happening. Even so, he kept nearby just in case he had to intervene. JungMin held YoungSaeng's hair up without getting in HyungJoon's way, eyeing what he was doing warily.

"Something you think you can take care of, Joon?" HyunJoong asked after a minute. 

"Shouldn't be too much of a problem," HyungJoon shook his head, leaning in a little closer to YoungSaeng so his nose was just about touching the man's neck. The look on YoungSaeng's face clearly showed how uncomfortable he was with the close proximity. 

"Just need to isolate the power source and disconnect it... there!" HyungJoon chirped triumphantly, bring his head back up too fast and catching YoungSaeng under the jaw with the back of his head. YoungSaeng hissed and pushed HyungJoon away, rubbing at his jaw. "Sorry! Sorry!" HyungJoon held up his hands, eyes wide. "Uh, it's off, I just need to unlock it," he said.

"Do so, quickly," YoungSaeng said, glaring at the engineer. HyungJoon was still muttering apologies as he picked up a couple of small thin pins and started to work at the lock. It took a few minutes, with HyungJoon being careful not to get too close this time, until there was an audible click and the collar fell to the floor.

"Well that wasn't too bad," HyungJoon beamed at YoungSaeng who was rubbing at his neck.

"Thank you," YoungSaeng bowed his head slightly.

Sighing in relief, KyuJong turned to HyunJoong. "I'm going to go check on things in the bridge, call me if you need me."

HyunJoong nodded to his pilot. "Same. I will be up there with you shortly."

Going to pick up the collar off the floor, the Captain glanced at JungMin. The redhead was blinking at the lack of collar, as if he didn't actually expect HyungJoon to take it off.

"Would HyungJoon be able to remove your collar as well?" HyunJoong asked him. JungMin looked at him warily, then at the dead collar in his hands, seeming to argue with himself mentally. The idea of being without a collar must have won out in the end because he nodded slowly, glancing at HyungJoon as he let go of YoungSaeng's hair.

"Oh, the collar left a mark," JongWoon leaned in to see, wincing a little at the red, chaffed and cut skin on YoungSaeng's neck where a collar had been. "Uh...I might have something for that, if you want, it looks painful," he offered hesitantly. 

Touching the spot, YoungSaeng winced slightly but shook his head. "That's not necessary, it'll heal."

HyungJoon was staring at JungMin, not wanting to get any closer. "You're not going to hit me right?"

Chuckling at that, KyuJong pushed away from the wall he had been leaning against and headed from the room to go back to the bridge. Hopefully getting the collars off would help, but that remained to be seen.

JungMin scowled at the younger man, red hair in the way of his eyes. "If you headbutt me like him, I will."

"Be careful Joon," HyunJoong smiled a little, going to sit down next to JongWoon. The older man was still curled up in his corner like a frightened rabbit, but was looking at the mark on YoungSaeng's neck with a frown. 

HyungJoon gave JungMin a pained smile. "I won't... promise," he said sheepishly, moving to sit down next to JungMin and restart the process all over again. Tongue peeking out of the corner of his mouth, HyungJoon had to shift a little closer to get to the collar since JungMin was a bit taller than YoungSaeng. He just about had the power supply cut off when the overhead com went off.

" _Captain to the bridge, we've got company._ "

Eyes wide, HyungJoon looked over at HyunJoong. "Uh... there shouldn't be anyone else in this sector?"

HyunJoong blinked in surprise, caught off-guard by that. He pulled out his comm device, flicking it on and holding it in front of his mouth. "Who is it, KyuJong?"

HyungJoon was right, they shouldn't have any company here. They weren't supposed to meet up with any ship until entering Lenor's gravitational field.

" _Fed patrol, they want to do an inspection._ "

"Oh that's not good," HyungJoon said, immediately returning to his work on JungMin's collar. It needed to be off if military personnel were going to be crawling through any minute now. YoungSaeng had tensed, looking wide eyed at JungMin.

"Surprise inspection, of _course_ it has to be now," HyunJoong sighed. Fate just didn't like them it seemed. Chewing on his lower lip, he looked at the others in the mess hall as he replied to KyuJong. "I'll be right there, hold communications."

He turned off the comm and placed it back in his pocket, turning to the others. They would have to do some acting to get out of this. "JongWoon, get to the cargo bay and seal those containers up. Do _not_ touch anything other than what you need to get it done."

JongWoon nodded and leapt to his feet, bolting out of the room. HyunJoong turned to his engineer. "Finish with his collar, hide the evidence, and get to your station." He looked at JungMin and YoungSaeng.

"Listen, I know neither of you trust us, but we're going to need you both to act along. You're new crew in training, this is your first voyage in the _Proteus_ , you're both assistants for the moment. Just follow what my crew does. Can you both do that?"

Still looking at JungMin, YoungSaeng nodded. "Yes, we can do that," he said, glancing up at HyunJoong, his expression was unreadable. "Thank you."

"Almost got it," HyungJoon said, still working on getting the power off of the collar. "There, now comes the fun part," he set the instrument down and picked up the pins. "Have to hurry," he mumbled, frantically trying to unlock the collar. "So uh, when we're done here, you two should come with me to engineering, it won't look so odd to have more people in engineering. Sound good?"

JungMin couldn't nod without hitting HyungJoon with his chin, but he made a noise in his throat that sounded positive.

"Be careful HyungJoon, now's not the time to mess up," HyunJoong said, heading to the mess hall door. "I'll be with our Federation guests." Leaving the room, he headed towards the stairs at a brisk walk. Things were happening far too fast.

He reached the bridge within moments, taking a pause to compose himself before opening the hatch and stepping inside. HyunJoong walked over to the terminal and pressed the button to bring the other ship's Captain on screen.

One of the monitors changed to a view of inside the Federation ship's bridge, another man on screen. "To what do we owe the honor, sir?" HyunJoong asked, saluting the man on screen. 

"Routine inspection," the officer said, waving away HyunJoong's salute. "Instruct your pilot to start the midflight docking, we'll be boarding shortly." The screen winked to black. KyuJong exhaled and looked up at HyunJoong even as he was pressing buttons.

"Well, this should be interesting," KyuJong said with a pained smile. "HyungJoon get JungMin's collar off yet?"

"He had the power off and was working on the lock when I left," HyunJoong pressed his lips together, tapping his fingers lightly against the terminal. "They're going to pretend to be part of the crew, and will be in engineering with HyungJoon."

Pulling the comm out of his pocket, he flicked it on. "Are those containers sealed yet, JongWoon?"

JongWoon's voice came through a moment later, the older man panting a little. " _Yes sir, just finishing with the second container now._ "

"Good, take your usual station once you're done." HyunJoong put the device away. "I will meet our guests, keep the ship steady," he nodded at KyuJong, eyes serious as he turned and left the bridge. As he headed towards the boarding station, he could feel the _Proteus_ shudder slightly as it docked alongside the Federation ship.

Finalizing the last step in the docking, KyuJong hit the com to the mess hall. "You better hurry up with that collar HyungJoon, they'll be on you in seconds." Swiveling around in his chair he brought up the security camera feeds, switching through them till he found the one for the airlock.

"Just about done," HyungJoon called back, focused on what he was doing. Within seconds there was a click and the collar dropped away. "There! Come on, let's move," he said, throwing things back into boxes and gathering up the equipment. He noticed YoungSaeng gathering up things as well out of the corner of his eye.

JungMin rubbed at his neck, looking at the collar being tossed into a box before getting to his feet as well and going to help YoungSaeng, lifting up one of the heavy boxes.

HyunJoong reached the airlock just as the ship was finished docking, drawing in a breath. He could hear the airlock being opened from the other ship, the sound echoing through the metal hulls. Turning to the panel for their own airlock, he entered in the code and listened as the hatch unlocked, the hiss of air escaping and entering from the other ship loud in his ears.

He turned to the airlock as it opened, politely saluting the men who came through. The responses he got were polite at best. Military ships and civilian ships rarely got along in the best of times. 

Monitoring the different camera feeds, KyuJong watched as military personnel started pouring into the ship, at least a dozen of them scouring through the different decks. The three heading to engineering had arrived just before a team of officers. It didn't seem like they were looking for anything specific luckily, just the routine check for smuggling. 

Looking over his shoulder as a couple of the men came onto the bridge, he stood up and moved out of the way for them to check their navigation logs. Hopefully this wouldn't take too long.

HyunJoong was given the task of escorting the other ship's Captain through the vessel, explaining the ship's recent activities while ignoring how superior the older Captain acted. This was another reason why he had chosen to work in a civilian trade; military men had a superiority complex the size of Jupiter.

JongWoon had just sat down at his station with the ship's logs when the officers showed up. Giving them his best smile, he got out of their way and watched as they went through the paperwork, hands clasped tightly behind his back.

Down in engineering, the officers appeared to find nothing worth reporting. One who looked like he might be a higher rank had a communicator to his ear, listening to the reports from the different decks.

The man looked at HyungJoon, then at JungMin and YoungSaeng, both of them standing out of the way. JungMin was still wearing civilian clothing. "Are these two part of the crew? There are only four personnel registered to work on this ship."

"Yeah, of course," HyungJoon nodded, trying to hide his nervousness, with a smile. "New recruits, just picked them up at our last stop. We were short-handed and they were willing to work, so the captain was willing to give them a shot. First time on a transport, but they're doing okay." HyungJoon knew he was babbling, but hopefully they'd just take that as talkative and not nerves.

YoungSaeng tried not to frown at the babbling, instead tried to look like he was being productive, nudging JungMin to at least try and play along.

Blinking at the nudge, JungMin turned to the equipment and pretended to look over valves and meters, like he actually knew what he was doing down here.

The officer seemed to buy the story though. "All additions to the crew need to be added to the crew manifest within 24 hours, see that it gets done," the officer told HyungJoon before moving on to inspect another part of the ship. A quiet joke about civilians never doing things right went through the men examining the ship. JungMin exchanged a glance with YoungSaeng.

It was also interesting how the men checked over the cargo hold, but upon seeing the Federation containers, left them alone apart from making sure they were sealed. 

When the officers left engineering, HyungJoon visibly slumped against a piece of machinery, looking for all the world like he'd been through an intense interrogation. "I'm going to kill JongWoon. He said he'd added you two to the crew roster."

YoungSaeng shifted uncomfortably next to JungMin, keeping his eye on the door just in case the military personnel came back.

On the bridge, KyuJong was about ready to strangle the officer who was fiddling with his controls, making snide comments about how outdated the system was. He was especially glad when they left, shutting and locking the door behind them before they decided to come back.

By the time the inspection was over, HyunJoong was all too happy to escort the other Captain off his ship. He had a good poker face, but there was only so long he could bite his own tongue. Thankfully the search seemed to have turned up nothing; he heard no word of problems through the constant report that came through the other ship's radio lines.

Only once the airlock was locked and airtight did he relax, sighing softly as he leaned against the wall. He pulled his comm device out and flicked it on. "Time to go, get us back on course KyuJong."

"Oh thank God," JongWoon groaned as he overheard, slumping over his desk. 

"Yes sir," KyuJong said happily, resetting in their course. Once clearance was given from the other ship he moved them away slowly and within minutes the military ship was no longer on their sensors. Turning back to the controls, he hit the main com. "Everyone can relax, we're clear."

"Well that was.. not fun," HyungJoon sighed, putting equipment away.

YoungSaeng looked at JungMin, chewing on his lip in contemplation before he turned back to HyungJoon. "What now?"

"Uh, we should probably head back to the mess hall, I'm sure the Captain will want to have a meeting," HyungJoon said, closing a cabinet and resetting the locks.

JungMin nodded a little at that, frowning down at YoungSaeng for a moment before looking at the younger man, waiting for him to lead the way.

Gathering together all the paperwork and storing it again, JongWoon sighed in relief and stood up, glad to see no sign of the military ship out the nearest window. Of course of all the times for there to be a surprise inspection, it would be now. Rubbing his eyes and thinking he needed more sleep to deal with things like this, he left the room and headed back down towards the mess hall.

HyunJoong was already there by the time he was, looking up. "Better than the last inspection," he murmured. "I still don't believe you when you say tripping that officer down the stairs was an accident."

"It was," JongWoon whined, dropping down into a chair to sulk. 

"What was?" KyuJong asked as he stepped into the room, HyungJoon and the other two just behind him. Taking a seat next to HyunJoong, KyuJong watched the other two and HyungJoon sit across from them.

YoungSaeng was watching them all with pursed lips, glancing up at JungMin periodically, like he wanted to say something.

"JongWoon sending an officer head over heels down the stairs the last time they surprised us with a visit," HyunJoong shook his head in amusement. It had taken them a good ten minutes to keep JongWoon from being killed. He looked at the others each in turn. "Were things all right on your ends? There was nothing to report, which is very good." 

"Smooth sailing," HyungJoon grinned. "Except for JongWoon not putting these two on the crew roster, but they seemed to overlook it luckily."

"Other than snide comments about my navigation equipment, they didn't say anything," KyuJong shrugged. 

"Get used to it, they like being pains when they grace us with their visits," JongWoon grumbled.

"This was mild for them, thankfully," HyunJoong shook his head. "JongWoon, make sure they're both on the roster this time, let's not make the same mistake twice. There might be another inspection when we arrive on the moon, you know how the natives are." 

"We should get these two familiar with some kind of role on the ship if they're going to look like they're part of the crew," HyungJoon said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"That would probably be a good idea," HyunJoong nodded, looking towards JungMin and YoungSaeng. "What specialties do you both have? Or at least, what posts do you think you could hold convincingly if the military come calling?"

"Why are you doing this?" JungMin asked suddenly, completely bypassing the question. "You could have just handed us over and gotten off lightly." 

"We said we'd help you," KyuJong blinked, surprised at the question. "We're not just going to hand you off like that when we don't know what's going on."

"Yeah, it wouldn't be right," HyungJoon agreed.

YoungSaeng frowned, looking down at the table. "You don't have to do any of this."

"Well, we're doing it anyways," JongWoon grinned, drawing one leg up to his chest and perking his chin on his knee. "Who does the military think they are, stuffing people in containers."

"So, any position you think would be easy for you to act in should you need to?" HyunJoong asked again. "As you can see by the fact there's only four of us, there's plenty of spots open." 

Chewing on his lip, YoungSaeng looked up and shook his head. "I'm.. I'm not sure."

"Well I can always use help in engineering, are either of you mechanically inclined?" HyungJoon perked up, seeing as they were looking willing to help.

"Not me," YoungSaeng shook his head immediately. "I guess I can cook," he said, with a shrug.

KyuJong brightened on hearing that. "Really? So I don't have to anymore?"

"We have a cook again!" JongWoon cheered. For the moment anyways.

JungMin looked like he wasn't quite sure what to say. "I guess...I'm not that bad with machines..."

"Then you can help out HyungJoon," HyunJoong smiled, wondering how that would work out. HyungJoon seemed utterly terrified of JungMin. 

HyungJoon deflated slightly. He'd been hoping for YoungSaeng to help him, not JungMin. The redhead couldn't seem to look at him without glaring. "So now what?"

"I'm going back to the bridge, see what else they managed to screw up while they were here," KyuJong said, getting to his feet.

YoungSaeng glanced at JungMin, still frowning. "Would it be okay if JungMin and I had a conversation privately?"

HyunJoong blinked at that. "Of course. Is here all right, or would you like me to escort you back to your cabin?"

JungMin frowned down at YoungSaeng, before shaking his head. "Here's fine."

Nodding, HyunJoong stood up. "Come on, we've got some work to do," he nodded to his engineer and negotiator, heading out of the room. JongWoon got up and followed him out, looking back over his shoulder at the two at the table curiously. 

Out in the corridor, HyungJoon grabbed JongWoon's sleeve and pulled him along. "Come on, no eavesdropping. You can help me in engineering."

Watching them all leave the room and shut the door, YoungSaeng turned to JungMin, his lips pursed slightly before he slumped over. "Well now what are we going to do? I didn't think they would actually go through with helping us."

JungMin rested his head in one hand, blowing long red bangs out of his eyes in frustration. "Hell if I know. We're not going to be able to just get off at the next planet, are we?" He rubbed one hand over his eyes. 

"No, doesn't seem like it," YoungSaeng shook his head. Drumming his fingers on the table, he looked around the room, considering their options. "I think, considering what lengths they're going to, we should tell them something. We won't be able to protect them if they're not at least a little bit informed."

"I don't like this," JungMin scowled. "We can't trust them. You know how fast people like them can change. We're just going to end up back in those containers again." He could see they would need to say something though; that was part of the reason why he was so frustrated. He knew they didn't have much of a choice. 

"I don't think we'll be able to avoid their questions for very long," YoungSaeng said, looking up at JungMin. "If we give them just a little bit maybe they'll back down." His brows knitted together and he clasped his hands together. "I _want_ to be able to trust them JungMin, they're our only option right now."

"..." JungMin rubbed his forehead. "Fine. We'll give them a bit. Just a bit, and not...that. Okay? But I don't trust them, I don't care what they say they're going to do or not do." 

YoungSaeng nodded, looking down at the table. The corners of his lips quirked slightly in a smile. "It's funny, they're obviously afraid of us, yet they left us alone in an unlocked room."

JungMin gave YoungSaeng a pained look. "They don't seem particularly bright? Not that the lock would do anything really." 

"No, but we can let them have their illusions," YoungSaeng's smile widened and he chuckled, leaning his elbows on the table. "Maybe we're not giving them enough credit. We could have just easily told those officers who we were as well, and I think they might suspect that."

"Good for them." JungMin leaned his head into his hand again. "I'd be a little worried about mankind's intelligence level if they couldn't figure something out on their own. So, are we tracking them all down?" 

Lips pursed, YoungSaeng looked over at the kitchen. "Maybe I should make lunch, then we can call them when it's ready? If someone doesn't show up first, that is."

"You're really taking this job thing seriously," JungMin wrinkled his nose. "All right. Anything I can do to help?" 

"Of course I'm going to take it seriously, we have to eat too," YoungSaeng rolled his eyes, getting to his feet. "And yes, I could use help as long as you promise not to get distracted? Please?"

"I'll be on my best behavior," JungMin promised, getting up as well and going to follow YoungSaeng into the kitchen. 

Yawning into his hand, KyuJong checked the sensors for the hundredth time, trying not to zone out while HyunJoong was on the bridge with him. "You know, we're lucky they didn't go through the video logs of the security cameras. No amount of talking would have got us out of that mess," he said, glancing over his shoulder.

Looking away from the monitor, HyunJoong pursed his lips and nodded. "That'll probably be our next priority, going over every single log to make sure there's no evidence of what happened. Thankfully, they rarely have the patience to go through entire videos." Flicking over to the security cameras, HyunJoong went back through the logs, intending to remove that entire section from the ship's memory.

"Wonder what those two are talking about," KyuJong mused, leaning back in his chair and looking pointedly at the security monitors and then back at HyunJoong.

"..." HyunJoong eyed his new pilot with amusement. "Why are you picking up on JongWoon's bad habits?" 

"I have no idea what you're talking about," KyuJong smiled innocently at him. "It's not like we could hear them or anything, there's no mics in the mess hall."

"Do you know how to read lips then?" HyunJoong shook his head, but flicked through the security cameras until they arrived at the one for the mess hall. "Doesn't look like they're discussing much to me." 

"I just wanted to see what they're doing," KyuJong said, scooting his chair over to look over HyunJoong's shoulder. "... what are they doing? Cooking?"

"Seems like it. I guess we'll know by the end of our shift if you need to take the position of cook away from YoungSaeng. Can I close this, or are you worried about them poisoning us?" 

"... Do you think they would? There shouldn't be any poisonous materials on board," KyuJong blinked and then looked sheepish. "Okay, I guess you can close it," he mumbled, sliding his chair back over to the pilot station.

Chuckling, HyunJoong switched back to the logs to continue what he had been doing. "What are you doing now? Those sensors shouldn't have changed in the half a minute since you last checked them." 

"Uh, trying not to zone out," KyuJong said, turning to the navigation terminal. "I don't really have a whole lot to do at the moment other than make sure we don't stray off course."

"You didn't bring a book with you up here?" HyunJoong raised an eyebrow. "This is going to be an extremely boring job for you." 

"No, books are too distracting, I'd rather just look out at the stars," KyuJong shrugged, leaning back in his seat. "It's half the reason I like to fly."

That piqued HyunJoong's interest, though it didn't show. "What do you see out there?" He asked, glancing away from the monitor to KyuJong beside him. 

"Freedom?" KyuJong chuckled, looking over at HyunJoong. "Is that too cheesy?"

The corners of HyunJoong's lips quirked slightly. "Just a little." He looked out the window at the infinite space surrounding them, before turning back to the monitor. "But it's what we all want, isn't it?" 

"I guess so," KyuJong nodded, turning back to look out the window again. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead." HyunJoong finished with one camera log and moved on to the next. 

Turning slightly in his seat, KyuJong considered HyunJoong for a moment before speaking. "What happened to the rest of the crew?"

The Captain's hands paused on the controls. "...They left to pursue other interests," HyunJoong shrugged after a moment, continuing what he was doing. "This ship is just a stepping stone for many, very few find reason to stay once they'd gotten what they came for." 

KyuJong tilted his head slightly at that. "All at once though? I kind of gathered that that's what happened anyway," he said.

HyunJoong pressed his lips firmly together. "I'd prefer not to discuss it at this moment," he replied, a little shorter than he had intended. What had happened was still a painful memory for him; he didn't discuss it with anyone, not even HyungJoon and JongWoon. 

Shrinking back at that, KyuJong nodded. "Okay... sorry," he said quietly, turning back around to fiddle with the navigation again before staring out the window. As much as he felt like he was more of a part of the crew now, they still kept him in the dark about everything before he arrived. It was obvious whatever had happened with the old crew hadn't been good, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Sighing inwardly, KyuJong let himself get lost in the stars again.

HyunJoong fell silent as well, keeping his mind on the task at hand. It was just easier not to think about anything.

A few minutes later, the comm on the wall turned on, static coming from it for a minute. HyunJoong blinked, looking up at it.

"...Is this thing on?" That was JungMin's voice.

HyunJoong's lips quivered despite himself. "Yes."

"Ah. Well, your acting cook made something." 

Jumping at the sound of voices, KyuJong just barely managed to keep from falling out of his chair as he looked wide-eyed at HyunJoong. "What?" It hadn't registered what had been said between the Captain and JungMin.

The older man raised an eyebrow at KyuJong in amusement. "It's time for a break." He looked back to the comm. "Thank you JungMin, and YoungSaeng. We'll be there in a few minutes."

The static was cut off as the line ended, HyunJoong pulling his own comm device out of his pocket and flicking it on. "JongWoon, HyungJoon, head down to the mess hall. Our cook has been busy."

" _Food?_ " he heard JongWoon ask hopefully. 

Standing up, KyuJong stretched out his arms and back. "Guess it's time to see if he's a good cook or not," he said, checking the sensors again before heading to the hatch.

"Mhm." HyunJoong turned off his comm device when he heard the confirmation HyungJoon and JongWoon were on their way, standing as well. "At least they seem less likely to bite our heads off now." He followed KyuJong through the hatch and towards the stairs, hands in his pockets. 

"Well, we can hope," KyuJong smirked, going down the ladder to the deck below. When they reached the mess hall, HyungJoon and JongWoon had beaten them there and were sitting at the table waiting anxiously.

YoungSaeng looked over his shoulder when the others appeared, shoving plates into JungMin's hand to bring them out. "It's not the best, but I did what I could," he said shortly, grabbing more plates.

"It smells good, that's a good sign," KyuJong said with a smile, taking a seat.

Trying not to watch as JungMin brought the plates out, JongWoon blinked at the food that was set down in front of him. The type of cuisine was slightly different from what was usually served on the ship, but it smelled and looked good. "Looks good to me," he piped up, as JungMin helped YoungSaeng distribute the rest of the plates before sitting down.

"Thank you," HyunJoong smiled as YoungSaeng sat down. 

YoungSaeng bowed his head slightly at that, picking up his utensils. He cast wary eyes around as they started to eat.

"This is very good," KyuJong nodded after hesitantly taking a bite. "Much better cook than me," he smiled over at YoungSaeng.

"Much better," HyungJoon chirped around a mouthful, earning himself a kick from KyuJong.

"Kyu's still a good cook," JongWoon put in, happily eating. "But this tastes great."

"Slow down before you stab yourself in the eye with your chopstick," HyunJoong said, watching the older man with amusement. "That would hardly be a compliment to his cooking." 

While they ate, the light banter seemed to pick up, the four crewman seeming more at ease with their new additions. KyuJong couldn't help but notice some of the tension had eased from the other two as well, though YoungSaeng kept glancing up at JungMin, like he was anxious.

"So, YoungSaeng, where'd you learn to cook like this?" HyungJoon asked with a bright smile.

YoungSaeng's eyes nervously darted to JungMin again but he just shrugged. "Just.. around."

"I haven't seen anyone cook in this way before, but it's nice," HyunJoong commented.

JungMin shifted a little in his seat, seeing the constant glances in his direction. Sighing inwardly, he continued eating, tapping one foot lightly against the floor.

When there was a lull in the conversation, he glanced at YoungSaeng again before setting his chopsticks down. "You wanted to know what the military was doing with us, right?" Just getting it out in the open rather than dance around the subject. 

Stopping with food halfway to his mouth, KyuJong blinked at the two, his mouth open before he understood what had been said. He looked around at the others, nodding slowly. "Well, yeah."

YoungSaeng straightened in his seat, pushing his plate away slightly to fold his hands onto the table. "We should probably clear up one thing first," he said softly, bringing his eyes up to HyunJoong's. "We.. weren't slaves. Not in the strictest of senses anyway."

"That doesn't mean we were exactly willing to go along with what they wanted," JungMin wrinkled his nose, glancing at YoungSaeng, then back at them. "Which was why they used shock collars."

JongWoon shivered a little, but didn't interrupt, eyes on them both.

"We were..." JungMin chewed on his lower lip, trying to figure out the best way to say it. "Shipped around on missions for them, off the record of course."

"Missions like what?" HyungJoon asked, eyes wide and curious, food forgotten.

Tapping his fingers on his hand, YoungSaeng chewed on his cheek. "What you should probably understand about the Federation is that the ruling body is comprised of different factions. It's not supposed to be that way, but each faction wants complete control. That's where we come in, to keep a peace between the factions."

"I don't understand, how do you keep the peace?" KyuJong asked, his brow creased in confusion.

"We eliminate those that stand in the way of the Federation continuing as it's supposed to," YoungSaeng said simply.

"Eliminate...as in..." JongWoon trailed off, eyes widening.

"As in getting rid of them permanently," JungMin finished. "In less fancier terms, you could call us assassins."

HyunJoong watched them for any sign of a lie, and saw none. They were telling the truth. It was a lot to take in. But then he frowned slightly. "But you don't want to serve the military," he clarified. That was obvious by now. "So why are they forcing you to do it?"

JungMin gave a sour laugh. "We're the best qualified for the job, let's leave it at that."

"So, you could have killed us the second..." HyungJoon whimpered, shifting closer to JongWoon.

"Yes, we could have," YoungSaeng nodded. "But we didn't. We don't _want_ to do this work, and frankly this ship was the best option. We couldn't get those collars off ourselves."

KyuJong looked to HyunJoong, unsure what to do. This had not been expected at all, and he was more than a little frightened now.

"The Federation isn't giving us a choice in this, so we want to get as far away as we can," JungMin said, then eyed JongWoon and HyungJoon who were attached to each other. "If we were going to kill you, you would already be dead, so we're obviously not going to kill you anytime soon."

JongWoon gulped. The 'anytime soon' sounded rather ominous to him.

HyunJoong tapped his fingers lightly against the table, then sighed. "Well, this is a problem. We definitely aren't going to give you both over to the Federation now. But the options that leaves us with are rather grim. They'll realize that shipment's missing eventually." 

"What are we going to do then? We can't dodge Fed ships forever, they know it was us who took the shipment," KyuJong said, frowning slightly. "Where do we go?"

"Get out of Federation controlled space as soon as possible," YoungSaeng said simply.

"What? We can't just cross over into unclaimed space like that, we're not even remotely equipped to handle the scavengers out there," HyungJoon protested, shaking his head.

"This ship is equipped with weapons, yes?" YoungSaeng blinked at him.

"Well yeah, but, minimal firepower at best and it's not like we check those systems routinely, if ever," HyungJoon snorted. They'd never had a reason to.

"This is a civilian transport freighter," HyunJoong told the two. "What weapons we have is mostly for dealing with asteroids. We can't move that fast either, the ship's bulky and the warp drive can only go half of what a military ship can. And that's just the short-term problems." Once they passed the Federation border, they would be on their own. Their external communications would go dead, they would have nowhere to stop for supplies...safely, anyways.

They would be fugitives from the Federation. Was there really nothing else they could do? It was giving up everything. 

"We have two weeks before we're due at the Fed station," KyuJong said, his lips pursed. "So at the end of the third week they'll be sending out ships to look for us."

"Then we've got two weeks to figure something out," HyungJoon nodded.

Nodding, HyunJoong sighed, rubbing his temple. "I might be able to talk to a contact for upgrades, if it comes to that. But I think everyone just needs a long sleep right now. It's my turn on duty, so HyungJoon can help me clean up and the rest of you are off duty." He stood up, gathering up the empty plates. 

YoungSaeng looked to JungMin, frowning slightly. "Do we need an escort back to our room?" he asked, eyes going to HyunJoong.

"JongWoon and I are heading that way anyway, I don't think it would be an escort," KyuJong said with a light smile.

"We'll have to show you around the ship tomorrow," JongWoon offered hesitantly. "So you don't get lost and end up in the machinery somewhere." He stood up, stretching a little. "See you all later then," he waved to HyunJoong and HyungJoon, heading to the door and looking back at the others.

Looking at YoungSaeng, JungMin got up after a moment, slowly moving to the door as well.

Following after JungMin, YoungSaeng glanced back at HyunJoong and HyungJoon before they left the mess hall. It was a quiet walk back to the crew quarters where KyuJong waved them goodnight and went into his room, leaving the two with JongWoon.

"Uh, so, this way," JongWoon smiled at them both and continued down the hallway. He stopped outside of their room. "Sleep well."

JungMin stepped inside after YoungSaeng, watched the door close behind them. After a moment, he heard the very faint click of the door locking. "...I don't think they believe that we don't plan on killing them," he snorted, going to sit on the edge of one of the beds. 

"I don't blame them," YoungSaeng chuckled, pacing around the room a bit with his arms crossed.

"Well, what now?" JungMin fell back to lie on the bed, blinking up at the bulkhead. "We're dead no matter what at this point. This tin can isn't going to be able to get us away safely. And we just dragged them down with us." 

"I don't know, which is what we wanted to avoid in the first place but they were being stubborn, particularly that captain," YoungSaeng sighed, moving to sit down next to JungMin on the bed. "They seem set on this though, and it's their decision. I think we made the risks pretty clear."

"Don't think it was clear enough," JungMin grumbled, one hand over his eyes for a moment before sighing and peeking through his fingers at the older man. "Do you think we'll be able to go home?" 

Looking down at him, YoungSaeng smiled sadly and shrugged. "Don't know. It's been so long, and we're not the same anymore. I'm not sure we'll be welcomed back with open arms."

"There's nowhere else we can go though," JungMin spoke quietly. "If we can't go home, we're lost." He lowered his hand and tilted his head to one side to look out the small window, into space. 

Scooting up to the pillows and lying down, YoungSaeng closed his eyes. "I don't know, we'll figure something out. We just can't go back to being collared weapons," he said softly. "I want my life back."

Turning his head again to look at the older man, JungMin sighed and rolled onto his side, curling up a little beside him. "Me too." His lips curled a little bitterly. "No matter what happens though, we're not going down without a fight." He squeezed YoungSaeng's arm lightly and settled down to sleep, eyes closing. 

"As if we knew how to do anything else," YoungSaeng murmured dryly, shifting a little closer to JungMin, resting his cheek against the other man's shoulder. "Sleep well," he murmured, trying to fall asleep.

"You too," JungMin replied softly, wrapping one arm loosely around YoungSaeng's waist and keeping the other man close. He wasn't sure who it reassured more, YoungSaeng or himself.

Putting the last of the dishes away, HyungJoon sighed dramatically, looking over at HyunJoong. "So what was that about a less crazy day today?"

"Just wishful thinking," HyunJoong laughed quietly, rubbing his temple as he wiped down the counter. "I think someone heard all our complaints about dying of boredom." Finishing up, he leaned against the counter. 

"Well I take it back," HyungJoon wrinkled his nose. "You need me for anything else? I'm going to try and get a couple hours sleep in."

"No, I can handle it." HyunJoong shook his head, heading towards the door. "Get some rest, you did good today," he smiled at the younger man. He hoped HyungJoon would be able to sleep; he himself would probably be too consumed in his thoughts to get any rest. 

"All in a days work I guess?" HyungJoon chuckled, following him out the door. "You should get some sleep too sir, you look like hell," he said, turning to go towards the crew quarters.

HyunJoong laughed, heading towards the stairs. "Thanks. Night." He disappeared up the stairs towards the bridge. 

Watching him go with a shake of his head, HyungJoon headed down the hall to his quarters, opening up the door and flopping down onto his bed. He idly thought about locking his door, but it was probably a waste of time. Rolling over, he flicked off the overhead light and buried his face in his pillow.

There was silence for a few minutes, only the subtle hum of the ship's engine vibrating through the hull. Then, a soft click by the door, and it opened silently, closing again after a moment.

A dark figure crept up to the bed, and without even a word to the bed's occupant, climbed up and pressed against HyungJoon's side. 

Rolling over, HyungJoon wrapped his arm tightly around the person next to him, not complaining or surprised in the least. "Can't sleep?" he murmured.

"I keep imagining I hear the door opening," JongWoon whined quietly, burrowing himself against the younger man and wrapping his arm around HyungJoon in return. "I locked their door, but you know..." 

"Yeah, I know," HyungJoon nodded. "But I kind of believe them when they say that if they wanted to hurt us they would have by now. Kind of clinging to that actually, before I beat my head into the wall."

"Don't do that, as hard as your head is, the wall would win and you need your brain intact." JongWoon patted HyungJoon's head, playing with a strand of hair. "Can I just...stay here for a while?"

"Of course," HyungJoon snorted, squeezing him tighter. "Since when have you asked to stay?"

JongWoon smiled in relief. "Well, never, but I figure since you were mentioning having a gun under your pillow I should have asked before getting a bullet in between my eyes. Do you actually have a gun under your pillow?" 

"....No, Captain won't let me have one," HyungJoon pouted. "And it would have been better to ask _before_ you climbed into bed."

"Probably. And you'd probably end up shooting your own foot off." JongWoon burrowed against him more, closing his eyes. "We can't go back now, can we?"

"Nope, _someone_ opened Pandora's Box," HyungJoon said, nudging the other man with his hip.

"Sorry," JongWoon mumbled, sniffing a little. "But would it have made it any better, really, if I hadn't?"

"Probably not," HyungJoon sighed, pulling back a little to look down at him. "Hey, it's nothing to cry over. We'll get out of this mess. The Captain hasn't let us down yet."

"Yeah," JongWoon murmured, smiling a little sadly. "We'll be fine." He buried his face in HyungJoon's shoulder, closing his eyes. "I'll try not to wake you up when it's time for my shift." 

"That would be appreciated," HyungJoon grumped, resting his chin on the top of JongWoon's head. He had to keep telling himself they'd be fine; he didn't want to think otherwise.

******************************

It was a day later when there was a break in the semi-routine they'd set up with the two newest members on board. The _Proteus_ was approaching Lenor's Moon, and preparing to make a fuel and supply stop.

HyunJoong had sent JongWoon and HyungJoon on a last run around the ship to make sure everything they needed was marked down on the list. JungMin and YoungSaeng were probably looking around the ship as well; he'd given them comm devices in case. He watched from the bridge window as the moon loomed closer. They would be entering it's gravitational field within minutes. 

"Sending our docking request now," KyuJong said, typing a few things into the communications array before sliding back over to the navigation. "Short stop, right?" he asked, making some minor adjustments to compensate for the increase in gravity.

"Right," HyunJoong nodded. "We're just here for fuel and supplies. Let's not tempt trouble," he chuckled quietly, checking over the terminals. After a moment he pulled out his communicator. "JongWoon, HyungJoon, you two just about done?"

 _"Yes sir, heading back to the bridge now,"_ JongWoon panted. 

"You don't want to tempt trouble, but are leaving those two in charge of buying the supplies," KyuJong mused, scooting back over to communications. "We have our clearance and our dock number. I'll wait till everyone's in and strapped in before starting docking," he said, moving back over to the controls to turn off the auto pilot. There was a slight jerk to the control when he took it, the nose dipping slightly.

"Gah!" _Thump_.

KyuJong blinked, looking over his shoulder when the hatch opened, HyungJoon scowling. "You trying to kill us? What'd you do that for?"

"Oops," KyuJong bit his lip to keep from laughing, turning back to the window. "You two should sit."

"I hate this part," JongWoon whined, crawling into the room on his stomach and attaching himself to the nearest chair.

"HyungJoon knows what we need most, and JongWoon's good at getting us deals even if he isn't good at much else," HyunJoong commented wryly and chuckled at the squawk from their negotiator. "Besides, you and I will be working on something else while they're gone." Strapping himself in, he turned back to the terminals.

KyuJong blinked at that, frowning lightly but didn't say anything, he was far too focused on watching where he was going. Docking at stations in orbit was tricky, the constant pull of the planet's gravity wreaking havoc with the controls. Newer and more advanced ships compensated automatically, but KyuJong preferred to do it himself, he liked the feel of the resistance.

Of course, that meant it was for a bumpy ride and the whole ship felt like it was going to fly apart at the seams. HyungJoon was staring worriedly out the window. They were flying nose first at the dock. "Uh.. Kyu? You know the airlock is on the side of the ship, right?"

"I know, just relax," KyuJong chuckled, flipping a switch over his head. He could hear HyungJoon's continued whining protests the closer they got to the station. Judging the distance, KyuJong pressed a button on the console and slammed the steering to the side, the whole ship swinging around sharply and came to a jerky halt just before they crashed into the station. "Easy as pie," KyuJong grinned, maneuvering the last few feet over and the airlock docked with the station, a slightly bump and the ship stopped.

"The abuse this poor ship goes through," HyunJoong shook his head. "We did warn JungMin and YoungSaeng to strap themselves down before this, right?" he chuckled, undoing the restraint and standing once the ship was still. Turning around, he tried not to laugh too hard. "JongWoon, you're the first person I've met to fall off the chair with the safety strap _on_."

"Shut up," JongWoon whined, trying to wiggle into a position where he could undo the strap while hanging from the chair. 

Rolling his eyes, HyungJoon undid his restraints and got up to help his friend. "You're hopeless," he said, helping him sit back up and undo the buckle that was jammed.

"We've got a two hour docking pass," KyuJong said, back at communications. "If you need more time let me know before it runs out, okay?"

"Two hours should be plenty," HyungJoon nodded, finally getting the buckle undone and helping JongWoon stand. "Ready?"

"Ready!" JongWoon got to his feet, rubbing his sore stomach from the strap before going to follow HyungJoon out of the hatch. "You'll hear from us soon!"

"Don't tick anyone off this time!" HyunJoong called after them before turning back to the terminal. "Now, I'll need your help with this. We're going to use the moon's communication lines to contact a friend of mine, who might be able to help us out with getting what we need for the ship, no questions asked." If they had to go out into unclaimed space, he would make sure they were as prepared as they could be.

KyuJong frowned slightly at that. "You know they'll be listening in, you'll have to be careful what you say," he said, starting up the system to link up with the communications array on the moon. "So, who are we calling?"

"I know," HyunJoong replied calmly, sliding his chair over. "Daniel Armand Lee...he's on Ghea Six, two systems down our route. I used to work under him, he knows quite a bit about what we'll need." 

"Alright, let's see if he's home," KyuJong nodded, tapping at the monitor until the system started to connect. He could see how many different planets and stations the signal was being bounced off of. All potential ears that would be monitoring the call. "It's going to be a little fuzzy, one of the arrays is down in a sector and the signal is being rerouted," he said, trying to find a shorter route for the call to go through. He glanced up at the monitor. "Call going out now."

Nodding, HyunJoong leaned against the terminal and waited. There was a long minute of nothing but static at the other end of the line. Calling between planets was glitchy at times, especially in the areas of the galaxy without as many arrays to pass the message on. Thankfully, they were in one of the better sectors and the call went through after a minute of waiting.

 _"Yeoboseyo?"_ asked a familiar voice. HyunJoong's lips curled slightly.

"Tablo hyung, long time."

That was all that needed to be said out of the ordinary, really. Few people called Daniel 'Tablo', a nickname he'd gotten from his side hobbies which usually weren't entirely on the proper side of the law. And calling him by a nickname that no one else would understand let Daniel know exactly what kind of call this was.

_"HyunJoong, is that you? What can I do for you? You must be off-planet, the signal's hazy."_

HyunJoong nodded. "We're heading past Ghea Six on our trade route. The ship's been acting up lately, something wrong with the warp drives and our engineer's having a time figuring it out. Would you be free to take a look at it? This is one of your designs after all."

 _"Of course,"_ Daniel replied, not missing a beat. _"We can catch up a little. When will you be by?"_

The Captain turned to the monitors. "We'll be in the area in five days."

_"Got it. I'll make sure I'm free. Call back in before you hit the atmosphere."_

"Will do. See you soon, sir." HyunJoong said a quick farewell before terminating the call.

Disconnecting the station's array from their system, KyuJong looked up at HyunJoong with a smile. "So was there a hidden message in there, or is he really going to expect problems with the warp drive?"

"'Tablo' is a nickname he took on for his side activities," HyunJoong chuckled, checking over the monitors. "Details aren't needed, but you can say he wouldn't be popular with the Federation if they found out. He knows we're coming for something under the table."

"And here I thought you were Captain Straight and Narrow," KyuJong chuckled, sliding over to the security monitor and started shuffling through the feeds. He frowned slightly at the monitor. "Looks like those two roped JungMin and YoungSaeng to helping."

"Hm?" HyunJoong leaned over a little to see the monitor. JungMin and YoungSaeng were in the cargo bay, rearranging things for when the new supplies would come in. "I'm surprised they're actually doing it. Aside from pretending every now and then, they don't have to do anything on the ship." YoungSaeng had continued to cook for them though, while JungMin seemed to be making an effort to learn engineering, even with how often he scared HyungJoon out of his wits. 

"Maybe they're bored?" KyuJong shrugged. The two mostly kept to themselves, though they seemed at least a bit nicer than they had been those first couple of days. KyuJong wasn't as afraid of them, he'd managed to at least have a couple of conversations with YoungSaeng that didn't end in glares. "Guess we're just waiting on the other two then," he said, stretching out his arms.

"Mhm." HyunJoong tapped his fingers against the monitor, watching outside the window.

Heading down the hallways of the station with the supply list in his hand, JongWoon looked back at HyungJoon. "So, first thing is fuel, right?" 

"Fuel, then food," HyungJoon nodded, then stopped and thought about it. "Fuel should be easy, just need to talk the pumping manager when we get back, so I think food is priority," he said with a grin.

"So food first then?" JongWoon corrected, laughing. "Let's get to it then, I think it was this way?" He pointed in a direction, looking down at the list. 

"Yeah, there was a good supply store over in the main promenade," HyungJoon said, turning a corner that led out into a large open square. There were hundreds of people, all buying or selling different types of wares. "Let's stay away from anything local though," he made a face. "Their produce didn't last long if I remember correctly."

"No, and it had a strange taste to it," JongWoon wrinkled his nose. "We should have asked YoungSaeng to come along as our cook, he probably knows more what to look for." He looked through the items on display curiously, holding on to the list to avoid the temptation to poke through anything. "He's going through a lot of spices though, we should definitely get more of those."

"Captain wouldn't have let him off the ship," HyungJoon said, pointing over to where the supply shop was. "Maybe we should tell him to cut back on the spices a bit, I don't know about you but some things he makes burns my mouth."

"It does a little, but they seem to enjoy it," JongWoon grinned. "Or maybe they just like laughing at you running around for water. He cooks things different though, some of the combinations I never even thought would taste good but they do." He headed over in the direction of the supply shop. 

"Yeah, I'm enjoying his cooking otherwise," HyungJoon nodded. It took a while to get everything they needed on the list, and a few extra things they thought of while they were looking around. Arranging to have the supplies delivered right away, they had the bill added to their account with the station to pay altogether. "Okay, food's done, time for fuel," HyungJoon said, bouncing slightly as they left the shop.

"Yep," JongWoon grinned widely, walking along beside him. "And then odds and ends, then we can leave!" Moons always gave him chills for some reason. "Fuel's gotten expensive, I'll see if I can get us a discount or something." One thing he was good at was haggling.

Looking around, he headed in the direction of the docks again, where they would find the pumping manager. 

"I'm sure the Captain will appreciate that," HyungJoon nodded as they headed back down the hall towards the docks. "I don't think we're going to be able to do any more jobs until we get all this mess sorted out. Legal ones anyway."

"Yeah...at least this job paid well," JongWoon sighed, sticking close to his friend as they walked. "Once this is all over, I'm taking a long vacation. On solid ground." 

"You and me both," HyungJoon agreed, linking his arm with JongWoon's. "I'm sure the Captain will want to as well." Back at the docks, HyungJoon looked around for the fuel station. "Over there," he nudged JongWoon towards the booth where a man was overseeing the refilling of several ships at once.

Nodding, JongWoon headed towards the booth, straightening out his uniform a little. "We should all go on a vacation. When was the last time? Quite a while ago." He stopped at the booth and smiled at the man, starting to negotiate for their ship's fuel. He could at least do his job right. 

Waiting patiently while JongWoon haggled, HyungJoon was looking around the dock in interest. There quite a number of ships and plenty of people coming in and out of airlocks. Some were unloading, some were loading, others were just meandering around trying to look busy (he knew that look very well). Looking down towards their ship, he froze, air catching in his throat. He subtly tugged on JongWoon's sleeve.

Busy talking, JongWoon didn't notice the first tug, able to get them a better deal than what was listed. Only on the third tug did he blink, looking over at HyungJoon. "Huh?"

Turning slightly to see what HyungJoon was looking at, his eyes widened. "Uh oh." 

"We almost done?" HyungJoon hissed, turning sharply around. It didn't seem like the three men behind them had seen him, but he wasn't being too careful. Not when they probably wanted to kill him.

"Uh. Another minute?" JongWoon whispered, tugging HyungJoon closer as the man behind the booth arranged for the lower price. "Don't look at them, if they don't see your face..."

"I'm trying not to," HyungJoon whined pathetically. He wanted to look over his shoulder and see if they had moved on, but knowing his luck they would be right behind him, breathing down his neck. Tapping his foot impatiently, he tried to keep calm. The minute they were given the okay and handed over their account information, HyungJoon grabbed JongWoon's arm and made a beeline for the ship.

JongWoon hurried along beside HyungJoon, wanting to get to the ship as soon as possible. Before they were seen.

Luck wasn't with them though, as hands seized both his and HyungJoon's collars from behind when they were just about to the ship. JongWoon yelped as he was yanked backwards and away from HyungJoon, pinwheeling his arms before falling onto his rear. 

Shrieking, HyungJoon flailed his arms in an effort to get the man holding him to let go. It wasn't as effective as he'd hoped. Instead of letting him go, the man grabbed both his arms and pinned them behind his back.

"Yah, if it isn't our little fag friend," a gravely voice said, the owner coming into view. HyungJoon gulped. Seems like they did remember him. "We were so disappointed when we found out you weren't going to be joining us in our jail sentence."

"I had a better lawyer," HyungJoon snarked, immediately regretting it when he was punched hard in the stomach.

"He's still got a mouth on him," the man snorted, lifting up HyungJoon's head by his hair. "I'm surprised you and your little perv friend would show your faces around here."

Eyes widening, JongWoon scrambled to his feet. "Hey, come on, we settled this ages ago! Just let him go, we'll be gone within the hour!"

Starting forward, his feet were swept out from under him and he landed hard on his stomach with a yelp. "He's not getting away this time," spoke the man keeping him down. "Neither are you, for helping him skip out on all the fun." 

"Just let him go, it's just me you want," HyungJoon said, frowning when he saw JongWoon go down.

"Nah, he can watch us beat the shit out of you," the man snorted, punching him in the stomach again. "See, we don't appreciate little faggy men trying to pick us up in bars."

"Honest mistake," HyungJoon wheezed, flinching at another hit. "Won't happen again."

"Damn straight it won't," the man pulled HyungJoon's head up again and started to pull back his fist to punch HyungJoon in the face. HyungJoon closed his eyes tightly and tried to pull away. 

When the hit didn't come he opened one eye then both and blinked. YoungSaeng was standing behind the man who was trying to hit him, his hand around the pulled back wrist. HyungJoon didn't like the look in YoungSaeng's eyes as he stared up at the taller man.

"Who the hell—" the man just watching stepped forward, and came up short when a hand around his collar dragged him back. Whirling around, he came face-to-face with JungMin. The redhead was his height, and skinnier than him, but the dark expression made him no less intimidating.

JongWoon stared from his position on the ground. He hadn't even heard the two come up.

"Let them go," JungMin said, a warning in his voice. "Or they won't be the ones who get the shit beaten out of them." One of his hands still gripped the man's collar, but the other was rested against the side of his neck, fingers pressing into the soft flesh.

"This isn't any of your business, scram," the man who had been hitting HyungJoon tried to pull his arm out of YoungSaeng's grip. When YoungSaeng wouldn't let go, he pushed at the shorter man but YoungSaeng didn't budge. "The fuck... " the man hissed, pulling his other hand back as if to strike YoungSaeng. HyungJoon could have sworn he saw something flash in YoungSaeng's eyes before his hand shot up, the heel connecting with the man's nose. Blood spurted everywhere, and the man stumbled back. 

YoungSaeng grabbed the man about the wrist again, spinning him around to jerk up sharply and pin his arm behind his back. The man struggled, but a sharp downward kick from YoungSaeng into the back of his knee and the man toppled over. YoungSaeng's sharp eyes went to the one still holding onto HyungJoon. "Let him go."

The one JungMin was holding on to lashed out the second YoungSaeng hit his friend, but the redhead grabbed onto the offending hand easily, bending the pinky back until the man screamed, the digit at an impossible angle.

The man holding on to HyungJoon had turned ashen, quickly letting go of HyungJoon and backing up. "This isn't going to be the last you hear of this," he swore. "Next time you land here, all four of you are dead."

"Are you really in a position to threaten us?" JungMin's eyes narrowed, darkening as he pressed down a little harder on the broken finger. 

There was a sound of booted feet on the flooring, YoungSaeng's eyes flickered over the security personnel coming towards them.

"What's going on here?" One of the security officers said, scowling at all of them.

"We were just coming back to our ship," HyungJoon said, still doubled over and holding his stomach. "These three attacked us," he said, pointing to the three attackers. The security officer's scowl deepened. 

"Should have known you three were going to cause more trouble," the officer said, roughly pulling the one with a bleeding nose up to his feet. YoungSaeng motioned to JungMin to let the man he was holding go as the officers surrounded them and were leading the three away, ignoring the protests from the three attackers.

YoungSaeng moved to JongWoon's side, helping him to his feet. "Let's go before you cause more trouble," he said quietly to JongWoon and HyungJoon.

"Up," JungMin grumbled, pulling HyungJoon to his feet as well.

"Uh...thank you," JongWoon said, still blinking in surprise as he looked from YoungSaeng and JungMin. He was glad they'd come to help, but at the same time, the whole scene gave him the chills. It hadn't even looked like the brief scuffle was a challenge to them, the troublemakers restrained without problems. 

"I guess it was a good thing you two were nearby," HyungJoon said with a hesitant smile, leaning against JungMin as they went through the airlock into the cargo hold.

"The supplies had been delivered and you weren't back yet," YoungSaeng said shortly. "Then we heard your girly shriek." The dark eyes swiveled over to HyungJoon who flushed and mumbled another thank you.

JungMin tolerated HyungJoon leaning against him until they were back in the cargo hold and the airlock was shut behind them, then pushed away. "What now?"

"Now we're just waiting for the fuel," JongWoon winced, going to stand beside HyungJoon with one hand on his back. "Then we can leave." 

HyungJoon had to sit down on a crate, one hand still at his stomach. "Shouldn't take long," he said, closing his eyes. "Someone should let the Captain know we're back."

JungMin sighed and fished out the communicator they'd given him, shaking his head at YoungSaeng and wandering around the cargo hold while he held the device in front of his face.

"Are you okay?" JongWoon asked quietly, rubbing HyungJoon's back and standing next to him.

"Yeah, he just got me good," HyungJoon nodded, opening his eyes to look up at his friend. "You want to take a look at it once we're clear of the station?"

Standing to the side with his arms crossed, YoungSaeng turned away from looking at JungMin towards the other two.

"Yeah," JongWoon nodded with a small smile. "It shouldn't be anything major, but you know, better safe than sorry, and at the very least I can give you a medpack or something." He perched himself on the edge of the crate next to HyungJoon. "I guess we won't be stopping here again for a long, long while, huh?" 

"Not if I can help it," HyungJoon said, leaning over to rest his head on JongWoon's shoulder. "Think the Captain's going to yell at us again?"

"I don't think so, we weren't doing anything wrong this time," JongWoon shook his head, running his hand along HyungJoon's arm. "Want to go lie down in medbay for a bit? The fuel should be here soon, and I'll take a look at you once we've cleared gravity and KyuJong's done playing mad driver."

"Okay," HyungJoon nodded, sliding off the top of the crate and with JongWoon's help, headed to the hatch to the medical bay.

Watching them go, YoungSaeng shook his head and turned back to JungMin. "I don't think I've met two people more clueless than those two."

"Clueless or hopeless?" JungMin pushed the communicator back into his pocket. "Why did we end up in _this_ ship of all carriers?" 

"If we hadn't, we'd probably still be in our containers," YoungSaeng said, sitting down on top of one of the crates. "I'd rather have two clueless shipmates than the usual dour military officers."

"Point." JungMin hopped up on a crate beside him. "I thought we'd get in more trouble than that, thankfully those idiots seem to have a reputation with the security officers here." 

"We were just defending ourselves, and those two," YoungSaeng said, smirking up at him. "Is it odd that I found that kind of fun?"

"Compared to what we usually get into, it was interesting, that's for sure," JungMin chuckled. "Though if you said that in front of anyone else here they wouldn't be unlocking our cabin door anytime soon."

"Probably not," YoungSaeng smiled, leaning back on his hands. The overhead com came on and YoungSaeng looked up to the ceiling.

" _You two should strap in, we're getting ready to head out_." KyuJong's voice rang out through the cargo hold.

JungMin sighed. "You heard him, let's find a proper seat. Faceplanting into the floor isn't my thing." He hopped off the crate and headed towards the seats at the edge of the cargo hold. 

Following after him, YoungSaeng sat down and strapped in, settling down into the seat. "At least we got warning this time. This pilot is something else."

"He should be on an exploration team, he'd have the time of his life dodging asteroids in unclaimed space," JungMin snorted, settling in as well. "This ship is going to need some help to survive out there." 

YoungSaeng sighed, closing his eyes. "You think they'll be able to handle what's going to happen? They're rather innocent."

"Probably not," JungMin replied, looking up at the cargo hold ceiling as the ship started to move. "Things out there are a lot different. I wish it didn't have to come to this, but there's no choice right now. 

Taking JungMin's hand in his own, YoungSaeng squeezed it lightly. "Guess we'll have to do our best to prepare them. Otherwise they won't last ten minutes out there."

"Easier said than done. There's just so _much_ that needs preparing," JungMin grumbled, but he squeezed YoungSaeng's hand back. "This whole ship needs a makeover, and they need some form of combat training, because if today showed anything it just showed none of them have a clue how to fight. Mental preparation is even harder." 

"Guess we have our work cut out for us," YoungSaeng snorted, shaking his head. "Still prefer this over being stuck in a container."

"Yeah, me too." JungMin tapped his fingers against the back of YoungSaeng's hand as he waited for the shaking of the ship to subside. "We'll figure things out as we go."

The ship jolted again sharply before the shaking eased away into the regular thrum of the engines. KyuJong flipped on the autopilot and hit the shipwide coms. "We are clear of the station," he said, scooting over to navigation to lay in their course.

HyunJoong sighed softly, undoing the strap around his waist and getting up to look at the star charts. After Ghea Six, they would have a few more opportunities to stop for as many supplies as they could before leaving Federation space. In a way it was a good thing the ship could carry so much cargo; they couldn't afford to run out once they were in unclaimed space. 

"It's going to be a few days till we get to our next stop," KyuJong said, setting the autopilot and turning around in his seat. "Maybe we can relax a little bit."

"As much as we can, anyways," HyunJoong nodded, glancing up at him. "When do you get off your shift?" 

"Oh, about a half an hour ago," KyuJong chuckled, standing up to stretch out. "You planning on taking a break anytime soon? I don't think the ship's going to blow up while we're on auto."

"Yeah, will be soon." HyunJoong traced out a potential route with one finger, brow furrowed. After a moment he sighed, straightening. Even if the gravity of the situation hadn't hit his crewmates yet, he knew they weren't going to be able to come back from what they were getting into, his eyes tired as he tried to figure out how he was going to look after his crew. "We probably won't see the others until it's time to eat, from what JungMin said, HyungJoon got quite the shock." 

"Seems like it," KyuJong nodded, slowly walking to the hatch. "I'm curious now as to what he did the last time you were here that got him in trouble. Trouble enough to get jumped anyway."

"He went to a bar, got drunk, and started hitting on the nearest guy," HyunJoong rolled his eyes, rolling up the star charts and placing them away for now. He'd think about that later. "The guy didn't appreciate it, neither did his friends. Security had to step in to stop the fight, and JongWoon got to put his negotiation skills to use keeping HyungJoon out of jail." 

Leaning up against the wall, KyuJong snorted, shaking his head. "Maybe he shouldn't be drinking off the ship then," he said, his lips curled in amusement. "So he and JongWoon aren't....?" he asked lightly.

"Aren't what?" HyunJoong blinked at KyuJong as he headed toward the hatch. "Aren't together? No, they're not," he chuckled. "I think if you asked them they'd both be completely appalled by the idea. They're just really close friends, practically twins sometimes." 

"Oh, I just assumed... I mean I'd seen one or the other sneaking off to the other's room at night," KyuJong said, following him out of the bridge. "I'm glad I never said anything about it then."

"I'm not sure if either of them are truly comfortable up in space all the time," HyunJoong shrugged. "If it makes them feel better to stick close at night, I'm hardly going to stop them. That and they're both cowards when it comes to scary movies, if one of them tries to watch horror anything you can expect to find him in the other's room an hour later." 

"How long have they been part of your crew?" KyuJong asked, putting his hands in his pockets as they headed towards the ladder.

"Three years or so," HyunJoong replied, starting down the ladder onto the crew deck. "They were here shortly after I took over the _Proteus_ from the previous captain." 

"I can see why they're so close then," KyuJong said, waiting until HyunJoong was down far enough and climbing down after him. At the crew deck, he started towards his room, looking over at HyunJoong. "You going to get some rest?"

"In a bit," HyunJoong nodded, going to his own door. "There's some logs I need to look over. Rest well." 

"You too, if you get there," KyuJong smirked, disappearing into his room.

Back in med bay, JongWoon checked over the forming bruise on HyungJoon's stomach with gentle fingertips, making sure nothing had been broken by the harsh punch. "Breathing okay?" he asked his friend who was lying down on a cot after his insistence. 

"Yeah, just hurts a little," HyungJoon winced slightly at the probing fingers. "Nothing permanently damaged, right?"

"No, you're just going to have a nice, multi-colored stomach for a while," JongWoon smiled down at the younger man. "I'll get you a patch for that, and take it easy for a few hours. I don't think Captain will kill you if you get off your shift early, it's not as if we can do much until we get to the next planet." He headed to one of the drawers, sliding it open and searching through it. 

"No, but those supplies need to be put away and I need to make sure the fuel cells were filled properly, cause last time they weren't and things were off balance and the Captain yelled at me when the warp engine misfired..." HyungJoon continued to whine, pouting as he sat up. "We really need more people on this ship."

"Well, we got two extra hands for a while, so you can show JungMin how to work all that. Later." JongWoon pulled out a packet and walked back to the bed, pushing HyungJoon back down. "I might not be the official medic, but I'm a standing-in medic, so you listen before I sit on you to keep you still." 

HyungJoon didn't fight being pushed back down, but he still pouted. "You're mean," he mumbled, shifting uncomfortably. "Wouldn't sitting on me be counterproductive?"

"I can sit on your legs, can't go anywhere without those," JongWoon stuck his tongue out at the younger man as he opened the packet and shook the patch slightly to start up the gel's chemical reaction. Then he pressed it gently over the bruise, making sure it was sticking. "There, you're on bed rest for the next few hours." 

Grumbling, HyungJoon put his hands behind his head and looked up at the ceiling. "You going to keep me company or am I doomed to stay here bored by myself."

"I can keep you company if you ask nicely," JongWoon grinned cheekily, placing everything away again. "It's not as if I have anything really urgent to do. This is the boring part of the job."

"Were we supposed to be keeping an eye on the other two?" HyungJoon blinked, looking over at JongWoon. "We kind of just abandoned them."

"What can they do? They sabotage this giant tin can, they explode with the rest of us." JongWoon sat down on the edge of the bed. "I don't know, they make me nervous." 

"Me too," HyungJoon agreed, scooting over to give him more room. "They didn't even break a sweat handling those guys out there. I mean they told us what they were, I guess I just didn't believe them."

"Neither did I, except that they were really convincing when they woke up that first day," JongWoon winced, one hand going to his throat. "I don't think locking the doors is going to make much of a difference, but it makes me feel a little better. I might stay in your room for the next while though." 

"That's fine, I was going to ask to stay in your room, but I like my bed better," HyungJoon chuckled, closing his eyes. "Let's lay off the horror movies for a while though, I don't need anymore nightmares."

"Totally agree with you there." The older man looked down at his best friend, eyes trailing over his face with a soft smile. "We should watch something else for a change, we _do_ have other movies up here with us." 

"Sounds good to me," HyungJoon nodded. "You know, maybe we should invite Kyu to one of our movie nights. He seems kind of lonely sometimes, and I don't care what he says, staring out that window for hours on end isn't healthy."

"That would be interesting. We're all kind of like family up here, right? He's part of our family now." When you saw no one else for 90% of the year, you became attached to those on the ship. JongWoon rested his chin in one hand, watching HyungJoon. 

"Exactly," HyungJoon agreed. "Who knows, maybe he'll stick around for a while." Cracking an eye open he looked up at JongWoon. "What?"

JongWoon jumped a little, quickly looking away before sticking his tongue out at the younger man. "You have dirt all over your face from when those idiots smashed you into the ground," he lied with a sniff. "And I really hope he sticks around. That whole mess really got to HyunJoong, I hope we get some more permanent crewmates soon." 

HyungJoon absently rubbed at his cheeks with his sleeve, nodding. "Yeah, it's so quiet around here. Although, I'm actually kind of glad one of them's gone," he said, dropping his voice a little. "I never really liked him."

Wincing, JongWoon glanced towards the door to make sure they were still alone before looking back at HyungJoon. "I didn't really either, but you know how well that would go over saying so to some other people..." He shook his head. "It's only been a month and a half, it's going to take much longer to forget about all that." 

"I know, I wouldn't bring it up to the Captain, I'm not that dumb," HyungJoon said, squirming a little at the weird tingling on his stomach from the pack. "But I like Kyu, he's fun."

"If by fun you mean 'enjoys pitching people around the bridge while dodging asteroids', then yes, he's very fun," JongWoon sulked. 

"Hey, you should probably listen when he says to sit down from now on," HyungJoon chuckled, reaching up to knock his friend lightly on the side of his head. "Otherwise you might brain yourself on something."

JongWoon pouted at HyungJoon. "He should give more of a warning," he grumbled, flopping down onto his side next to HyungJoon. "And be a little gentler, what if someone's sleeping when he does that? They roll right out of bed." 

"I think one warning is enough," HyungJoon said, turning his head to look over JongWoon. "He only showboats like that when we're all awake anyway. I think. Besides, it's only been a couple weeks, maybe he'll calm down after a little bit."

"Hopefully, this ship's awesome but I don't know how much of that she can take," JongWoon chuckled. "Once HyunJoong steps down as Captain, the next captain is either going to have to give her a good makeover, or retire her." 

"Let's pray that doesn't happen for a very long time," HyungJoon said firmly. He couldn't imagine being on the ship without HyunJoong, and didn't want to think about serving under anyone else. "She's a tough tin can, she can take it."

"That she is," JongWoon smiled, patting the wall he could reach before making himself comfortable on the bed next to HyungJoon. "How's your stomach feel?" 

"Weird, it's all tingly." HyungJoon lifted up his head to look down at the pack on his stomach, poking at it with a finger. "Doesn't hurt anymore though, so that's good."

"That's good," JongWoon smiled, closing his eyes. "Give it another hour or so, and then you should be good to walk around, as long as you don't go slamming into any railings or anything." 

"Long as our pilot isn't doing any barrel rolls, I think I'll be fine," HyungJoon snorted, laying his head back down and closing his eyes again. "Speaking of, you think they're still up? Haven't heard anything from the bridge in a while."

JongWoon shrugged without opening his eyes. "Probably not. If they're smart, they're getting some rest. Our sleeping schedules are all messed up again." He yawned a little. 

"You can go back to your room and sleep if you're tired," HyungJoon said, having heard the yawn and nudged him with his shoulder. "I'll probably just nap here."

"If I'm gonna sleep, I can sleep just as well here," JongWoon mumbled. "Unless you have a problem with my company?" He cracked one eye open to pout at the younger man.

"No, not unless you plan on pushing me off the bed," HyungJoon said, scooting a little closer to him. "It's a small bed, so be careful."

"I'll be careful," JongWoon grinned, shifting to wrap one arm around HyungJoon's shoulders, keeping away from his stomach. "See, if you fall, I go with you." He closed both eyes again, settling in happily. 

"That'll work," HyungJoon nodded, his head tilting to press against JongWoon's forehead. "Just a nap though," he murmured sleepily, drifting off and starting to snore.

JongWoon kept his eyes closed until he heard the snore, then slowly opened them again. This close, all he could see was one half of HyungJoon's face, particularly one closed eye as the younger man slept. HyungJoon had long eyelashes, JongWoon had noticed this before, and it was especially noticable when he was relaxed like this.

A small, sad smile curled the negotiator's lips as he decided as tired as he was, sleep could wait a little while longer. Because this was the only time he could look at HyungJoon without the younger noticing. 

Unnoticed by the one still awake, YoungSaeng was peeking into the room through the cracked door, one eyebrow raised. He'd only been coming by to see if there was anything else that needed to be done since they had got most of the cargo taken care of. From his vantage point he could see that JongWoon was watching HyungJoon sleep, and that piqued his curiosity. Easing back from the door slightly, he looked up at JungMin with an amused smirk.

JungMin blinked down at YoungSaeng in confusion, leaning past him to peer into the room. When he saw what was going on, he rolled his eyes and pulled YoungSaeng away, down the hallway. "So those two are together then?" He asked once they were far enough away not to be overheard, looking down at YoungSaeng. "Weird." 

"Why is that weird?" YoungSaeng chuckled, looking up at JungMin. "Two crew mates getting close on a ship isn't weird."

"It isn't, but those two are practically carbon copies of each other from what we've seen so far, that's why it's weird," JungMin rolled his eyes, nudging YoungSaeng. 

YoungSaeng eyed JungMin thoughtfully as they walked back to their room. "Since they have such similar personalities it's kind of cute," YoungSaeng mused. "You aren't jealous are you?"

"Eh?" JungMin stared at YoungSaeng in shock. "What the hell gave you that idea? You insult me," he sniffed haughtily. "I'm allowed to comment on things without you thinking I have ulterior motives." 

Just shaking his head, YoungSaeng laughed lightly. "Oh, you're so easy to get riled up sometimes," he said, stopping at their door and opening it. "It's one of my more amusing games I like to play. See how long it takes to get JungMin pissed off."

"You're horrible," the redhead scowled at the older man, stopping in the doorway and placing his hands on his hips. "Why are you so easily bored that I'm a source of entertainment for you?" 

Moving to sit down on the bed and kicking off his shoes, YoungSaeng shrugged. "Because it beats thinking about things that can't be changed. Plus you just make it so easy that I can't resist." He leaned back on the bed, his hands keeping him propped up as he looked to JungMin with a coy smile.

Wrinkling his nose, JungMin closed the door behind him. "I'll get you back, you better watch it." He headed over to the bed, poking YoungSaeng in the stomach. "Besides, why would I be jealous of them?" he smirked. "You're a hundred times more comfortable than any pillow." 

Flinching at the poke, YoungSaeng pouted up at JungMin. "Jealous because they seem a bit more affectionate than we are?"

"We can always fix that," JungMin grinned mischievously down at the older man as he climbed onto the bed beside him. 

Rolling over onto his side, head propped up by his hand, YoungSaeng smirked at him. "We could. Do you want to?"

"Unless you can think of a reason not to," JungMin chuckled, hovering over him a little with fingers dancing teasingly against the other man’s side. 

Squirming at the fingers, YoungSaeng looked up at JungMin with an amused expression. "Haven't thought of a reason yet, so why stop now?"

Grinning widely, JungMin leaned in closer. "Just wanted to make sure." He quickly signaled the conversation was over with a rough kiss, hand gripping YoungSaeng’s waist lightly. 

***********************************6**********************************************

Humming to himself, KyuJong was hunched over the open navigation console in an attempt to repair it. The screen had been flickering and it was getting on his last nerve. Luckily he'd been able to reroute the controls through communications so this wasn't leaving him to drift through space blind. Still, it was tedious work and he was just about done.

HyungJoon on the other hand, had thrown a fit when he arrived on the bridge to find the entire console torn apart. "Are you insane?! You couldn't wait until we weren't in the midst of a warp jump to mess with our navigation? We could have been bumped out anywhere and we wouldn't have known!" HyungJoon was ranting, not letting KyuJong get a word in edgewise.

"What’s going on?" JongWoon wandered through the hatch after HyungJoon, rubbing one eye tiredly. He stopped and blinked at the open console. "Woah."

He looked from HyungJoon to KyuJong for a moment, his best friend still on a tirade, before coming up behind him and covering his mouth with one hand to shut him up. "What’s wrong with the navigation?" 

Relieved when the sound of HyungJoon's whining cut off, KyuJong smiled in thanks to JongWoon. "The screen was flickering, it was giving me a migraine."

HyungJoon started protesting again even with the hand against his mouth, gesturing wildly.

"I patched navigation controls into the communications station," KyuJong said, leaning back into the mess of wires and circuits. "We're fine HyungJoon, I'll be done before we reach the planet." That seemed to mollify HyungJoon somewhat, who stopped ranting and put his hand down.

Chuckling quietly, JongWoon waited until HyungJoon looked calm before lowering his hand. "You might want to let our engineer know before doing something like that, it’s on his head if we end up inside a sun." He patted HyungJoon’s head. 

"I asked him, he said he was busy," KyuJong shrugged. "I can't keep us clear of the sun if the screen keeps shorting out on me."

"I never said I was busy!" HyungJoon whined. "I said I'd get to it soon as I could."

"And seeing how long it takes you to get to things, I decided not to wait till a month from now and just get it done," KyuJong quipped, looking up at him with narrowed eyes. HyungJoon sulked.

Amused, JongWoon patted HyungJoon’s head again and steered him towards the hatch. "Go work on something, or else you’re just going to stand here and breath down his neck freaking out at every single wire." 

"But I don't have anything to do," HyungJoon whined more, pouting at his best friend. "That's why I came up here, to fix the screen." That wasn't entirely true. There were plenty of things in engineering that could use his attention. The problem was, JungMin was also in engineering, working on a task HyungJoon had given him and JungMin scared the daylights out of HyungJoon.

"I’m sure you’ll find something to do, or HyunJoong will give you something to do," JongWoon smiled at the younger man. Engineering was the one position that didn’t offer any chance for boredom. "Go, shoo!" He ushered HyungJoon out and closed the hatch on him. 

There was some halfhearted pounding at the door but that ended and KyuJong could hear HyungJoon grumbling loudly as he walked away. "Thank you," KyuJong said, glancing up at JongWoon with a smile. "I would have let him finish if he didn't come in yelling at me."

"He doesn’t like anyone messing with the ship besides him, don’t worry about it," JongWoon grinned, going to drop into an empty chair. "I don’t think he’s getting along very well with JungMin, which might be contributing to his bad temper. You just about done with that?" 

"I am," KyuJong nodded, clipping off a wire and starting shove all the bits back into the console. "I don't blame him for not getting along with JungMin. That guy is a little... intense."

"Intense? Do you mean scary?" JongWoon grinned sheepishly, draping himself over a terminal. "Cause he’s definitely that. YoungSaeng glares a lot, but he at least doesn’t look like he’s contemplating creative ways to hurt you all the time." 

"No, he looks like he's contemplating other things," KyuJong said with a frown, pushing the monitor back in and turning it on. "Ah.. success!" he clapped his hands when the monitor came up and wasn't flashing like a strobe light at him.

"Contemplating what things?" JongWoon blinked at KyuJong, before beaming widely as the monitor came back. "Great! You should’ve been an engineer, if you didn’t love sending us on rollercoaster rides so much. 

Ignoring the first question, KyuJong scooted over to communications to reroute the controls back over to navigation. "I was an engineer, or at least maintenance on my last post. Nobody wants to hire a pilot who hasn't been through the military. 'Cept the Captain of course."

"Yeah, Captain’s weird like that," JongWoon grinned, just watching. He’d gotten in trouble from HyungJoon for wiring things in reverse too many times to touch anything. "He doesn’t care for the military much, so he doesn’t care if you’ve been through it as long as you know your stuff. Worked out good for us though." 

"Well I've never seen a better engineer than HyungJoon. He's a little flighty, but he knows what he's doing," KyuJong nodded, tapping at the monitor then spinning back around to go to navigation.

"Right," JongWoon chuckled, smiling widely. "And you’re a great pilot, even though you like pulling stunts a little too much for my stomach. Being in the military gives people an inflated head, we don’t need any of that nonsense here."

"Was the Captain in the military?" KyuJong asked, glancing over out of the corner of his eye. "He doesn't really talk much about himself, but I've wondered."

"He was for a year or so, then he left because he couldn’t stand the people," JongWoon shrugged. "Then he went to work under Daniel hyung, who’s a lot like him in that he really doesn’t like the military and is constantly going head-to-head with them."

"Can't say I like the military much either," KyuJong nodded, turning from the console. "Especially after this whole thing with JungMin and YoungSaeng." He leaned forward a bit, lowering his voice. "Do you get the impression there's something they're not telling us?"

JongWoon winced. "Of course I do, I’m not that stupid. Some things they say sometimes just doesn’t make sense, you know? And they keep exchanging these looks, they’re obviously not saying something. But what?" 

"No idea, but it's a little unnerving," KyuJong shivered a little. He wasn't even going to begin to talk about the looks he'd seen YoungSaeng giving him. Those he had no idea how to explain.

"That it is." JongWoon shuddered. "Hopefully they speak up soon, though I don’t think that’s going to happen. How have you been getting along? You don’t seem to be getting lost in the ship anymore," he laughed, trying to change the subject. 

KyuJong looked back at the terminal, shrugging his shoulders. "Better I guess. I still can't tell if the Captain likes me or not. Sometimes... sometimes I get the impression he's not seeing me when he looks at me, you know?" he said, corners of his lips turned down.

Looking back at KyuJong hesitantly, JongWoon sighed and slid his chair over. "Trust me, if he didn’t like you, you wouldn’t be here. He’s just been…through painful things lately, it takes him a while to get over them." 

"You mean with what happened to the rest of the crew," KyuJong said, glancing up. "He won't tell me anything about it." His lips pursed and he turned to JongWoon, expression serious. "What happened?"

JongWoon squirmed a little in the seat, trying not to look at KyuJong before he blurted the whole thing out. "I-it’s not really my place to tell, I can’t," the older man shook his head, looking up at KyuJong through his bangs. "But it was a betrayal of sorts. And HyunJoong won’t stop blaming himself for it. He just needs time," he smiled sadly. 

"A betrayal?" KyuJong's eyes softened and he looked down. "I can see why he's so wary then. Well, he's got you and HyungJoon right? You both seem very loyal to him."

"Yeah, but so were the people who left," JongWoon sighed. "We thought they were, anyways." He laughed sadly, resting his head in his arms and closing his eyes. "The first thing HyunJoong asked us when the _Proteus_ took flight again was why we didn’t leave along with the rest of them. Sometimes I don’t think he believes we’re going to stay either." 

KyuJong frowned, mulling over the situation in his head. It seemed too touchy of a subject to continue with and would probably just end up with more questions than answers. "Speaking of," he said, switching subjects. "Where is the Captain?"

"No clue. He’s probably working through the logs again. There’s a lot of stuff that needs to be fixed in case we get company again, and things that need to be ready for when we arrive at the next planet." He tilted his head. "Where are we going now? Another outpost for supplies?" 

"Um, we're going to someone named Tablo's?" KyuJong said, checking their route. "We'll be there day after tomorrow. Captain said something about upgrades."

"Tab…oh." JongWoon’s eyes widened. "Oh. So _that’s_ how we’re getting the upgrades. Thank God Captain has connections. This is going to be interesting." 

"Interesting? Interesting in a good way I hope?" KyuJong blinked up at him.

"Yeah," JongWoon grinned. "Daniel hyung’s a great guy, brilliant genius really. You’ll adore him. But he always has something going on as Tablo, and really, it’s safest just not to ask questions when you’re there." 

"Wasn't planning on it," KyuJong smirked, shaking his head. He wasn't so innocent that he hadn't been caught up in illegal activities before. Most civilian owned transports were involved in some way; usually smuggling. So he knew better than to let his curiosity get the better of him.

"Just making sure," JongWoon chuckled, leaning back in the chair. "But if we're going to see Tablo, then the old tin can's in good hands." He stretched out. "We should probably drag the Captain out of his quarters before he falls asleep on the logs again." 

"He could use the sleep though," KyuJong chuckled. "But probably should, want me to do it?"

"Go for it," JongWoon laughed. "If he's already passed out, either leave him or shove him off the chair, it's the only way to get him to wake up." 

"I guess I'll be back in a bit then," KyuJong said, easing up from his chair and heading to the hatch. Before he stepped out he pointed at JongWoon then the controls. "Don't touch anything," he said firmly before shutting the door behind him and making his way down to the crew deck. The Captain's quarters were at the end of the hall, and although KyuJong hadn't seen them yet, he knew they were a bit bigger than the rest of the crew quarters.

Stopping in front of the door, he knocked lightly before opening up the door when there was no answer and peeked his head in. "Captain?"

As JongWoon had thought, HyunJoong had fallen asleep right in the middle of the logs. The screen in front of his desk flickered dully in sleep mode, the older man's head rested in his arms and eyes closed. 

Shaking his head with a sigh, KyuJong slipped into the room and shut the door behind him. "You really could use all the sleep you can get, but there are things to be done," he said, coming over to stand next to HyunJoong's desk and leaned over to tap HyunJoong on the shoulder. He wasn't about to try and pull out the man's chair as suggested, he was sure HyunJoong wouldn't have approved of him doing that.

There was a minimal response to the tap on his shoulder, HyunJoong shifting slightly before becoming still again, in a slightly more comfortable position where he wasn't hurting his neck as much. He hadn't slept much since the whole mess had started, and it was hard enough to wake him up on a normal day. 

".... well okay then, we'll do this the hard way," KyuJong grunted, coming around to stand behind HyunJoong. Leaning over him, he gently took the man's head in his hands and started to slowly lift it up. When he had lifted it up a fairly short distance, he released HyunJoong's head to fall back down onto his arms.

There was a soft thunk, and HyunJoong groaned a little, shifting. His eyes cracked open after a moment, and he lifted his head to blink at KyuJong uncomprehendingly for a moment before sitting up. "Sorry. Did you need something?" he murmured, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"I was told to come make sure you hadn't fallen asleep over the logs," KyuJong said in amusement, leaning against the wall next to the desk. "You should try actually sleeping in your bed once in a while."

A soft chuckle left the Captain. "I will, one day." Probably not anytime soon though. He stretched out his arms. "How's the rest of the ship faring?" 

"We're still flying," KyuJong said with a smile. "You need to get some real sleep, sir, you look like hell."

HyunJoong fixed his hair absently. "I'll sleep later. Nearly finished with the logs." He turned back to the screen, waking up the display. "How're our two guests?" 

"JungMin is in engineering with HyungJoon, scaring him silly, and I'm not entirely sure where YoungSaeng is, probably in their room," KyuJong said, frowning slightly at HyunJoong's turned head. "Should I stay here to make sure you don't fall asleep again?"

The older man shook his head. "I'll be fine this time," he chuckled. "I'll be done these in a few minutes, and join you in the bridge?" He tapped along the controls lightly. 

"Alright, see you in a bit then," KyuJong nodded, pushing off the wall and heading out the hatch. "If you're not up in ten, I'll be back," he warned, shutting the door behind him.

"Yes sir," HyunJoong smiled a little despite himself, before going back to his work.

"For God's sake, can you speak plain Hangul when explaining things, not whatever gibberish you're spewing?" Down in engineering, JungMin hit HyungJoon over the head with the manual in his hand. He was trying to figure out how things ran on the ship, and he wasn't that bad with mechanics, but HyungJoon wasn't making a wit of sense and the redhead was losing his patience. 

Yelping and covering his head, HyungJoon backed up like a scared rabbit. "S-sorry! I'm not used to training people!" he whined helplessly. How did he get roped into teaching JungMin anyway? Oh right, it was his bright idea.

JungMin scowled at HyungJoon, holding on to the manual more as a weapon than to actually read from. "Well someone trained _you_ , you must remember something from that. Or try just speaking a language I can understand." He shook his head and turned back to the machines, crouching down in front of one to read the label. 

HyungJoon bit back any protest and kept himself from kicking over the other man for fear of having his head ripped off. "Would it help if I went slower?" he said after a moment, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Slower than a thousand miles per hour? Yes." JungMin narrowed his eyes at the label, pursing his lips. "What's this one connected to?" 

"Uh, the main exhaust system," HyungJoon said, hopping up on a piece of machinery that was safe to sit on. "Don't mess with it unless you've got the exhaust system offline or you'll flood the lower decks with radioactive material."

"Got it. See, it's a lot easier to understand you when you take time to breathe between words," JungMin rolled his eyes, standing up. "What else is there?" 

"Quite a bit, not something you're going to learn in a week," HyungJoon sighed, looking around the room. "How about we start you off with one system and that'll be your system to take care of."

"Guess that will work for now," JungMin wrinkled his nose. "Which one?" He leaned against a railing, watching the younger man through his red bangs. 

"Hmm.. how about shields? That's probably the best one, and it's not tied in to anything but power so it's not like if you do something horribly wrong it'll affect other systems," HyungJoon said, hopping off the machine and heading up a short ladder to the catwalk above. "Not that you'd do something horribly wrong that is, I mean, well.. you know?"

"No, I'm not going to go around sabotaging anything, and I'm not so horrible with machines," JungMin grumbled, following after him. "If I'm actually going to take care of this, you'll need to let me take care of it without freaking out at every stupid thing." 

"I'm not freaking out," HyungJoon whined, pouting at him as he crawled up to another ladder and sat down on the cat walk next to the shield generator. "Look, this ship? She's my baby. I protect her and keep her from falling apart. Handing off one small part of responsibility to someone else is a little nerve wracking, so bear with me."

"I'll do my best, but try to avoid screaming in my ears," JungMin rolled his eyes, not understanding the attachment but not saying anything more about it as he crouched next to the younger man. "So, explain this to me a little." 

Going over the basic mechanics of the shield generator and how it tied into the main power. It was a long and tedious process, and HyungJoon made sure to go slow enough and cover everything he could think of. After three hours of this, he looked to JungMin with a hesitant smile. "So... think you got that?"

Lips pursed slightly as he went over that in his head, JungMin slowly nodded. "I think I do. You better be nearby the first time I need to work with this though." He had pretty good memorization skills though; he wasn't that worried. "These are only needed if you're going through an asteroid field or you're under fire, right?" 

"Yeah, it's a huge drain on the systems otherwise," HyungJoon nodded, closing up a panel. "So really all you'll need to be doing is maintenance work every so often and repairs as they come up. Luckily it went through a thorough repair on that planet so you won't need to do anything too complicated soon." HyungJoon stood up and stretched. "So I think that's it for the day. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry and could use a nap."

"Sounds good," JungMin sighed, standing and swinging his arms a little as he looked at the panel HyungJoon had closed. "I suppose I'll find your cook then." YoungSaeng was probably in their shared room still. Heading down to the stairs, JungMin slid down them more than he actually climbed down, landing lightly on his feet before heading for the hatch. 

"Okay, thanks! I'll be in the mess hall," HyungJoon called after him, going at a bit of a slower pace than JungMin down the ladders.

JungMin headed down the hallways towards the crew deck; they had most of the ship memorized by now. There was still the occasional time one of them got lost, but nothing so bad they had to radio the crew to find them. Even if they had been that badly lost, JungMin wouldn't call for help.

He reached their shared room two minutes later, pushing the door open and stepping inside. "Saeng?" 

Stretched out lazily on the bed like a cat, YoungSaeng looked up at JungMin with a smile. "Yes? How did your training go?"

"Like pulling teeth," JungMin rolled his eyes, heading over to the bed. "He either rambles on without breathing or freaks out every single time I so much as brush against a machine." He poked YoungSaeng's side. "I'm supposed to tell our cook it's time to work." 

Squirming at the poke, YoungSaeng pouted but sat up. "I was enjoying being lazy." Getting to his feet, he stretched out his arms over his head. "You make him nervous, he'll calm down hopefully. You didn't hit him this time did you?"

"Only once, with a manual," JungMin sniffed. "I was being nice, but he was being an idiot. Were you in here the entire time I was gone?" 

"Yes, where else would I have been? I'm not allowed on the bridge and that's where they've been," YoungSaeng said, gathering up his clothes and pulling on his shirt. "This is the first real break we've ever had, Min. I'm enjoying it."

"Breaks are great, but I still don't get how you can stay still," JungMin shook his head, shifting around from foot to foot as he waited. "It makes me nervous." 

Finishing getting dressed and pulling on his shoes, YoungSaeng rolled his eyes. "That's because you've got a limitless supply of energy. I do not." Heading to the door, YoungSaeng looked over at him. "Are you coming with or staying here?"

"Coming with." JungMin followed after YoungSaeng. "And I do not, I just don't like staying still. There's too much tension in the air." 

Heading down the hall at a leisurely pace, YoungSaeng frowned up at JungMin. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," The redhead shook his head. "It just feels like we're on a job waiting for a cue, that kind of tension. The...what is that expression? The calm before the storm?" He scowled at the ground. "It's suffocating to stay still, I need something to do before I drive myself crazy." 

Pursing his lips, YoungSaeng nodded. He understood that feeling, and had been trying to ignore it. "I'm sure we'll be able to find things to do on board. This ship is running on a skeleton crew and need all the help they can get."

"That's another thing that worries me, but yeah, I'll probably be running around helping out," JungMin sighed. "Not because I actually want to help, but because...yeah." He messed up his hair with one hand. "It's a different pace." 

Stopping in the middle of the hall, YoungSaeng turned JungMin to look at him. "Do you not want to help them?" he asked, expression serious.

"I don't trust them," JungMin said flatly, looking down at the older man. "You might want to trust them, but I can't bring myself to do that. I'll help them now because we're stuck in the same situation if the ship fails, but I won't do more than that." 

YoungSaeng sighed and shook his head. "I can't tell you what to do JungMin, but I think they deserve more than that. They're risking their lives for us. I may not trust them completely yet, but I at least respect them."

"Respect and trust are two different things, Saeng." JungMin looked away. "I might respect them for the risk they're taking, but it's going to take longer than this to make me forget everything that happened." 

Looking up at him for a moment, YoungSaeng's shoulders slumped slightly and he sighed. "Well, that I can understand," he said softly, reaching to turn JungMin's face back around to look at him. "No matter what though, I trust you first and foremost."

JungMin looked down at him, a small smile curling his lips after a moment. "You're the only person in this military-corrupted galaxy who I trust." He hugged YoungSaeng for a moment, burying his face in the older man's hair before letting go. "We should get to the kitchen before they try to eat the walls." 

"That would be funny though," YoungSaeng chuckled, starting to walk towards the mess hall again. "Were you going back to working after eating?"

"Probably. Or just wander around until someone yells at me for being somewhere I'm not supposed to be," JungMin chuckled. "You? Go back to lazing around half-naked?" 

"Maybe. Or maybe I'll keep you company, or out of trouble at least," YoungSaeng shrugged. "As long as you don't mind of course."

"Why would I mind?" The redhead grinned at him. "And by keeping me out of trouble, do you mean stopping me from opening locked doors? Cause that's half the fun, especially when they think the locks will actually work." 

"Yes, that is what it means," YoungSaeng poked him in the side. "I'd rather not end up back in those containers JungMin, and sticking your nose where it doesn't belong is a sure way to have that happen."

"We could totally break out of those containers if we weren't asleep," JungMin pouted, but gave in. He didn't want to end up back in there either. "Fine, we'll stick with unlocked doors for now." 

"Thank you," YoungSaeng pat him on the arm as they reached the mess hall door. "And I'll try not to distract you too horribly while you're working later."

"Maybe you can distract HyungJoon instead because he starts breathing down my neck again," JungMin grumbled before they stepped inside. He followed YoungSaeng into the kitchen to help out, preferring that than sitting at the table with HyungJoon. 

HyungJoon perked up when he saw YoungSaeng coming into the room, immediately deflating when he saw JungMin. "Thank you YoungSaeng," he called after the man.

"So it's just you two eating then?" YoungSaeng said, eyeing JungMin as he pulled out ingredients from the cupboards below. "Why don't you see if whoever is awake on the bridge wants something as well?"

Wrinkling his nose a little, JungMin nodded. "Be right back then," he sighed, headed back to the mess hall door and out into the hallway.

He found the stairs up to the main deck, taking them two at a time and looking around. The bridge was...this way.

After a moment he found the hatch, pushing it open and leaning in. "Hey, want something to eat?" 

Looking up from the sensor display, KyuJong blinked repeatedly at JungMin trying to process what he had said before it clicked. "Uh.. sure, be down in a few," he nodded, giving JungMin a smile.

JongWoon grinned and nodded as well. "Same."

JungMin nodded and disappeared again. JongWoon looked over at KyuJong. "Why does Captain not want them up here again?" 

"Probably just being cautious," KyuJong shrugged, turning to the controls and checking their course one last time before standing up. "They're not really part of the crew and have no business being up here."

"True, though wouldn't it make it easier to watch over them than if they're wandering around the ship?" JongWoon kicked his feet a little. "We can't always have the security cameras up." 

"Then take it up with the Captain," KyuJong sighed. "I'm not about to start questioning orders like that. Are you coming or not?" he asked, heading to the hatch.

"Yeah!" JongWoon hopped up from his chair to follow KyuJong out. "I'll probably ask him about it once we've seen Tablo, HyunJoong's not going to relax on anything until this tin can is better equipped. Speaking of the Captain, he never came up, did he?" 

"No, he did not," KyuJong sighed in defeat and started down the ladder. "I'll go get him, he could probably use to eat as well. I'm going to tie him down to a bed one of these days so he can sleep like a normal person."

"Good luck with that," JongWoon laughed quietly as he followed KyuJong down, heading towards the mess hall. "I think he'd fall asleep with his eyes open if he could. But he gets things done." 

"He does, but he still needs to sleep," KyuJong said, turning towards the crew quarters. "I'll be there in a bit," he waved and headed towards the Captain's door. Knocking again and opening it up to peer in.

HyunJoong had surprisingly not fallen back asleep, but he didn't look far from it, searching through the papers in his desk for something. Looking up at the knock, his eyes landed on KyuJong. "I didn't fall asleep." 

"Well color me surprised," KyuJong chuckled, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind him. "It's apparently time for a meal, have you eaten yet?"

Shaking his head, HyunJoong placed some papers down on his desk and closed the drawer, standing. "Guess I'll take a bit of a break then. Glad you're not needed to cook anymore?" He stretched out his arms. 

"Yes, very glad," KyuJong nodded, leaning against the door to wait. "I wasn't that great of a cook to begin with and even I was getting bored with the meals I could make."

"You're still much better than HyungJoon and JongWoon," HyunJoong chuckled. Straightening everything, he laced his shoes properly before heading towards the door. "Are the others already there?" 

"I think so," KyuJong nodded. "JungMin came to find JongWoon and I, so I'm assuming HyungJoon started whining about wanting food."

"Sounds about right," HyunJoong smiled, reaching past KyuJong to open up the door. "You might want to move before you fall through the door." His eyes flicked up to meet the younger man's. 

Meeting his eyes for a brief second, KyuJong hid the smirk as he moved to the side. "You don't want to injure your pilot. Or were you going to let HyungJoon drive?"

"I think not steering at all would be better than that," HyunJoong shook his head, sliding the door open and stepping out into the hallway, waiting for KyuJong to follow him before closing the door. 

Walking beside him with his hands clasped behind his back, KyuJong glanced over at HyunJoong out of the corner of his eye. "So who was driving then, before I got the job?"

HyunJoong paused. "Between pilots, I was driving," he replied. "Before I was Captain, I was the stand-in pilot of a different ship while the main pilot was off his shift." 

"Well obviously you weren't that bad of a pilot if she's still flying," KyuJong chuckled. "And what's a stand in pilot?" he asked, nudging HyunJoong with his elbow.

"Unless you want to train YoungSaeng how to fly, you're going to have to deal," HyunJoong gave a long-suffering sigh. "I can take over if you're sick, but that's as much as I'm going to have the time for." 

"I know, I was just giving you a hard time," KyuJong chuckled. "I'm fine with being the only pilot. Makes me feel important."

"Everyone on this ship is important," HyunJoong rolled his eyes as they took the corner towards the mess hall. 

"Yes, yes, let me have my delusions of grandeur," KyuJong rolled his eyes, opening the door to the mess hall when they reached it.

Shaking his head, HyunJoong walked into the mess hall after him and went to sit down next to HyungJoon. YoungSaeng and JungMin were in the kitchen still. "How did training go?" he murmured to his friend with a chuckle. 

"How well do you think it went?" HyungJoon replied, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "He hit me and yelled at me."

"Well, you're still alive, so it couldn't have been that bad," HyunJoong replied, lips quirked slightly as he patted the younger man's shoulder. JongWoon laughed quietly. 

"Yeah, but I was fearing for my life there," HyungJoon mumbled unhappily, slumping down in his seat. KyuJong shook his head, looking over at the two in the kitchen. He didn't think they were so scary anymore. Not exactly friendly, but not scary.

YoungSaeng arrived at the table moments later carrying plates and setting them down in front of HyungJoon and JongWoon before turning to go back for more.

JungMin followed along behind the older man, setting the two plates down for KyuJong and HyunJoong, then getting his own from YoungSaeng before sitting down. He still preferred to take the edge of the bench with YoungSaeng between him and the others, but he wasn't as hostile about it as before.

Trying a bit once they were all sitting, HyunJoong nodded with a smile. "Very good YoungSaeng." 

"Thank you," YoungSaeng shifted slightly in his seat. "I'm... trying to use less spices," he said softly, "since some have complained."

"Sorry," HyungJoon said, slinking down and staring at his food.

"Nothing to be sorry about, I'm used to spicier food," YoungSaeng shrugged, starting to eat.

"Spicy isn't that bad, in moderation," JongWoon grinned, swallowing. "It was fun watching Joonie run around like his mouth was on fire." HyunJoong laughed in agreement to that. Even JungMin's lips quivered slightly before he busied himself with his food. 

"Some best friend you are," HyungJoon pouted at him. "Aren't you supposed to be on my side?"

"I don't think there's sides when it comes to free entertainment," KyuJong chuckled, happily enjoying his food.

JongWoon grinned sheepishly at the younger man, patting his head. "I'm on your side for everything else. But it was just too much fun to watch."

"He just enjoys watching someone other than himself cause a commotion," HyunJoong chuckled, JongWoon wrinkling his nose at their Captain. 

HyungJoon grumbled under his breath, stabbing at his food mercilessly. "Hate you all."

YoungSaeng shook his head slightly, keeping his attention on his food. Despite JungMin's hesitance, he wanted to get to know these people better. He kind of liked them.

"So, we'll be at Ghea Six day after tomorrow," KyuJong said, saving HyungJoon from any more taunts. "Anything we need to know before we get there?"

HyunJoong chewed slowly as he thought, swallowing. "We'll probably be there for a couple days while the ship goes through the upgrades. It's probably safer for you both to stay on the ship," he said, looking at JungMin and YoungSaeng. "Ghea Six has a military training facility near the spaceport." Figured Tablo would want to set up his operations right under the noses of the law. He'd always liked a challenge.

"It'll only be Tablo hyung and people he trusts working on the ship, and if he trusts them then I trust them, but let's not take too many risks by having loose lips." 

"You going to tell him about our... situation?" HyungJoon asked, glancing at JungMin and YoungSaeng out of the corner of his eyes.

YoungSaeng frowned, straightening slightly in his seat. "We would appreciate if no one else knew about us," he said firmly.

HyunJoong shook his head. "If you don't want it to be known, then he won't know," he said simply. "I plan on telling him just what he needs to know to get the upgrades done, nothing more."

"He won't wonder why we need all these upgrades? We're on a civilian ship," JongWoon frowned.

"He will wonder, but Tablo hyung operates on a 'don't ask, don't tell' level, and he and his friends know to keep their questions to themselves. Something we should all do as well, since I can't guarantee we'll be his only project while we're there." 

"So JongWoon should stay on the ship as well then," HyungJoon put in, patting his friend on the shoulder.

Mollified, YoungSaeng nodded and went back to eat, glancing at JungMin briefly. The fewer people that knew about them, the better, and if they couldn't trust these people as it was now, there was no way they'd trust someone off of the ship.

"I won't say anything," JongWoon pouted at HyungJoon. "Or touch anything."

"We'll have to tie your hands behind your back before I will believe that," HyunJoong shook his head in amusement. JongWoon sulked.

"As well, if there's anything you need to take care of while we're docked, I suggest you do it now," HyunJoong said quietly, glancing to his crew. There was no way of knowing what was going to happen from now on; the future was very uncertain. If they had a chance to phone family, or anything, he wanted them to take it while they still had a chance. 

HyungJoon nodded, knowing what that meant, and from the way KyuJong looked down sadly at his plate, he understood too. Chewing on his lip, HyungJoon looked around everyone before turning to HyunJoong. "Captain... what are we going to do?" he asked quietly.

Looking around at the faces of his crew and friends, HyunJoong wished he had better news to tell them. He was their Captain; he was supposed to be able to look after them. But he didn't know how to tell them what they had probably already guessed.

"We'll do what we can for now," he replied softly. "Plan for any possible outcome and make sure all our bases are covered." There wasn't much else they could do.

JungMin glanced at YoungSaeng beside him before looking back down at his plate silently. 

Focusing back on his food, HyungJoon pushed it around with his chopsticks, not all that hungry anymore. It was starting to really sink in that their situation wasn't temporary. This wasn't something that would blow over in a week or JongWoon could talk them out of. There was a very real possibility that their lives were forever changed.

********************************************7************************************

Sighing to himself, KyuJong looked around at everyone sadly. "Maybe we should all do something tonight, all of us together. Play a game or something?"

JongWoon tried to smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I have some games in my cabin...board games and stuff. And cards, if you want to play a card game."

"I need to finish with the paperwork," HyunJoong started to decline, but JongWoon shook his head.

"Go back in there now and you're just going to fall asleep over your desk again. Take a break, Captain." He smiled hesitantly at YoungSaeng and JungMin. "What about you both? Up for a game or something?" 

Pausing in eating, YoungSaeng blinked up at JongWoon and then the others. He hadn't thought they'd be included. Glancing over at JungMin, he frowned in thought before shrugging. "I'd be up for a game."

Hesitating, JungMin looked at YoungSaeng uncertainly before his shoulders dropped a little and he nodded as well, continuing to eat.

"We can go find something to play once we're done eating," JongWoon nodded, looking to HyungJoon beside him. 

"Okay," HyungJoon perked up a little at the prospect of playing a game. "We're not playing drinking games this time, right?"

"Aw, I wanted to see HyungJoon run into doors," KyuJong pouted, smiling a little.

"No strip poker," HyunJoong said firmly.

"Hear that? He never said no alcohol," JongWoon grinned widely. 

HyungJoon whined pitifully and dropped his head onto the table next to his plate. "Can I take back my agreement to this?"

"Nope," KyuJong laughed, gathering up plates when he saw some people were done and going into the kitchen to begin washing them.

YoungSaeng looked up at JungMin, amused. "Are we drinking?"

JungMin blinked back down at YoungSaeng. "I will if you will?"

"That's the spirit," HyunJoong smiled, standing up and going to help KyuJong in the kitchen. JongWoon hummed absently, playing with his chopsticks. 

"This should be interesting then," YoungSaeng smiled broadly, finishing up his meal.

HyungJoon stuffed the last bit of food in his mouth and hopped up, grabbing JongWoon's arm. "Lessgo, games," he said around his mouthful.

Yelping, JongWoon got up, and grinned at his friend. "Swallow, before you choke," he said, poking HyungJoon's stuffed cheek as they headed towards the mess hall door. 

KyuJong watched the two go, shaking his head as he washed off a plate. Looking over his shoulder, YoungSaeng and JungMin were still eating, talking quietly. "So I've heard you can hold your liquor," KyuJong said, looking over at HyunJoong.

HyunJoong blinked at him, waiting to dry the clean dishes. "I'm decent at it, yes. Then again, if you're hearing this from JongWoon or HyungJoon, the vast majority of the galaxy can hold their liquor better than those two." 

Laughing at that, KyuJong handed off the clean dish and started on the next. "Good to know. I was worried you were some kind of machine, but I'm sure I can keep up."

"We'll have to see," HyunJoong mused, drying the dish. "Though I still wouldn't advise trying to drink me under, unless you really want to wake up with a massive hangover." 

"I said keep up, not out drink you," KyuJong said, looking at him out of the corner of his eye. "I can't guarantee I won't need to be carried to bed though, so I'll attempt to stay within my limit. No promises though."

"Please," the Captain sighed, lips quirked. "I can't carry HyungJoon, JongWoon _and_ you back to your cabins." It was already a given that those two were going to end up crawling on the floor ten minutes into the game. 

"Could just leave them here to sleep it off," KyuJong mused, eyes dancing.

"Except they'll both be complaining about it in the morning, and asking why I'd carry _you_ to bed and not them, and then I'm the one in trouble," HyunJoong shook his head. 

"And what would you tell them?" KyuJong asked, looking over at him as he handed HyunJoong another clean dish.

"That our pilot needs to be well-rested before he sends us into an asteroid," HyunJoong smiled, taking the dish to dry. 

"That doesn't sound half bad," KyuJong chuckled, picking up another dish. "But I'll try to stay coherent enough to make it back to my room by myself."

"Thank you," HyunJoong shook his head in amusement, leaning against the counter as he put the plate away. "I wonder how YoungSaeng and JungMin are with alcohol." 

"Guess we'll find out," KyuJong said, glancing over his shoulder. YoungSaeng had finished and was bringing their plates up to the counter to be washed. "We have enough alcohol for this I hope," KyuJong asked HyunJoong.

"We have enough, as long as they don't drink ten bottles each," HyunJoong chuckled. "It's been a while since we played a drinking game, since last time had some...interesting consequences." 

"Was that the stripping thing they mentioned?" KyuJong asked, highly amused.

HyunJoong laughed quietly. "Yes. And as the only person sober enough to remember the whole thing, I've banned stripping games on the ship. No one needs those mental images." 

"No fun," KyuJong chuckled, finishing off cleaning the last dish and handing it over. Wiping down the counters, he heard HyungJoon and JongWoon come back in the room. "So, what'd you bring?" he asked.

"Uh, couple different games," HyungJoon said, setting down some boxes on the table. "How about we start with monopoly?"

"Sounds good," HyunJoong said, drying the last dish and placing it away before hanging the towel and going to get out the alcohol.

JongWoon dropped down into his seat, poking through the games. "These are pretty old, haven't gotten any new games for a while." 

"New or old, I'm sure they play the same," HyungJoon shrugged, opening up the Monopoly box and getting the board out. 

"We've never played Monopoly," YoungSaeng spoke up, frowning down at the game board and the pieces.

"Never played Monopoly? Everyone's played Monopoly. It's like a staple," HyungJoon blinked at YoungSaeng and JungMin. 

KyuJong, who was bringing over cups for everyone, smacked HyungJoon upside the back of his head, causing the man to yelp.

"It's simple enough to play," JongWoon leaned over the table a little to point at the 'go' space. "You start here and move along the board, and buy planet spaces. Whenever a player lands on your planet, you charge them for docking. If you have all the planets in a system, you can start buying upgrades and charge more. The point of the game is to buy all the planets, or get all the other players to declare bankruptcy."

JungMin narrowed his eyes at the board game. "Sounds weird." 

"You'll pick it up easy, and I'm sure we'll take it easy on you two since it's your first time playing," KyuJong said, fending off HyungJoon who was trying to hit him back. "Especially if we're all drinking."

"Where is the alcohol anyway?" HyungJoon blinked, abandoning trying to hit KyuJong and looking towards to HyunJoong.

"It's on it's way, relax," HyunJoong called over his shoulder. Finally pulling out the bottles of soju and a large one of vodka, he brought them over to the table, placing them down and going back to get shot glasses. "Try not to get completely wasted in the first fifteen minutes, takes all the fun out of beating you at the game." 

"I won't," HyungJoon whined, taking a seat and looking at JongWoon. "You have to make sure I don't," he said with a pout.

KyuJong took the empty seat next to JungMin. "We should start this game off with a shot," he said with a grin, eyeing the vodka bottle.

JongWoon blinked at HyungJoon. "You mean while I'm trying to make sure _I_ don't?"

"Sounds like an idea to me," HyunJoong chuckled, placing the shot glasses down and starting to pour out the vodka into each. He passed JungMin and YoungSaeng theirs. The redhead eyed the shot a little warily, holding it lightly and tapping his fingers against the glass. 

HyungJoon pouted at the shot, but held it up anyway. "If I throw up, I'm blaming you KyuJong."

"You don't have to drink," KyuJong chuckled, picking up his shot and holding it out. "Cheers?"

YoungSaeng picked up his glass, looking to JungMin with a coy smile and held the glass out. "Been a while since we drank," he chuckled. "Try to keep the singing to a minimum."

JongWoon nearly snorted into his glass, then hid behind HyungJoon at the glare JungMin sent his way, the younger man's cheeks tinged red.

They all held out their glasses before tipping them back. JongWoon immediately started to cough and sputter, placing his shot glass down quickly. 

HyungJoon nearly choked as he swallowed the shot, opening his mouth and twisting his face in revulsion. "Smooth," he grumbled, setting the glass down and pushing it away.

"Your face says otherwise," KyuJong said, pouring himself a glass of soju and handing the bottle to YoungSaeng. YoungSaeng frowned lightly at the bottle but poured himself and JungMin some anyway.

Chuckling, HyunJoong set up the game in front of them while JongWoon poured himself and HyungJoon some soju despite his friend's protests. "All right, who starts?" he asked, taking the red ship piece and placing it on the 'go' space. 

"JongWoon should start since it was his idea," HyungJoon grumbled, selecting a comet while KyuJong was still picking out his piece.

YoungSaeng held up the small game piece that was shaped like an alien. Classic big head and big eyes with a small body. His eyes narrowed slightly at it.

"Oh! Can I be the alien? I'm always the alien," KyuJong asked YoungSaeng, with a smile.

"Alien?" YoungSaeng blinked and looked at KyuJong who was pointing at the piece in his hand. "Oh, sure," he shrugged, handing it over and selected something else.

JongWoon took the military hat after a moment, seeing that JungMin had beaten him to the star piece. He doubted either of their guests would want to be the military hat.

"Okay, let's get started," JongWoon grinned, taking a swallow of soju before rolling the die and moving his piece while HyunJoong was counting out their money. The older man whined when he landed on a paying space instead of a planet, sulking as he gave back some of his money to HyunJoong who was acting as banker. 

As they played, KyuJong acted as the other two's mediator, made sure they understood what was happening and the best way to play.

"He's cheating," HyungJoon whined, having to pay out to JungMin again when he landed on one of the other man's properties.

"I am not cheating," KyuJong huffed. "If someone didn't help them, they'd get stomped on by you three."

"I'm doing what he's telling me to do," JungMin wrinkled his nose at HyungJoon, taking the money and adding it to his pile.

"I think they're picking up on the concept pretty well," HyunJoong chuckled, rolling after HyungJoon and buying another planet.

"Better than we did the first time," JongWoon grinned as he went next, and whined as he ended up in jail. "Lovely." 

"It's an interesting game," YoungSaeng mused, taking the dice for his turn.

"Only because you're winning," HyungJoon grumbled, slumping slightly in his seat. "You've got all the best systems."

"Beginners luck," HyunJoong smiled. "And KyuJong's help of course." He topped up their glasses before finishing off his own and doing the same.

"He's already drank three times what we did, and it doesn't even show," JongWoon whined, pouting at their Captain who raised an eyebrow at him in amusement. 

"I'd hate to see you two having as much as him then," KyuJong said, looking to HyungJoon who was already weaving slightly in his seat. "He's not going to last much longer, is he."

YoungSaeng smiled lightly to himself, amused by the interactions. Picking up the vodka bottle, he poured himself a shot. "Anyone care for one?" he asked softly.

"I'll have one," HyunJoong slid his glass over with a smile. "And no, he isn't. Slow down there Joonie, we're nowhere near done."

JungMin poked YoungSaeng to fill up his shot glass as well; the alcohol seemed to have lowered his guard at the very least, and he had to fight back the smile as JongWoon tried to hold out his glass as well and nearly knocked HyungJoon's over. "I'm not so sure if that's a good idea." 

Pouring each of them another shot, YoungSaeng raised a brow at HyungJoon and JongWoon. "I don't know if I should," he said, pursing his lips before shrugging and pouring them each one.

"I know my limit," HyungJoon stuck his tongue out at HyunJoong.

"Somehow, I don't believe that," KyuJong snorted, knocking back his shot.

Taking the shot without problems, HyunJoong placed the glass down and watched HyungJoon in amusement. "You'd be right not to believe that, because I think he just passed his limit."

Coughing on the shot again, JongWoon looked around before seeing JungMin had gone already and nudging HyungJoon. "Your turn." 

"What?" HyungJoon blinked blearily at JongWoon.

"It's your turn," KyuJong repeated, pushing the dice towards him. HyungJoon looked at the dice for a moment before it clicked.

"Oh! Right, my turn," HyungJoon giggled, picking up the dice and rolling them.

"Well that was quick," YoungSaeng snorted, sipping at his glass.

"See, I'm not as bad as him," JongWoon sniffed. "I can at least understand what's being said."

"Give it another glass," HyunJoong retorted, waiting for HyungJoon to finish before going next. After him, JongWoon tried and failed to get out of jail. "I should just pay the stupid fee, I'll never roll the right number," the negotiator sulked. 

"Do you even have enough money to pay the fine?" KyuJong chuckled, looking over at JongWoon's slowly diminishing pile of bills. 

"Doesn't look like it," YoungSaeng shook his head and took the dice for his turn.

"Maybe he can do something else then?" KyuJong mused, smiling mischievously at JongWoon.

"Do what? I have to either pay the fine or roll the number, neither of which is going to happen," JongWoon sulked, pouting before he took another sip of his drink.

HyunJoong eyed KyuJong and the look on his face, one eyebrow raised. 

"How about you do something in place of paying the fine?" KyuJong tilted his head slightly, amused. "Say, kiss HyungJoon?"

"Okay!" HyungJoon had heard his name and looked up at KyuJong, confused, then turned to JongWoon. "Do what now?"

JongWoon starred at KyuJong in horror. "W-What?! No way!" He whined pitifully, turning bright red. "Kyu! Gimme something else!"

JungMin raised an eyebrow in amusement, looking at YoungSaeng then back at the other two. Weren't they together? 

"It's either him, or you have to kiss..." KyuJong looked around the table, lips pursed, "YoungSaeng."

"Don't be offering me up like that," YoungSaeng huffed, shifting towards JungMin a little. "And I thought you two were seeing each other anyway, what's the problem with kissing HyungJoon? Seems like you want to."

The negotiator stared at YoungSaeng with his mouth open like a fish out of water. He was _so_ glad HyungJoon didn't understand half of what was being said. "We're not!" he squeaked, trying to hide. "We're just friends, kissing is weird!" He tried not to look at HyungJoon beside him. JungMin was staring at him with a smirk. How had these two found out?

Whimpering and deciding to just do it before they said anything else, and possibly reveal more, JongWoon squirmed before shifting in his seat to face HyungJoon. "C-could you, I don't know, close your eyes?"

HyunJoong raised an eyebrow at the negotiator. He hadn't expected JongWoon to actually do it. 

"Why?" HyungJoon blinked, still confused as to what was going on. 

"Just close your eyes HyungJoon," KyuJong chuckled, taking another sip of his drink. He was delightfully tipsy at this point, and very amused.

"Okay," HyungJoon shrugged and closed his eyes. "I don't know how I'm supposed to play the game with my eyes closed."

"It's only for a moment," HyunJoong smiled.

"Should we say how long it needs to be?" JungMin raised an eyebrow.

"I think we're tormenting JongWoon enough," HyunJoong chuckled.

"I am very happy you won't be able to remember this tomorrow," JongWoon informed his best friend before swallowing nervously. With everyone watching, he gripped HyungJoon's shoulders lightly and leaned forward to press his lips against HyungJoon's. 

When HyungJoon felt his best friend's lips against his own, he squeaked, eyes flying open and almost pulled away. He didn't though, and almost surprised himself when he returned the kiss, closing his eyes again. He had always admired JongWoon's lips, had wondered what they felt like. They felt very soft.

Watching with raised brows, KyuJong covered his mouth to keep from laughing. His eyes flickered over to HyunJoong.

 _'Shit, shit, shit,'_ JongWoon panicked mentally as HyungJoon unexpectedly returned the kiss. Somehow that was even worse than pulling away, because now he was taking advantage of his wasted friend, who probably wasn't even able to tell the floor from the ceiling.

The kiss lasted just a second or two before he used all his willpower to pull back, letting go of HyungJoon's shoulders and covering his mouth. It hadn't helped at all that he'd liked the kiss, because now all he could think about was that they were both drunk and that was the only reason why the kiss had happened, and he felt like crying.

Covering it up with a whiny "your lips are slimy, Joon!" JongWoon quickly took another drink to get rid of the feeling. 

"Are not," HyungJoon protested, still recovering slightly from having just kissed his best friend. It had sobered him up a bit actually, and he was blinking rather lost at JongWoon for a second before he turned away.

"Alright then, you're out of jail, JongWoon," KyuJong chuckled, taking the dice for his turn.

"Yay! Now can you all do me a favor and land on the one planet I have?" JongWoon moped, pouring more soju for himself and HyungJoon in the hopes of erasing what had just happened from their memories.

"Sorry JongWoon, I don't think that's going to happen," HyunJoong chuckled as KyuJong's piece moved right past JongWoon's planet. "Just try to stay out of jail." 

"He's going to be bankrupt here pretty soon," KyuJong pointed out, finishing off his glass and pouring some more. Looking between HyungJoon and JongWoon, KyuJong wasn't sure what had happened with that kiss, but by the looks of HyungJoon's knitted brows, something had.

YoungSaeng was looking between them as well, until his eyes shift over to HyunJoong. Easily having consumed twice as much as the rest, the Captain seemed pretty sober. His head tilted to the side as he considered the man before turning to the others. "So is that the new fine then for getting out of jail?" he asked. "Kissing HyungJoon?"

HyungJoon's head snapped up. "Absolutely not!"

"It doesn't always have to be HyungJoon," KyuJong shrugged, laughing at the look on HyungJoon's face.

"Since they're sitting together, why not just the person to your right?" HyunJoong asked, amused. JungMin scooted a bit away from KyuJong, who was sitting on his left.

"I think I liked the old way of getting out of jail better," JongWoon whined, putting his head down on the table. "Can we switch to Jenga or something?"

"We can play Jenga later," HyunJoong chuckled, taking his turn. "Unless you both pass out before then." 

KyuJong pouted at JungMin when he moved away. "Am I that detestable?"

"Ignore him, he has issues with touching people," YoungSaeng said politely, patting JungMin on the hand.

"Not all people," JungMin flashed YoungSaeng a mischievous smirk. The older man was to his right.

"JongWoon, your turn," HyunJoong called, and the older man made a noncommittal noise and started feeling around for the dice without lifting his head off the table to look. "You can't play like that," the captain chuckled in amusement. 

"If you insist on playing that way we'll just tell you every roll you have to go to jail," KyuJong chuckled, looking away from JungMin and YoungSaeng.

HyungJoon was sitting ramrod straight in his seat. Having sobered up a bit, he was torn between drinking more and forgetting about JongWoon kissing him, or contemplate it some more.

"No way are you doing that," JongWoon exclaimed, sitting up finally and rolling the dice. He thankfully managed to stay out of jail, though he didn't escape from losing yet more money, this time to KyuJong. Sniffing pitifully, he picked up his glass and finished it off before putting his head back down.

HyunJoong shook his head at the older man in amusement, before blinking as he himself landed on the 'go to jail' space. "Oops." 

"So, you either have to roll, or kiss... who?" KyuJong blinked, forgetting what they had agreed to.

"I think you," YoungSaeng said lightly, sipping at his drink as he leaned against JungMin. He was enjoying this time with the crew, especially the drunker ones.

"Yeah, it would be Kyu," HyunJoong shook his head. "That's next turn though," he motioned for the others to continue.

"That'll be interesting," JongWoon said into the table; maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't the only one that needed to kiss someone. 

KyuJong smirked slightly, glancing at HyunJoong as he waited for his turn. HyungJoon was pouting as he handed over more money to JungMin. "I'm almost bankrupt," he whined, counting his money.

"You can always sell off one of your properties, not that they're worth anything," KyuJong said, pouring himself another shot.

"I only have one, might as well be bankrupt at that point," HyungJoon slumped down in his chair. "Let's play Jenga."

"We have to get everyone out of jail first," JungMin put in.

"Why is he having so much fun?" JongWoon whined, flinging one arm out to point in JungMin's general direction.

"Because he's not the one going bankrupt, hasn't had to go to jail, and you and Joon are providing free entertainment," HyunJoong put in, very amused at his crewmates' lack of alcohol tolerance. 

"I'm having fun too, even if I'm losing to the people I was coaching," KyuJong shrugged, pouring a shot for HyunJoong as well. "Have another drink JongWoon, you'll feel better."

"He won't know what's going on," YoungSaeng said, motioning for KyuJong to fill up his shot glass as well.

"I think that's the point," HyungJoon whined, eyeing the drinks being poured and pushed his glass over. He didn't particularly want to know what was going on if people were kissing on each other.

"Jenga is a lost cause if we get them so wasted they fall into the tower," HyunJoong chuckled, picking up his shot glass and tipping it back. Aside from a slight tinge to his cheeks, there was no visible reaction to the alcohol still, not even a decline in thought process.

The play went around one more turn, reaching HyunJoong again. Eyeing the dice, then KyuJong beside him, HyunJoong shrugged slightly and turned to his pilot. "You look too amused by all this." Reaching out and tilting the other man's face up, he leaned in and kissed KyuJong on the lips. JongWoon choked on his drink and ended up in a coughing fit. 

Not given time to protest, KyuJong squeaked slightly, but didn't pull away and returned the kiss. HyungJoon stared at the Captain and KyuJong for a second before he turned on JongWoon. "This is all your fault you know."

YoungSaeng had to laugh at that, wiping his mouth after the shot and leaning heavily against JungMin as he shook in laughter.

HyunJoong straightened again after a moment, looking over at the others. JungMin had one arm around YoungSaeng and was trying not to grin.

"What did I do?!" JongWoon whined when he could breathe again, staring at HyungJoon depressively. "I didn't do anything, it was KyuJong's idea in the first place, if you weren't so wasted you didn't hear the whole conversation." He hit his friend's shoulder and fell over into him, sent off-balance by the simple action. The sight of JongWoon suddenly sprawled over HyungJoon's lap caused JungMin to finally lose it, laughing and leaning back against YoungSaeng. 

The added weight of JongWoon on him, and his already questionable balance while drunk, pushed HyungJoon off his seat and onto the floor with a thump. 

KyuJong had to put his head down on the table he was laughing too hard to keep his head up. YoungSaeng was a lost cause, nearly falling over into JungMin's lap himself. 

When HyungJoon went down, JongWoon of course followed, landing on the younger man's stomach with an 'oof'. Flailing for a bit in an attempt to get up, and having his arms give out on him twice, he opted to just stay where he was until the room stopped spinning.

"I think the game's over," HyunJoong chuckled, watching the two on the floor with amusement. 

"This was definitely your fault," HyungJoon scowled down at JongWoon, pushing weakly at him in an attempted to get him off his stomach.

"And it was just getting interesting," KyuJong pushed out his bottom lip in a pout. "We helping these two to bed then?"

"Good luck with that," YoungSaeng was attempting to get control of laughter, straightening up and reaching for his glass for another sip.

"We should, before they just fall asleep here," HyunJoong laughed. Finishing his glass, he stood up, going over to the pile of limbs on the floor. "Come on JongWoon, up you go." He reached down and pulled JongWoon up to his feet, the older man staggering and falling into him. He had to hold him up and balanced, sure if he let go JongWoon would end up on the floor again. 

Standing up as well, KyuJong went around the table to help HyungJoon up. He was a little wobbly himself so getting them both up and standing straight took a bit of maneuvering. "So you spending the night with JongWoon tonight then?" he asked with a grin.

HyungJoon's face flushed and he tried to punch KyuJong in the arm but failed miserably. "Captain, make him stop," he whined pitifully as they headed towards the hatch.

"Why? It's fun watching them squirm," HyunJoong called over his shoulder as he helped JongWoon out of the mess hall. He could hear JungMin snickering at the table.

"Why did we agree to a drinking game again?" JongWoon pouted, trying to walk in a straight line and nearly sending the both of them weaving through the hallway.

"Next time maybe you both can do without the shots," HyunJoong chuckled. 

"No next time, never drinking again," HyungJoon slurred, tipping them both over wildly.

"They always say that," KyuJong chuckled, following the other two towards the crew quarters. "Am I dropping you off at your room, or are you staying with JongWoon tonight?"

"I'll stay with JongWoon," HyungJoon mumbled.

"No one mentions this tomorrow," JongWoon pouted, burning bright red.

"Whatever you want, I think you've both provided enough entertainment for the night," HyunJoong chuckled, patting the other man's shoulder. They reached JongWoon's cabin finally, HyunJoong opened the door and bringing the drunk man into the room and helping him into bed, pulling his shoes off and shoving his legs up onto the mattress when JongWoon opted for just half-hanging off the bed. 

"No wonder you two are best friends," KyuJong sighed, helping HyungJoon into the room and helping him to sit down on the other side of the bed. Taking his shoes off before HyungJoon just curled up and buried himself into the blankets, pressing against JongWoon's side.

"Night," HyunJoong chuckled, heading out of the room. As he left, he glanced over his shoulder to see JongWoon squirm closer to the younger man under the blankets, burying his face in HyungJoon's hair. 

Shutting the door once they were out in the hall, KyuJong shook his head and started towards his room. "Don't know why they protested so much, I think both of them enjoyed the kiss."

"Probably the idea of it, they _are_ best friends after all," HyunJoong shrugged, following along. "With how wasted they are though, I doubt either of them will remember it, which is probably a good thing." 

"Probably, and I'll be nice and not mention it," KyuJong smiled, stopping at his door. "You going to get some sleep finally?" he asked, leaning against the door with his arms crossed.

"I suppose I better," HyunJoong mused, taking in the younger man's stance. "I'm just going to go check the sensors one last time to make sure we're not about to run into an asteroid before I sleep. Night." He waved absently at his pilot before heading down the hallway. 

"Night," KyuJong called after him, waiting until he was out of sight before heading into his room.

After the others had left, YoungSaeng looked to JungMin with a smile. "Well, I guess it's time for bed then."

"Yeah, I guess we'll worry about this mess later," JungMin said, finishing his glass and standing. He was a little unsteady, but was able to stand without falling over. "It really has been a long time since we drank." 

"It has," YoungSaeng nodded, standing up as well and having to lean on JungMin slightly for support. "I had fun though, surprisingly."

"Me too," JungMin wrinkled his nose, wrapping one arm around YoungSaeng's waist. "At least we'll be able to remember this when we wake up." He guided the older man towards the hatch. "Sleep sounds good though." 

"It does," YoungSaeng smiled, looking up at JungMin. "I'm not all that tired yet though."

"Oh? What did you have in mind then?" JungMin asked, looking back down at YoungSaeng. 

At their door, YoungSaeng opened it up and pulled JungMin inside by his collar. "I think it'd be better just to show you," he said, shutting the door once he was in.

**********************

HyunJoong tapped absently at the controls to the sensors, making sure they were adjusted properly before leaning back in his seat and picking up his paperwork instead. The majority of his crew was still crashed after the game the day before, so he'd decided to bring his work up to the bridge. It was easier to keep an eye on everything from up here, while not neglecting the vast amount of work that needed to be done before they reached Ghea Six.

While he was glad the game had taken everyone's mind off the situation, it didn't change the fact that they were in way over their heads and he somehow had to get them through in one piece. 

The hatch door to the bridge opened, and YoungSaeng slowly peeked his head in, looking around. Technically, he wasn't supposed to be here, but he was bored and everyone else was busy or sleeping. Since he knew the Captain was awake and up here, he had decided to pay him a little visit. Slipping into the room, he shut the door behind him quietly and leaned against the door.

Not noticing the visitor right away, HyunJoong continued to flip through his papers with a slight frown, marking things off and making sure he had listed everything they needed probably. This was going to be a logistical nightmare.

He gave a soft sigh and turned his chair around to place the papers down on the table, HyunJoong spotted YoungSaeng and frowned slightly. "Hey. What are you doing up here?" 

Smiling lightly, YoungSaeng shrugged. "I was bored, and there's nothing to do. I thought I'd come up and keep you company," he said, pushing away from the door and walking over to him slowly, hands in his pockets.

HyunJoong chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "I appreciate the offer, but you can't be up here, I told you that before. JungMin's not around?" 

"He's busy in engineering, told me I was in the way," YoungSaeng said, stopping behind HyunJoong's chair and leaning over his shoulder to see what he was doing. "Anything I can help with? I'm good with numbers."

"I've got it covered," HyunJoong shook his head, looking up at him. "I'll have to ask you to leave the bridge YoungSaeng, you can't be up here." 

Ignoring him, YoungSaeng straightened up to pace around, before stopping at his side and crouching down. Looking up at him with a coy smile, YoungSaeng ran a finger up HyunJoong's arm. "You know, captains can get awful lonely all by themselves. Do you get lonely Captain?"

HyunJoong looked at YoungSaeng sharply at that, baffled by the younger man's behavior. And that he was uncomfortably close to the truth. "I don't believe that's any of your business, YoungSaeng," he replied coolly, pulling his arm away. 

Smirking, YoungSaeng stood back up slowly and went back around to lean against the back of HyunJoong's chair, whispering in his ear. "It may not be any of my business, Captain, but if you do find yourself needing a little bit of companionship, you know where to find me."

Stiffening slightly in the seat, HyunJoong's eyes narrowed a little. He knew exactly what YoungSaeng was implying, and he didn't understand _why_ the man was doing it, but that didn't matter right now. He was on duty as Captain of this ship. Turning around in his seat, he fixed YoungSaeng with a serious look. "Leave the bridge now, or I'll have to lock you in your cabin for disobeying a direct order." 

"Alright, I'm going," YoungSaeng chuckled, the smile still on his lips as he backed up and headed to the door. "Just think about what I said," he said, opening up the door and heading out into the corridor, closing it behind him.

Scowling at the closed hatch, HyunJoong picked up his papers and turned back to the terminals, determined to just forget the entire incident. He had no idea what YoungSaeng wanted from all this; in some ways he figured he'd rather deal with JungMin, who was hostile and liked to hit but otherwise predictable. YoungSaeng was more of a wild card. 

Climbing up the ladder to go to the bridge, KyuJong blinked when he saw YoungSaeng coming out. "Oh, hi YoungSaeng, I think JungMin was looking for you," he said, stepping away from the ladder so YoungSaeng could climb down.

"Is he? Thank you," YoungSaeng smiled and started down. Frowning slightly, KyuJong headed onto the bridge, curious as to why YoungSaeng was up here when he wasn't supposed to be.

Hearing the hatch open again, HyunJoong looked up from his papers, ready to order YoungSaeng off again when he saw it was only KyuJong. His expression was a little relieved. "Sleep well?" He placed the papers back down. 

"I did," KyuJong nodded, shutting the door behind him and moving to take his seat. "I ran into YoungSaeng, what was he doing up here?"

HyunJoong gave a long-suffering sigh. "Causing trouble out of boredom. We're going to have to find something more time-consuming for them to do, regardless that there's hardly nothing to do here." 

"Trouble how?" KyuJong frowned, checking the sensors. "I'm sure we can find something for him to do. Nothing else could have him clean out environmental scrubbers."

"I'm sure he'll take to that really well," HyunJoong sighed, not answering KyuJong's question. "Did you run into either JongWoon or HyungJoon on the way, or are they both still passed out in JongWoon's room?" 

"Passed out still, I just checked on them," KyuJong said, glancing over at HyunJoong. "You would tell me if there was something to be concerned about with YoungSaeng, right? I mean if he's causing trouble with you, what's to stop him from doing the same to the rest of us."

HyunJoong nodded. "There's nothing to be concerned about, it's not that big of a deal. Though we will have to find something to keep them occupied with." He leaned back in his chair, looking out the window. 

"I'd suggest he could help me on the bridge, but you didn't want either of them up here," KyuJong said, watching him from a moment before turning to navigation. "And I'm not sure handing him off to JongWoon for a job would be a good idea."

"He can't get into much more trouble than JongWoon can," HyunJoong chuckled, shaking his head. "We'll have to see if there's anything JongWoon could give him as a job that wouldn't explode the entire ship." 

"At least JungMin seems to be staying out of trouble, other than bullying HyungJoon around," KyuJong smirked. "Not that that's hard or anything."

"No, HyungJoon's very easy to pick on," the older man sighed, shaking his head. "I think the worst we have to worry about with JungMin is that he'll lock HyungJoon in a closet out of annoyance." 

KyuJong drummed his fingers on the terminal in front of him before turning his seat around and looked at HyunJoong. "Why won't you tell me what he did? Don't you think I should know so in case he starts something with me I can be prepared?"

Flipping through the papers in his hands absently, HyunJoong glanced over at KyuJong out of the corner of his eyes. After a moment he shrugged. "He's a little...flirty. It's more than a little strange, considering our situation." 

"Flirty?" KyuJong blinked, surprised at that. "With you? I thought he and JungMin..." he shook his head and turned back around. "Well, that is strange."

"He and JungMin are together?" HyunJoong raised an eyebrow at that. The two hadn't seemed particularly close those first few days, seeming to stick together more for the fact that they trusted each other more than the crew than an actual relationship. 

"I guess I was just reading too much into the way they were acting last night," KyuJong shrugged. "Seems like I'm a bad judge when it comes to people and relationships," he said, frowning down at the console.

HyunJoong raised an eyebrow. "Such as how you thought JongWoon and HyungJoon were together too? It's an understandable mistake. But it's probably a good thing neither of them will be able to remember the whole event." 

"Probably," KyuJong snorted softly. "Ship romances aren't really encouraged are they? I've seen some bad things happen when crewmates get together and then break up."

"They're generally discouraged for the well-being of the crew," HyunJoong nodded slowly after a moment, gazing out the window into space. "If the two involved are determined though, there's not much that could be said about it. This isn't the military." He sighed softly. 

"Guess it's good we don't have to worry about that then," KyuJong smirked, following HyunJoong's gaze out the window. "So what's on the schedule for today?"

HyunJoong didn't look back at him. "Finish preparing for the meeting with Tablo, since we're arriving at Ghea Six tomorrow...I'll need to get HyungJoon to take a look at our shuttle when he wakes up, that thing hasn't been used in years and I'm sure it's in no condition to fly. That's about it." 

"Anything you need me to do?" KyuJong asked, getting comfortable in his chair.

"Maybe make sure all is running up here, let me know if there are any upgrades you think we need. She's an old ship, there's probably plenty that can be done to make her fly easier." HyunJoong continued to look out the window for a long moment before looking back down to his papers. 

"I'll get a list going," KyuJong nodded, scooting over to navigation. "We could definitely use a new sensor array, this one's buggy as hell."

"Add that to the list then," HyunJoong chuckled, tapping a finger against the papers. "We'll have to sit down and prioritize things before we get there; Tablo might be an old friend and give me a hell of a discount, but he still won't do all this work for free." 

"It's a good thing the pay for that job we're not doing was pretty good," KyuJong said, lips quirked. "I'm guessing that when Tablo's done, she won't be much of a cargo ship anymore."

"No, I doubt she will be," HyunJoong sighed, patting the terminal. "We won't be able to change her skeleton any though, just made it so that she won't fall apart on a rough journey." 

"Traveling through unclaimed space is going to be a little more than rough," KyuJong shook his head, sliding over to sensors, tapping the fritzing monitor. "I'm this close to smashing this thing right now."

"Let's not make this any more difficult for Tablo hyung," HyunJoong chuckled. "Or at least wait until I'm off the bridge." He glanced at the time. "I should probably wake up the other two, or they'll never be up," he sighed, standing after a moment and arranging the papers into a pile in his arms. 

"I'll be here," KyuJong waved over his shoulder. "I'll try not to destroy any more equipment then I have to."

"Try not to," HyunJoong smiled, heading to the hatch. He was glad to see YoungSaeng was nowhere to be found as he headed towards the stairs, going down to the crew deck. The Captain stopped by his room to drop the papers off before heading along the hallway towards JongWoon's room.

As he'd expected, both JongWoon and HyungJoon were still sleeping like the dead. He looked at his two friends in amusement before stepping into the room and heading over to the bed, nudging them both. "Hey, time to get up. Your shifts started over an hour ago." 

HyungJoon whined pitifully and tried to bury himself under his friend. "Head hurts Captain," he mumbled, failing to notice how intertwined his limbs were with JongWoon's.

"Well that's your own fault for not knowing your own limits," HyunJoong shook his head, nudging JongWoon. "You too JongWoon."

JongWoon groaned and rolled a little to one side, nearly squishing HyungJoon who had somehow ended up underneath him. 

Squeaking when JongWoon rolled over on top of him, HyungJoon tried to push him off. "Get off, you're heavy," he grumbled, cracking his eyes open to look up at HyunJoong. "How did he end up in my bed?"

HyunJoong looked down at them in badly-concealed amusement. "Actually, _you're_ the one in his bed. You weren't being very cooperative after those last few glasses."

He had to quickly backpedal out of the way as JongWoon obediently rolled over, and fell out of bed with a thump. 

Scrambling to keep himself on the bed when JongWoon fell off, bringing HyungJoon's tangled legs with, HyungJoon kicked out at JongWoon and managed to pull himself back up. "I don't remember much of anything," he said, rubbing at his head.

"We'll just say it was a fun game and leave it at that then," HyunJoong smiled, nudging JongWoon with his foot. The older man was whining from his spot on the floor, trying to push himself up but failing. "You okay there JongWoon?"

"Just great," JongWoon groaned, finally rolling himself over so he was lying on his back instead, squinting up at HyunJoong through a mess of tousled hair. 

Getting himself to sit up, HyungJoon patted down his messed up hair and pouted at HyunJoong. "Can I call in sick today? I think I'm going to throw up."

HyunJoong gave a long-suffering sigh. "You can take some hours off until you feel better, but I will need you to check up on our shuttle before the end of the day," he said, padding around JongWoon to pat HyungJoon's head. "Next time I see YoungSaeng I'll get him to make you both something easy on your stomachs." 

"Thank you Captain," HyungJoon smiled up at him gratefully. "I'll get to that shuttle, promise," he slumped back over onto the bed, curling up in the blankets again.

Smiling a little, HyunJoong looked down at JongWoon, who looked like he was going to fall asleep on the floor. "Come on you, up," he sighed, bending over to help JongWoon up. It took a bit of effort, the older man not exactly well-coordinated at the moment, but he finally got JongWoon back up onto the bed and under the blankets.

"Rest well," he ruffled both heads of hair before headed out of the room again. 

Once JongWoon was back in the bed, HyungJoon immediately attached himself to his friend and cuddled against him. "You feeling like hell too?"

"Yeah," JongWoon groaned, cuddling back and burying his face in HyungJoon's hair. "Promise me we're never drinking ever again." Even though they said so each time. 

"Never, ever again," HyungJoon agreed, sighing in misery. "How much do you remember?"

JongWoon paused, before squirming a little closer. "Not a thing past the first glass," he lied, closing his eyes. "You?" 

"Uh... we played monopoly? I think?" HyungJoon's face screwed up in thought. "I think we lost, cause I know I was drinking more by the end of it."

"If we were playing that, we definitely lost, I suck at monopoly _sober_ ," JongWoon pouted. "And you're talking too loud and hurting my head, shush." He patted HyungJoon's hair. 

"Sorry," HyungJoon pouted. "I think I remember the Captain and KyuJong kissing. Why would they have been kissing?"

JongWoon tried not to stiffen too much at that. "No idea. You sure you weren't hallucinating?" He rubbed one hand along HyungJoon's back. "Go back to sleep, before you start seeing dragons too." 

Snorting at that, HyungJoon buried himself closer to JongWoon. "I do remember something else," he said, his lips quirked. "You kissing me to get out of jail."

The older man paled at that, and it wasn't because of the nausea the hangover came with. Crap. He had hoped HyungJoon wouldn't remember that. Anything but that.

"Oh, ew, I'm glad I don't remember anything now," JongWoon whined, trying to sound disgusted and not like he was going to hyperventilate. "I don't think I'm trying that one next time I end up in jail in real life." 

"Ew? Am I that disgusting?" HyungJoon pouted. "You're not instilling me with confidence here if even my best friend thinks I'm gross."

"Best friends aren't supposed to kiss, now are they," JongWoon muttered. "Go find a cute girl, or guy or whatever, and ask them. Not me." 

"Fat chance of that happening now," HyungJoon sighed, wrapping his arms tight around his friend. "No one's going to want to sign onto a crew that's on the run from the Fed."

"Well I'm hoping we won't be on the run forever," JongWoon smiled sadly, rubbing his hand along HyungJoon's back. "Go to sleep, will you? You're just going to make yourself sick thinking about things." 

"Too late," HyungJoon whined. "Never drinking again," he mumbled and drifted off to sleep, snoring softly.

JongWoon listened to HyungJoon snore, continuing the slow motion with his hand along the other man's back. That had been close. _Why_ had he remembered that of all things?

He would do anything not to ruin his friendship with HyungJoon.

"I didn't think it was gross," he whispered, knowing HyungJoon couldn't hear him anyways and needed to get it off his chest. Sighing softly, JongWoon closed his eyes and buried his nose back in HyungJoon's hair, kissing the top of his head with the other man's head tucked under his chin. Slowly he drifted off as well, mind troubled about something that had nothing to do with being on the run from the Federation. 

*************************************8********************************************

Wandering back to the room he shared with JungMin, YoungSaeng was still smirking to himself over the encounter with the Captain. He had seen the obvious confusion in the man's eyes over his offer; confusion as to how he knew the Captain was looking for a source of comfort. It had been a part of YoungSaeng's job to read people, and for all the man's stoicism, the Captain was an open book.

Opening up the door to their room, YoungSaeng leaned in, looking for the other man.

JungMin had returned to his room shortly before; he’d tried to figure out the rest of the engine room by himself, but there was only so much he could do without HyungJoon there, and the one system he’d been shown how to take care of didn’t need anything fixed. After wandering around bored, he’d gone back to the room and flopped down on the bed.

When he heard the door open, the redhead rolled over onto his back, pouting at YoungSaeng. "I’m bored out of my mind."

"Me too," YoungSaeng pouted back, stepping in and closing the door behind him. "I got kicked out of the bridge for trying to relieve my boredom," he sighed, meandering over to the bed and crawling up next to him. "So what shall we do now?"

"The bridge? What were you doing up there?" JungMin wrapped one hand in YoungSaeng’s shirt and tugged him down, arms wrapping around his waist. "There’s only so much we can do with 50% of the crew sleeping off hangovers. Lightweights." 

"I was just having a nice chat with the Captain," YoungSaeng sighed, sliding his arms over JungMin's shoulders. "He wasn't too pleased with what I had to say and told me to leave. He seemed pretty okay for having drank twice as much as the rest of us."

"He was going through the alcohol like a machine," JungMin chuckled. "What did you say to him?" He tapped his fingers against YoungSaeng’s waist. 

"I just told him if he needed anyone to keep him company, he knew where to find me," YoungSaeng mused, shrugging. "I think he took offense to my generous offer."

"Don’t know why he would," JungMin snorted, pulling YoungSaeng over so he could lie on his back with the older man on top of him. "He should feel honored." 

Stretching his body out over the length of JungMin's, YoungSaeng wrinkled his nose as he looked down at the man. "I can't tell if that's sarcasm or not, so I'm going to take that as a compliment," he said, leaning down to brush his lips over JungMin's jawline.

"Why would I be sarcastic?" JungMin sniffed, eyelids fluttering at the kiss to his jaw. "I happen to like your generous offers." He tapped his fingers along YoungSaeng’s spine. 

"Really? I couldn't tell," YoungSaeng chuckled, his fingers were working on the buttons of JungMin's shirt. "I think I know how we can relieve our boredom."

"Wait, don’t tell me, let me guess," JungMin smirked, hand trailing down to run his finger along the sliver of skin exposed at YoungSaeng’s waist before sliding his shirt up. 

"You always were able to figure things out so quickly," YoungSaeng said shivering lightly at the fingers. Smoothing away JungMin's shirt with his hands, he pressed kisses along his chest and neck.

"That better not be sarcastic," JungMin groaned, head falling back. He could only get the other man’s shirt up so far without YoungSaeng helping, so he opted for arching up against the other man instead, his hand slipping down the back of YoungSaeng’s pants. 

"I'm never sarcastic," YoungSaeng murmured, scraping his teeth over JungMin's skin before he pulled back and helped get his shirt off, tossing it to the side. Leaning back down to run his mouth down JungMin's chest to his belly, sliding down as he went until he was eye level with the waistline of JungMin's pants, slowly unbuttoning them.

Panting, JungMin looked down at the older man, twining his fingers into YoungSaeng’s long hair. "I know we’re trying to pass as much time as possible, but you’re going slow on purpose." 

"Maybe, you complaining?" YoungSaeng chuckled, tugging JungMin's pants down roughly.

JungMin drew in a sharp breath, his grip on YoungSaeng’s hair tightening. "Who said I was complaining?" He used his free arm to prop himself up on one elbow, watching YoungSaeng through a mess of red hair and dark eyes. 

"That's what I thought," YoungSaeng grinned, wiggling out of his own pants and crawling back up to straddle JungMin's waist. "Besides, it's not like you're in a rush to go anywhere."

"Not at all," JungMin agreed, pushing himself up to sit properly and freeing both hands to hold YoungSaeng's small waist, his eyes flashing. "And I hope you aren't either, because we're not leaving this room for a while." 

Running his hands up JungMin's chest and leaning in to nip at the underside of his jaw, YoungSaeng almost purred with how their bodies touched. "That's fine by me," he murmured.

******************************************

For a long minute there was only the sound of quiet panting in the dark room, all movement ceased. Only the dim nightlight was on; it wasn't yet time for the ship to wake up. It was just barely enough to see the outline of each other's faces in the dark, inches apart.

It took a minute to catch their breath, the bed sheets tangled and half-hanging off the bed. Finally the one on top shifted a little, the bed creaking slightly as he climbed off to stand.

Brushing the sweat-matted hair back out of his eyes, HyunJoong gave the other person in the bed a cursory glance before turning to pick up his clothes, sitting down on the edge of the bed and pulling his boxers back on. 

Rolling over onto his side, KyuJong rearranged his sheets and curled up under them as he watched HyunJoong dress. There was no need to talk at the moment, no need to discuss what they did. It's not like it had been the first time; that had been in those first couple of days he had been aboard. HyunJoong had never offered him an explanation for why he came to him in the middle of the night, and KyuJong had never asked.

"You can sleep here you know," KyuJong said softly. He'd offered before, but HyunJoong always had something else to do. Once he was out of the room, they went back to Captain and pilot, as if HyunJoong didn't press him into the mattress a couple of nights a week.

HyunJoong shook his head. "We'll be entering Ghea Six's gravity field in some hours. Get some rest, there probably won't be any time for it once we dock." Buttoning his pants, he picked up his uniform shirt and smoothed out the wrinkles in the fabric before pulling it on. 

"You need your rest too sir, I know you haven't been sleeping well," KyuJong said, sitting up to find his boxers.

"I'll rest later," HyunJoong waved off the statement, buttoning his Captain's jacket. Slipping on his shoes, he headed to the door. "I'll be on the bridge." 

"Yes sir," KyuJong sighed, slipping on his boxers and curling back up under the blankets. It's not like he minded their situation really, he enjoyed their encounters as brief as they were. The only problem was, he didn't want it to end in the wee hours of the morning. "See you in a couple hours."

Nodding, HyunJoong stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. Once he was out of that room, everything was back to normal. He was loath to say YoungSaeng had been right when he said he wanted companionship.

He headed up to the bridge, to see a half-asleep JongWoon spinning himself in slow circles rather than watch the sensors like he was supposed to. At least he wasn't suffering of a hangover anymore. "Go to sleep JongWoon," HyunJoong chuckled, patting the older man on the head as he took his own seat. "You have a few hours to nap."

"Yes sir," JongWoon yawned widely, rubbing his eyes before he stumbled out of the bridge. HyunJoong sighed to himself as he turned to the controls. 

KyuJong tossed and turned in his bed for an hour before he gave up. Sliding his legs over the edge of the bed, he leaned forward and rubbed at his face. He didn't usually sleep well afterwards, and would probably need a nap later. 

After washing up a bit and getting dressed, he headed up to the bridge. He could probably get some work done before they arrived at Tablo's. Opening up the hatch to the bridge, he gave a brief smile to HyunJoong and took up his station. "Morning."

HyunJoong looked up as the hatch opened, blinking; no one was scheduled for a shift for another few hours. When he saw KyuJong, he returned the slight smile before looking back down at the list of supplies, making sure they had everything listed. "Your shift doesn't start for another few hours." 

"Couldn't sleep," KyuJong shrugged, going through the sensor logs. "Figured I could get a bit of work done before we get there. Wasn't JongWoon watching these sensors?" he frowned.

"In theory, yes." HyunJoong shook his head. "I think he was just sleeping with his eyes open before I sent him off." 

"He's lucky we just missed that asteroid then," KyuJong sighed. "Proximity warning didn't go off. Definitely need to get this thing replaced."

"I think that'll be one of our priorities," HyunJoong chuckled, underlining that on his list. "The asteroids here are pretty tame compared to what's out there." 

"Tame unless we slam into one because no one's paying attention," KyuJong said, knocking on the sensor display to get the screen to come back. "Oh lovely, it's dead. Looks like we're flying blind for the next couple of hours."

"Guess it's time to put those pilot skills to good use," HyunJoong shook his head. "I'd wake HyungJoon up to take a look at it, but I have a funny feeling it wouldn't last fifteen more minutes even if he could do something about it. At least the autopilot isn't in danger of dying." 

"Autopilot is fine, except it relies on the sensors," KyuJong chuckled, hitting some switches on the console. "I could fix it, but it'd take longer to get it to half work than it would to get there. So, landing will be a little fun I think."

"If you don't think you can do it, we can call for an escort," HyunJoong glanced over at him. 

"Didn't say I couldn't do it," KyuJong smiled wryly over at him. "I just said it was going to be fun. Remind me to let everyone know to hold on when we get there."

"You might want to say so several minutes in advance, unless you want to watch JongWoon slide across the room again," HyunJoong smiled, turning back to his papers. 

"Yes sir," KyuJong chuckled, taking the controls. "Have there been any more visits from YoungSaeng?" he asked, checking navigation again.

"No, I'm hoping JungMin's keeping him occupied," HyunJoong shook his head. "Haven't seen either of them for a while. We'll have to remind them to stay on the ship once we're docked." 

"Should they just stay in their room?" KyuJong asked, looking over his shoulder at him. "How long we going to be here for anyway?"

"It'll take two to three days to get all the repairs done," the Captain replied. "It would be nice if they could stay in their room, but I doubt they'll take well to three days in there, so we'll just have to make sure they don't leave the ship." 

"I guess that just means it's you, me and HyungJoon who's allowed off the ship then," KyuJong chuckled, shaking his head. "Don't need JongWoon's brand of trouble there."

"No, we don't, but Tablo and JongWoon know each other, he'll probably find a way off the ship anyways," HyunJoong smiled. 

"Well, this is going to be an interesting couple of days then," KyuJong smiled back, returning his gaze to out the window.

"Interesting is an understatement." Going to visit Tablo was never boring. "Once we're landed there won't be much for you to do as a pilot, so you can have time off until he's finished the upgrades and ready to go over them with you." 

"Time off? How generous of you," KyuJong grinned. "Guess it'll be a chance to catch up on my reading. I take it you're going to be plenty busy then?"

"Very busy," HyunJoong sighed, leaning back in his chair. "HyungJoon will be too whether I tell him to take a break or not. He can't stand anyone touching his engine, having workers in here is going to drive him batty. I might have to ask JongWoon to take him downtown for a day." 

"That might not be a bad idea. They both deserve a little time off too," KyuJong nodded. "Even when the repairs are done, it's not like we can't stick around for an extra day so you can get some rest too."

"We should try to get as far away as we can, I can rest later," HyunJoong shook his head. "Especially if we're trying to hide JungMin and YoungSaeng from the military, there _is_ a training facility right there." 

"How long you think you can keep going like this HyunJoong?" KyuJong said, turning his chair around to look at him. "You're going to burn out soon. Why don't you go get some sleep, we're still a couple hours out. I'll let you know before we make our approach."

"I can keep going as long as it's needed," HyunJoong replied calmly, not looking up at KyuJong. "There's still work to be done." He hadn't stopped writing things down and checking through the terminals for the information he needed. 

KyuJong frowned and rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything as he turned around and retook the controls. He really had no leverage when it came to the Captain; the man didn't listen to anybody, no matter what kind of relationship they had. "If you fall asleep over there I'm not waking you up," he grumbled after a few minutes of silence.

"I won't," HyunJoong sighed, flipping through the different screens. "I'm perfectly fine, all right?" He got annoyed of the insistent questions sometimes, even if the other only meant well. 

"If you say so, sir," KyuJong shrugged, focusing on keeping their heading and not running into the increasing multitude of meteors they were starting to come across. 

They had just passed through into the system when HyungJoon wandered up to the bridge, looking half dead. "We almost there?" he said, slumping over into a chair and resting his head on the table.

"Almost," HyunJoong replied, glancing over at his friend. "Feeling any better, Joon?" The younger man looked like death warmed over, but at least he was moving around without complaining about being sick. 

"Yes, just tired," HyungJoon yawned loudly. "Was up pretty late getting the shuttle checked out, should be okay to fly now."

"It's in shape to fly?" HyunJoong raised an eyebrow. "Is JongWoon still passed out, or is he up too?" 

"Yes, it's in shape to fly, not for as long as I'd like, so it's going to need a bit of work when I can get around to it," HyungJoon said, sitting up and looking at HyunJoong. "How am I supposed to know if he's awake? I'm not completely attached to his hip you know, and I sleep in my own bed most of the time thank you," he huffed, crossing his arms.

KyuJong's eyebrows went up and looked over his shoulder at HyungJoon. "You're being awfully defensive," he mused.

"Am not," HyungJoon grumbled.

"You might sleep in your own bed, but he tends to sleep in your bed too, which is why I'm asking," HyunJoong raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Or was he actually in his own bed for once?" HyungJoon was acting a little strange, even for him. 

"Can we just drop it?" HyungJoon whined, slinking down in his chair. "I don't know where he is, try him on the com."

"I'll take that as he slept in his own bed then," KyuJong chuckled, yelping when HyungJoon threw a pen at his head. "Yah! Watch it! I'm trying to steer here!"

"Please don't send us into an asteroid," HyunJoong shook his head, patting HyungJoon's shoulder. After a moment he pulled out his comm device and flicked it on. "JongWoon, are you awake?"

There was a moment before static came over the line. "I am now." JongWoon's voice sounded muffled.

"We'll be preparing to dock soon, can you make sure YoungSaeng and JungMin are awake?"

"Yes sir," JongWoon groaned. "I hope to God they're wearing clothes this time." The line went silent. 

"They weren't wearing clothes before?" HyungJoon blinked in confusion.

"I told you," KyuJong looked over his shoulder at HyunJoong.

HyunJoong sighed. "Well, that adds another element to the already complicated situation." He patted HyungJoon on the shoulder. "When we land, you and I are taking Tablo on a tour of the ship. And try not to kill the people who come to work on her." 

"They don't know how to handle her like I do," HyungJoon sulked. "What's he doing?" he pointed at KyuJong.

"I get time off," KyuJong turned and stuck his tongue out at HyungJoon.

"How come he gets time off and I don't?" HyungJoon sat up straighter, whining more.

"Who said you aren't getting time off?" HyunJoong rolled his eyes. "You're the one who'll stick around anyways because you don't want anyone else touching your engine. Go downtown or something, take JongWoon with you, I don't have time to babysit him." 

HyungJoon slunk back down in his chair, squirming a bit. "Why can't KyuJong take him into the city? What if I don't want to spend my time off with him?"

HyunJoong looked back at HyungJoon, frowning slightly. That was definitely unlike HyungJoon. "All right, what's going on HyungJoon? You've never had a problem with being around JongWoon before." They were best friends, practically twins some days. 

"Captain, can I talk to you in private?" HyungJoon said, giving HyunJoong a pained smile. He didn't need KyuJong to hear what he had to say, it was embarrassing enough just talking to HyunJoong.

Blinking at the younger man, HyunJoong nodded after a moment, standing. "Come on, we'll go to the mess hall and get you some caffeine before you pass out," he said, one hand gently on HyungJoon's shoulder. 

Getting up and shuffling out after the older man, HyungJoon kept to himself the entire walk down to the mess hall. Once he saw they were alone inside, he sat down at the table and wrung his hands a bit. "Um... I'm avoiding JongWoon."

HyunJoong slid into the seat beside him, glancing at HyungJoon. "I figured out that much. Why? You're best friends." They had been perfectly fine last time he'd seen them. 

"Ever since the game of monopoly, things have just been weird between us," HyungJoon said, looking down at the table. "I mean, you know that we kissed, and he says he doesn't remember, but when I said something about it he kind of implied I was gross."

The older man looked at him for a moment. "Well, most people don't like kissing their best friend," he pointed out. "It might have been more the idea of kissing his friend rather than thinking you're gross." 

"It's just... I didn't think it was gross," HyungJoon said quietly, "and I don't know what to say to him. If he knew that I liked it, what's he going to think? He'll probably think I'm just a weirdo now."

A soft sigh left HyunJoong's lips. "You don't have to say anything about it, if you're that worried. But you can't keep on avoiding him forever, Joon. It's a small ship, an even smaller crew." 

"I know, and I don't want to avoid him, I just don't know what to do," HyungJoon rested his head down on the top of the table.

"You can either talk to him about it, or keep going like it didn't happen." HyunJoong rubbed one hand along HyungJoon's back soothingly. "Because I don't think you're willing to sacrifice your friendship with him over being called a gross kisser when you're too drunk to tell the floor from the ceiling." 

"No, I already miss him," HyungJoon pouted. "I guess I should just ignore it then. If he doesn't remember it then I guess that's a good thing."

"At the very least, it saves a little more awkwardness." HyunJoong squeezed his shoulder lightly. "As your captain, I should probably be discouraging any thoughts like that anyways...but what you do is up to you." 

"You'd think I'd know better than to try and get involved with a crewmate," HyungJoon sighed, blinking and looking over at HyunJoong. "Er.. I mean... not that I am really considering anything like that."

HyunJoong gave HyungJoon a strained smile. "Good." After a moment he stood. "We should get back to the bridge, we should be entering the atmosphere soon." 

"Okay," HyungJoon nodded and slowly stood up. "Thank you. I know you're not really that comfortable with talking about this kind of stuff, so I appreciate it."

"It's fine," HyunJoong shrugged. "We're all friends." He headed towards the door, looking back at HyungJoon. "Will you be all right being around him?" 

"Yeah, I think I'll be fine," HyungJoon nodded, smiling at him. "He's my best friend, have to just get passed it. Just don't mention anything about it to JongWoon."

"I won't," HyunJoong shook his head with a small smile as he stepped back out into the hallway, waiting for HyungJoon to join him. "He should be back on the bridge by now." 

Following along, HyungJoon nodded and pouted down at the floor as they walked. He had never thought his relationship with JongWoon would be strained like this, and it was disconcerting. But he was going to put on his best fake smile and pretend like nothing was wrong, for JongWoon's sake.

He was surprised at how well he was able to smile at JongWoon when they got back to the bridge and sat down next to him. "We almost there?"

"Yes we are," KyuJong said, focusing on the controls. "Captain, we're within range of coms, if you wanted to let Tablo know we're going to be hitting atmo in about ten."

Nodding as he sat down, HyunJoong brought up communications with the ground, setting up a connection. "YoungSaeng and JungMin are awake, JongWoon?"

"Yes," JongWoon whined, looking faintly ill. "They were very awake, yes." He gave HyungJoon a pained look. " _Never_ open the door if they don't answer right away. Even after knocking." 

"Why?" HyungJoon blinked at JongWoon before it clicked. "Oh... oh! Ew!" HyungJoon shuddered. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

JongWoon shuddered visibly and sank lower in his seat, rubbing his eyes hard as if that would get rid of the image.

HyunJoong was able to establish a connection with Tablo, just long enough to inform them they were getting ready to descend. _"Port 15 is available for docking,"_ Tablo told them. _"There's a light rain, but nothing to be concerned about."_

"Understood, we'll be there soon." 

KyuJong hit the shipwide coms so JungMin and YoungSaeng could hear. "Starting our descent, it's going to be a little bumpy," he said, turning off the coms and focusing on steering.

Getting himself strapped in tightly, HyungJoon then turned to JongWoon and started to strap his friend in. "Can't have you flopping around like a fish, you might get hurt," he muttered, pulling the belt tight.

Blinking at HyungJoon, JongWoon grinned a little sheepishly. "Haven’t gotten worse than a headache yet." Then he squeaked as HyungJoon pulled the belt too tight. "Can’t breathe!"

HyunJoong strapped himself in before turning to the co-pilot controls, setting himself up in case KyuJong had difficulty landing.

"Sorry," HyungJoon said, slackening the belt a little before linking his arm with JongWoon's. "Kyu, try not to kill us."

"We'll be fine," KyuJong chuckled, glancing over at HyunJoong. Gripping the controls tight, KyuJong started their descent into the planet's atmosphere. The whole ship shuddered as the shields hit the layers of atmosphere, and for a few agonizing moments they were flying completely blind in the clouds. 

Soon as they were clear of the clouds, KyuJong leveled the ship out and made for the dry dock, squinting out into the rain. "Should get windshield wipers installed," he grumbled. Circling over their landing spot, KyuJong chewed nervously on his lip. "This is going to be tight, there's not a whole lot of room to maneuver down there. Hold on."

Flicking a button on the controls, and spinning the ship around, KyuJong smiled nervously at HyunJoong before he killed the power to the engines and the ship started to fall. HyungJoon shrieked and clung tightly to JongWoon, cursing out KyuJong in between screams.

KyuJong ignored them all, his hand hovering over the power button as they descended at an increasingly rapid pace. Doing a count in his head, KyuJong watched the dock get closer and closer until they were just about to smash into the ground he turned the engines back on. The ship gave a sharp jerk, then a softer bump and they stopped moving. "Okay, we're down, and in one piece," KyuJong beamed.

"…Oh my _God_ ," JongWoon whimpered, clinging to HyungJoon like his life depended on it. "Our pilot is a suicidal maniac."

Apparently JungMin and YoungSaeng agreed from wherever they were on the ship, because a second later, JungMin’s voice came through the comm line, yelling at them for ‘trying to kill them all’.

"…" HyunJoong covered his eyes briefly with a shaky sigh. "Maybe a warning next time."

"I said it was going to be bumpy," KyuJong shrugged, powering down the engines. 

"You're just lucky the engines came back on!" HyungJoon said, slowly unbuckling himself from the restraints. "Sometimes she's a little prickly and doesn't like to be hard started like that."

"I know what I'm doing," KyuJong just grinned, turning off all non-essential systems before turning to HyunJoong. "So am I on vacation now?"

"Yes, you’re on vacation for a couple days," HyunJoong sighed, somewhat amused despite himself. "Go blow off some steam."

"Us too?" JongWoon gave puppy eyes as he undid his own restraints.

"Once HyungJoon and I show Tablo around, yes, you’re both free until we leave," HyunJoong nodded. He wanted to give his crew as much time off as he could; who knew when they’d have a chance like this again.

"I'll be in my cabin then if anyone needs me," KyuJong said as he stood up, stretching out and walking towards the hatch.

HyungJoon stood up, watching the pilot leave the bridge, shaking his head. "He's going to get us all killed taking chances like that."

"I’m not sure being on a civilian transporter is the best choice for him, these ships aren’t meant for those kind of stunts," HyunJoong shook his head. "He is a good pilot though. Come on, time to meet Tablo."

JongWoon bounced up. "Can I come with?"

"As long as you don’t touch anything, sure."

"I'll keep him out of trouble," HyungJoon said, taking his friend's arm.

"Good," HyunJoong smiled at them both. "Well, let’s go." He pulled out his comm device and flicked it on. "There are going to be people going through the ship for a little while, so you both should stay in your room."

 _"Got it,"_ JungMin replied as they headed towards the hatch.

Following HyunJoong out, HyungJoon tried not to look over at JongWoon too often, "So uh, what'd you want to do when we get out of here?"

"Can we go into town and look around?" JongWoon asked, looking at his friend. "It's been a while since we've been anywhere, and this planet's pretty nice when it's not raining." He was doing his best to act normal, sticking close to the younger man as usual.

They headed down to the docking station, arriving at the closed airlock. HyunJoong tapped in the code to open it, pulling the sealed door open with a hiss of air. It opened up onto a large platform. 

"That sounds good," HyungJoon nodded with a smile. "You think we should invite KyuJong? He shouldn't spend all his time hold up on the ship."

"Sounds like an idea to me," JongWoon agreed. "We should enjoy the fresh air while we can." He looked to HyunJoong. "Is Daniel sshi around here?"

HyunJoong nodded, hands in his pockets. "He's probably up in communications, we'll have to give him a minute to get down here." 

"It's been a while since we were here," HyungJoon said, trying not to look around too obviously. "I don't know how he hasn't been caught yet, being so close to a Fed station," he murmured.

"He's careful," HyunJoong chuckled. "He's not so stupid as to do anything rash this close."

"Who's stupid, HyunJoong?"

JongWoon yelped and whirled around, tripping over his own feet and landing on his rear. The man who had come up behind them snorted in amusement, staring down at him.

"Hey Daniel hyung," HyunJoong smiled, unaffected by the sudden appearance. 

Snorting, HyungJoon leaned down and helped JongWoon back up to his feet. "You're embarrassing," he muttered.

JongWoon gave HyungJoon a sheepish grin, shuffling beside him.

"Been a while," Daniel nodded, lips quirking. "So I understand you have some work to be done here?"

"Yes," HyunJoong nodded as well. "Would you like to take a look around?"

"That would help, I haven't been on this ship in years," Daniel chuckled, and HyunJoong stepped back into the airlock, reopening it for them. They would have to wait to discuss what exactly they needed done once they were inside the ship, away from prying ears and equipment.

"I trust you remember Kim JongWoon and Kim HyungJoon?" HyunJoong asked, and Daniel nodded to them both with a smile.

"It's been a while. I remember you two, you're the ones who were lost on the lower levels for five hours." 

"That wasn't entirely our fault," HyungJoon pouted. "Someone gave us bad directions, and it's not like anything was marked so we didn't know where we were going. It was all...." he stopped, looking over at HyunJoong and then away. "...all that pilots fault," he finished quietly.

"..." HyunJoong didn't respond to that, closing the airlock after them and turning back to Daniel. "The engine room first?"

"Sounds like a good place to start," Daniel replied, but his eyes had tightened with concern. HyunJoong nodded and turned to lead the way, Daniel walking along beside him. JongWoon gave HyungJoon a pained expression before following.

He really hoped JungMin and YoungSaeng had listened to them and were hiding in their rooms.

"So, is there really a problem with the warp drives?" Daniel asked absently, glancing over at them. HyunJoong's lips quirked.

"No, but we would like to see what's available for us for upgrades. Not just on the warp drive."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Huh. What kind of upgrades?"

"The best you can get me," HyunJoong replied calmly.

"..." Daniel eyed him. "You're talking about a complete makeover? That's a little strange for a civilian transport..."

"I know, that's why I need this to be off the records," HyunJoong answered. Daniel nodded slowly. 

HyungJoon followed along sheepishly, still attached to JongWoon. "We've got a list of the minor repairs that need to be done as well, because if that sensor array isn't fixed KyuJong might string up by my toes."

"That I can definitely do for you," Daniel chuckled. "I remember that sensor array. This entire ship is built on technology 20 years outdated, you're going to have to update _everything_."

He sighed and looked to HyunJoong. "I'll do what I can for you off-the-record, but considering they know you're here, you'll need some repairs on-record just so they don't wonder why you suddenly stopped here in the middle of your route. We can put the minor repairs on the record, right?"

HyunJoong nodded. There was nothing suspicious about changing a faulty sensor array; they couldn't fly blind. "I have a list of upgrades we need done," he told the older man. "It's understandable that we won't be able to have everything done, but if we could get a good amount of them then I would owe you a lot."

"Just how much do you need done?" Daniel raised an eyebrow at them.

"I'll show you later," HyunJoong replied.

The older man looked at him before nodding and facing forward again. They finally arrived at the engine room, heading down the stairs. "HyungJoon, want to show Daniel hyung what we need changed down here?" HyunJoong asked, looking back at his engineer. 

"Sure thing, sir," HyungJoon nodded a little uncomfortably. He didn't like spending too much time in Tablo's company without the Captain, but it wouldn't take long to show the older man what needed to be done. Luckily the engine was in good shape and only needed a few modifications. His grip tightened on JongWoon's arm as he opened up the hatch and stepped into the engine room; he was keeping JongWoon with him.

Stumbling along when HyungJoon tugged him through the hatch, JongWoon stuck close to his best friend's side, though he poked HyungJoon's stomach when the grip on his arm got to be painful.

Daniel followed them through the hatch, HyunJoong waiting outside, probably to make sure their guests were hidden while Daniel was out of hearing range.

"Hm, it's been a while." The older man looked over the engine pieces. "So, what would you like done?" He seemed friendly enough, not questioning them further on what was definitely a strange visit. 

"Uh.. just a few things," HyungJoon said, starting over towards the main engine and pointing out various parts that needed to be replaced and then the upgrades that he and HyunJoong had discussed. The more he talked about the engine, the more relaxed he got and eventually let JongWoon go, gesturing animatedly as he tried to get his point across about the kind of upgrades they wanted. "So really, what we need, is to fly faster," he finished, grinning at the older man.

"I gathered that," Daniel chuckled, nodding along to what HyungJoon was describing. "Those upgrades should be no problem...I actually have exactly what you might need. There's just one issue." He rest one hand lightly against a beam. "I remember working on this ship; she's not built for the kind of speed you're looking for. Sure she can take a few notches higher every now and then, but if you were to keep the speed constant, it would break her spine. I'll need to restructure her bones to take the pressure, which out of everything you've listed and HyunJoong's hinting at, will take the longest." 

HyungJoon chewed on his lip, looking up at the ship. "Yeah, but we kind of need it. So any problems with amount of time you'll have to talk to the Captain about. I'm pretty sure he has more in mind when it comes to structural changes."

Nodding, Daniel pushed his hands into his pockets. "I'll be discussing that with him later." He looked around a little more. "Other than being more than a little outdated, she's in pretty good shape, I'm rather surprised. Most ships like her fell apart years ago."

"HyungJoon takes good care of her," JongWoon put in.

Daniel grinned. "I can see that. Anything else I needed to see down here?" 

"No, I tried to convince the Captain we needed a new shield generator but he says the one we have works just fine," HyungJoon sighed. "Anything else that needs to be done is uh... not engine related."

The older man nodded. "All right then. Let's not keep your Captain waiting." JongWoon could see that he was confused by what he was being told, probably wondering why a civilian transporter ship would need upgrades like this, but thankfully he wasn't asking anything. Despite the man tending to work on both sides of the law, he respected Tablo because he knew to ask only what he needed to know, and how to keep his mouth shut about the rest.

They showed him back out into the main hallway, and HyunJoong nodded at them. "We'll head to the bridge next, and I'll explain more." He looked to his two crewmates. "You both are free to go, just remember to keep me updated on where you are at all times." The last thing he needed was to lose his crew if they needed to move fast. 

"Yes sir," HyungJoon nodded, taking JongWoon's arm again and scurrying away towards crew quarters. "So what should we do with our time off?"

"Dunno. Wanna go look around downtown?" JongWoon grinned at the younger man, a little more at ease now that they were away from Tablo. "I don't remember what's here, but there's bound to be a bunch of interesting stuff." 

"Yeah, I wanna change first," HyungJoon nodded, heading towards his room. "You think we should invite KyuJong to go with? He can't actually be looking forward to reading for the next few days all by himself."

"Don't see why not," the older man agreed, stepping away from HyungJoon to go to his own room just across the hall; he should change too. "Some fresh planet air would do lots of good," he smiled at his friend before opening his own door and stepping inside his room.

He didn't have to say the obvious; that who knew when they'd have a chance like this again. 

*************************************9********************************************

After a full day of being cooped up in the room, YoungSaeng was going stir crazy. He had been pacing around since they had woken up. "How long are they going to keep us holed up in here," he grumbled, shooting looks towards JungMin.

"Don't ask me," JungMin snorted. He wasn't any happier than YoungSaeng, shuffling around on the bed and trying to get rid of the tense feeling in his muscles. "Probably as long as we're on this planet. Which will be until tomorrow, if we're lucky."

He understood the reasoning; it was too dangerous for them to be walking around. Since they'd arrived, he could hear people passing in the hallways, and the sound of construction elsewhere in the ship, vibrating through the hull. It was stupid to wander around when they could be spotted.

But their section of the ship had been relatively quiet for a while, and he was getting _very_ bored. 

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, YoungSaeng sighed heavily and stared at the door. "I'm hungry. I think we burned enough calories yesterday," he said, glancing over his shoulder and down at JungMin. "You think we can sneak out to get some food without being seen?"

Hopping to his feet, JungMin went over to the door, leaning against it and listening. He didn't hear anyone nearby.

"Seems clear. Not our faults they want us to stay in here and then forget to bring us something to eat," he sniffed. Well, KyuJong had stopped by earlier with something, but that was long gone and he hadn't heard anything from the crew since. They were probably off-ship.

Listening again, he tried the door only to find it locked. "Figures," the redhead snorted, before leaning over to look at the keypad next to the door, tapping at it quickly.

Within a minute it beeped and the door unlocked. 

"I'd say they need better security, but that wouldn't really matter," YoungSaeng chuckled, picking up his dropped shirt and sliding it over his head. "You'll have to be quiet," he said, joining JungMin at the door. "You think you can do that?"

"Of course I can," JungMin rolled his eyes. "I can be quiet as a mouse." Opening the door, he poked his head out and looked around. He couldn't see nor hear anyways. "Okay, let's go." He slipped out into the hallway, waiting for YoungSaeng to get out as well before closing the door behind them. 

Taking the lead, YoungSaeng crept silently down the hall, keeping his eyes open and ears focused for any sounds of people. He did have to duck back once, pulling JungMin into an alcove until a group of workers passed by and went up the ladder to the deck above. Waiting until he was sure they weren't coming back down, YoungSaeng slid back out of the hiding place and towards the mess hall door. Cracking it open, he peered inside but didn't see or hear anyone and quickly stepped in, bringing JungMin in with.

Following YoungSaeng into the mess hall, JungMin closed it behind them, grinning. "Not that bad." He headed towards the kitchen, hands in his pockets. "Anything I can help with?"

He went to peek out the window, watching the planet outside. He could see shuttles going back and forth from the spaceport. His eyes narrowed when he spotted the military facility in the distance. They were really close to it. 

"No, I'm just making us something light," YoungSaeng said, rummaging through the cupboards. "We should probably take the food back with us to the room. There's no telling when people will be back this way."

"True. How many people are working on this anyways?" JungMin turned away from the window to look at him. "Must be a decent amount if we're going to be good to fly in three days. From what the others were talking about before getting here, there's a massive list of things to be done." 

"If the Captain was seriously considering flying into unclaimed space, this tin boat is going to need to be completely overhauled," YoungSaeng said, making them a couple of sandwiches. He kept glancing over at the door, wary of someone just stepping in.

"He seemed serious about it," JungMin shrugged. "What are we going to do once we're out there though?" He hopped up onto a table, swinging his legs. "I mean, are we just going to drift around aimlessly?" 

"I don't know, and he probably doesn't either," YoungSaeng sighed, putting away the food packs and leaning his hands against the counter. "But we can't stay in Federation space."

"No, we can't," JungMin agreed, watching him. "They're going to start asking questions again soon. What in the world are we gonna say?" 

"I have no idea," YoungSaeng shook his head, wrapping up the sandwiches in some plastic and moved over to the table JungMin was sitting on. "We're not going to be able to hide the truth from them forever, but I just don't know if they'll be able to understand."

"They wouldn't," JungMin shook his head, hopping down from the table. It was as simple as that. But that could be left to worry about another day.

Heading to the door, he cracked it open to peer out...and jumped back as the door opened fully, a surprised HyunJoong on the other side. Right beside him was an older man JungMin didn't recognize.

HyunJoong blinked, managing not to glance at Daniel beside him. "What are you both doing here?" He looked past JungMin and saw YoungSaeng.

JungMin floundered for a moment before remembering their cover of being part of his crew. "We were just getting something to eat sir," he said, looking back at YoungSaeng. 

Stiffening when the door opened, YoungSaeng gripped the sandwiches in his hand tightly as he looked between HyunJoong and the other man. "Sorry, we were just hungry," he said softly. "We're going back right now."

HyunJoong nodded and moved out of the way so they could get by.

"New additions to the crew?" Daniel asked, and he was watching them both strangely, eyes widened in shock before narrowing a little.

"They joined a few planets back," HyunJoong nodded, looking at them both, his eyes clearly telling them to leave.

JungMin slipped out around them and headed down the hallway quickly, aware of the stranger staring at them both. 

YoungSaeng edged around them both, looking at the other man in curiosity as he passed by. Something about him tugged at his memory, but he didn't know why. He moved quickly to catch up with JungMin, glancing over his shoulder back at the Captain and the other man.

Only relaxing once they were around the corner and out of sight, JungMin frowned down at YoungSaeng. "Who was that? His contact for the repairs?" He kept an eye out for anyone else who they might run into, but they area was clear. 

"I'm going to assume so, yes," YoungSaeng nodded, glancing down a connecting corridor before moving on towards their door. "He didn't look like a regular technician," he said, opening up their door and stepping in. "Did he look familiar to you at all?"

Blinking at that, JungMin shook his head as he closed the door behind them. "No? Why? Did he to you?" He frowned slightly at that, going to sit down on the bed. 

"A little, but I don't know from where," YoungSaeng said, following him over to the bed and handing him a sandwich. Curling up next to him, he unwrapped the plastic from around the sandwich and took a bite. "You saw his reaction to seeing us though, yes?"

"Yes I did." JungMin unwrapped his own sandwich, leaning back against the older man slightly. "He knows us. The reaction wouldn't make sense otherwise." He glanced at YoungSaeng beside him. 

"Which means he's working for the military," YoungSaeng nodded looking up at JungMin. "I don't like this. You think the Captain knows?"

"If we're doing this to _avoid_ the military, I doubt it," JungMin shook his head. "Do we say something? He's seen us...we're all in trouble." 

"I'm not sure if he would believe us," YoungSaeng sighed, taking another small bite of his sandwich. "But we should say something all the same." Having lost his appetite, YoungSaeng wrapped the sandwich back up and leaned his head on JungMin's shoulder.

"That will be fun, not," JungMin groaned. "We should probably say something sooner rather than later...they kind of _are_ taking apart the ship right now." He wrapped one arm around YoungSaeng, rubbing his arm. 

"We're not supposed to leave the room, when are we going to get the opportunity?" YoungSaeng said, relaxing into the hold. "Hopes on him coming here to yell at us for being out of the room?"

"I don't think he will," JungMin rolled his eyes. "He's not much of the strict captain type." Chewing on his sandwich slowly, JungMin thought about that. "Guess we'll be lucky to leave the planet then." 

"Maybe if one of the others comes by to feed us again we can mention wanting to speak to him?" YoungSaeng shrugged. "That's the best I can come up with since the com lines are down while they work on them."

"We'll figure something out. JungMin hugged YoungSaeng lightly. "We haven't gotten this far just to be caught." 

YoungSaeng smiled softly at that, closing his eyes as he tried to calm down. "No, not giving up quite yet. We'll just have to sleep lightly tonight, just in case."

"We can take turns sleeping, it's not as if we have much else to do but sleep," JungMin replied, resting his head lightly against YoungSaeng's. "We can take them on, they made a big mistake teaching us everything we know." 

"They did," YoungSaeng laughed softly. Tilting his head up, he looked at JungMin with a small smile. "At least this happened while we were assigned together," he said, taking JungMin's hand and lacing their fingers together.

"Yeah," JungMin grinned, squeezing YoungSaeng's hand a little. He didn't think this would have gone nearly as well if YoungSaeng hadn't been here. "Imagine if you had been stuck with one of the others," he snorted. "They're royal pains when they're not muzzled." 

YoungSaeng rolled his eyes and shifted to pull himself up into JungMin's lap, resting his cheek on his shoulder. "A couple of them would have tried to take over the ship and kill all the crew. Damned hot heads," he muttered. "Besides, I wouldn't have enjoyed the finer points of alone time if it had been anyone else."

"Quite true," JungMin laughed at that, placing his sandwich to the side and resting his forehead against YoungSaeng's. "We even managed to freak out some of the crew, half the fun of staying on this ship." 

"Well that wasn't always intentional," YoungSaeng chuckled, playing with the collar on JungMin's shirt. "I think they've learned though to wait for us to open the door first when they come by."

"Aw, so no more surprise visits?" JungMin smirked. "We'll just have to find other ways to freak them out. Though I think you've already been doing that, yes?" He ran one hand through YoungSaeng's soft hair. 

"Maybe just a little," YoungSaeng pouted slightly. "You know I like to keep myself entertained in ways other than trying to just hit people all the time. Unlike someone I know."

"Hey, it's working out so far," JungMin poked the older man's side. "He scurries around like a chicken without a head, it's amusing. Have you gone after him yet? Or that hopeless negotiator?" 

Squirming a little at the poke, YoungSaeng shook his head. "No, the Captain intrigues me. I'll work on him a bit until I get bored with trying. The pilot is next; he seems like fun."

"If by 'fun' you mean kamikaze, then yes, he seems very fun." JungMin rolled his eyes. "So you're leaving me the other two to torture?" 

"You seem to be enjoying your fun with the engineer," YoungSaeng shrugged, shifting around to straddle the man's waist. "Wouldn't be much of a stretch to terrorize the negotiator as well. Unless you'd rather take on the pilot."

"No, he doesn't seem nearly as easy to scare," the redhead wrinkled his nose, placing his hands on YoungSaeng's hips. "You have your fun with him, if you get bored let me know and we can swap victims." 

"We'll see," YoungSaeng mused, leaning in to press his lips against JungMin's neck. "The Captain's tricky. He needs a bit more tact to handle than what you're capable of."

"What's the fun in having tact," JungMin murmured, head tilting back slightly as he slid his fingers under the edge of YoungSaeng's shirt, caressing along the soft skin. "I've gotten along just fine without it." 

"That doesn't work all the time," YoungSaeng said, nosing the collar of JungMin's shirt out of the way to kiss his shoulder. "Some people need to be handled a little more delicately."

"And which kind of person would you say you are?" JungMin asked, slipping one hand further under YoungSaeng's shirt to run up his back, trailing along his spine. 

Pulling back enough to look into JungMin's eyes, YoungSaeng wrapped his arms around JungMin's neck. "Not someone who needs to be handled with care."

"My kind of person then," the redhead chuckled, leaning forward to kiss the older man before rolling them both over, pressing YoungSaeng into the mattress, lunch completely forgotten. 

******************

"Please tell me JongWoon isn't going anywhere near that," KyuJong said, his arms crossed. Standing on the platform outside the ship, he was staring up at the weapons system that had been installed, something a bit more powerful than their previous mining laser. 

Now that all the upgrades were finished, he and HyunJoong were doing a final walk around the ship while the others were inside checking internal systems. They would be leaving shortly, thankfully, everyone was itching to get back into space, especially him. KyuJong turned to look at HyunJoong with a frown. "He'll blow a hole into the side of the ship."

"No, we're keeping him far away from that _and_ the warp drives before he sends us into a planet," HyunJoong sighed, shaking his head as he looked the ship over. "HyungJoon's going to be playing babysitter again, he'll love that. Daniel hyung explained to you how the new navigation system works?" 

"Yup, it's a bit fancier than I'm used to but I'll get the hang of it in no time," KyuJong nodded, looking back at the ship. "She looks a lot different now, almost didn't recognize her."

"She definitely isn't a cargo ship anymore," HyunJoong sighed. The _Proteus_ was a mix of everything now, he didn't know what to call her. It was strange to look at his first ship and see all the changes, and realize that there was no going back from what they were about to do.

"You got everything done that you wanted to while here?" he asked, glancing over at KyuJong beside him. 

"Yeah," KyuJong nodded again. He didn't need to tell the details of his calls, or who he had to get a hold of, HyunJoong wouldn't ask either. "Guess it's time to get going then?" he asked, smiling sadly.

"Well if it isn't _Captain_ HyunJoong," a voice called from behind them, one KyuJong didn't recognize. Looking over his shoulder, he frowned a little at the taller man who was approaching with a couple of other men flanking him. KyuJong glanced at HyunJoong in confusion.

The voice made HyunJoong stop breathing for a moment, shoulders stiffening. He knew who it was without even turning around. Someone up there really had it out for him...and he really wanted to know what he'd done in a past life to warrant it. Why did that man have to be here?

Turning around, the Captain's expression was a polite mask, posture relaxed except for the slight stiffness in his shoulders. "It's been a while," he nodded slightly. He had to control himself around this man, no sign of weakness. 

"Yes it has," the man nodded with a smirk, looking HyunJoong up and down. "You've looked better though. What's wrong HyunJoong? Pilot life not agreeing with you anymore? You should have taken my offer when you had the chance." The man's eyes shifted over to KyuJong. "He's pretty, new boyfriend?"

KyuJong bristled, eyes narrowed at the man. Just who was this that seemed to put HyunJoong on edge?

HyunJoong's jaw clenched slightly. "No, he is our new pilot. Please excuse us, we are busy." He turned and continued to walk along the platform back towards the entrance, glancing at KyuJong to follow him. He wasn't going to let this man get under his skin. 

"Pilot huh?" the man said, stopping KyuJong from getting too far. "You know you're not going to get anywhere flying around that tin can he calls a ship," he said, the smirk still in place. "You're more than welcome to join my crew, I can always use a good pilot. Pay's good too."

"Thanks, but I like my job," KyuJong said, pulling his arm out of the man's grip and following after HyunJoong.

"It was nice seeing you again, _Captain_!" the man called after him, the two lackeys laughing at what seemed to be some kind of joke at HyunJoong's expense. Scowling, KyuJong walked faster to catch up with HyunJoong.

HyunJoong had to control his pace, wanting to get far away but not wanting to seem like he was running away, even if he was. He just couldn't win. Why did they have to be on the same planet at the same time?

Daniel hadn't known, that much was obvious. The older man would have warned him beforehand.

Shoulders stiff, he didn't stop until they'd reached the airlock to get back onto the ship. Entering the combination, he stepped through the door as it opened, only waiting for KyuJong to step through before he shut the door again. 

As soon as the door was sealed, KyuJong looked at HyunJoong, seeing the tenseness in his expression. "Captain, who was that?" he asked. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see HyungJoon and JongWoon coming out onto the catwalk and starting down the stairs.

HyunJoong drew in a deep breath, like he hadn't been breathing the entire encounter. "...That was our former pilot, Kim JaeJoong."

JongWoon landed at the bottom of the stairs first, starting towards them. "Everything looks ready for lift-off..." he trailed off at the expression on both their faces, particularly HyunJoong's.

Glancing at his crewmates, HyunJoong nodded stiffly. "Begin procedures then, I will meet you on the bridge." He turned and walked down the hallway in the other direction. 

KyuJong watched him go, chewing on his lip in indecision. Coming up beside him, HyungJoon looked where HyunJoong had gone then back to the pilot. "What's up?"

"We ran into someone out there, just before we came in," KyuJong said, frowning. "JaeJoong?" Steeling himself up, KyuJong went after the Captain, ignoring the order to go to the bridge.

HyungJoon paled and his mouth dropped open, quickly looking over at JongWoon. 

JongWoon stared after them both, then exchanged a look with HyungJoon. "...That's not good at all. We should stop him from following, shouldn't we?" 

"Probably," HyungJoon nodded, grabbing JongWoon's arm and following after the pilot. "Kyu! Wait!"

KyuJong wasn't listening, trotting down the corridor to catch up with HyunJoong. "Captain?"

HyunJoong was heading towards his quarters, turning to go up the stairs when KyuJong caught up to him.

The look he gave KyuJong was cold, even for him. "Prepare the ship for departure, KyuJong." 

Stopping, KyuJong frowned at the look. "You can't keep me in the dark like this HyunJoong," he said, taking a few steps forward to stop at the bottom of the stairs. "Whatever that was back there, I deserve to know what happened."

"No, you don't." Something flashed in the older man's eyes as KyuJong got in his way. "That was an order, pilot."

JongWoon and HyungJoon had caught up by then, the former taking KyuJong's arms and shaking his head with wide eyes. "Come on Kyu, let's go, we need to get ready to leave." 

"..." KyuJong met HyunJoong's gaze as he shook off JongWoon's arm. "Yes _sir_ ," he said, stepping out of the way. "Or maybe I'll just go take JaeJoong up on his offer of a job," KyuJong snapped over his shoulder as he headed towards the bridge.

JongWoon stared at KyuJong's back in utter shock as the man walked away. "He doesn't mean it, Hyun," he said desperately, turning back to the Captain. "He doesn't kn—"

"I know," HyunJoong cut him off, gaze turned away and shoulders dropped. The mask dropped slightly to show the deep pain in his eyes. "Get everything ready, I'll be on the bridge before liftoff." Even if he had to pilot the ship himself.

JongWoon watched him head up the stairs to disappear on the crew deck before turning to HyungJoon, swallowing. "This really isn't good," he said quietly. "What do we do?" 

HyungJoon held up his hands in bewilderment. "I have no idea," he said, looking away from where HyunJoong had gone back to JongWoon. "We should give them some time to cool down," he sighed, shaking his head. "Hyun really should tell him what happened. Or blow ups like that will keep happening. I'm going to engineering, make sure that engine doesn't fall apart. Good luck." He waved over his shoulder as he headed toward the engine room.

Staring after his friend helplessly, JongWoon sighed, leaning against the wall. "Easier said than done." It was all fine to say HyunJoong should tell KyuJong, but they knew their Captain better than that. HyunJoong wasn't a very open person, especially not to someone he hadn't known for a long time...and especially about something that still caused him constant pain.

JongWoon shuffled his feet, counting in his head and trying to figure out if he was safe to head to the bridge. After a few minutes, he figured KyuJong must have had a chance to calm down by now, starting in that direction slowly and making stops along the way to make sure everything was in order.

Finally he reached the bridge, drawing in a breath before opening the hatch and stepping in, looking around at all the new equipment. 

Settled in his chair, KyuJong was getting the engine prepped to start, checking and rechecking the new engine readout as he fired up systems one by one. He heard the hatch open, but didn't bother to look over his shoulder. If it was the Captain, it's not like he'd say anything to him anyway. If not, then it didn't matter. It still rankled him that no one would tell him anything, not even with their current situation. He thought they trusted him. Especially HyunJoong...

Floundering helplessly for a moment, JongWoon looked at KyuJong's back before going to take one of the seats, tapping his fingers against his knees. It was safer not to touch anything.

"Hey...uh...you feeling okay?" he asked quietly after a moment of silence. 

"Why wouldn't I be?" KyuJong answered shortly, turning around to look over the new navigation system and get it started up. "I'm just the pilot. Shouldn't be worried about anything else," he said, charting their course.

JongWoon watched him, wishing HyungJoon was here, he had no idea what to say. But he should probably say something, before it got too bad. "It...Please don't be too mad at him," he said quietly, biting on his lower lip. "It's just a very sensitive topic, and it still causes him a lot of pain, so he doesn't like to talk about it." 

Fingers hovering over the terminal keypad, KyuJong's jaw tightened as he slowly turned to look at JongWoon. "It's hard to know what topics to avoid when no one tells me anything, JongWoon," he said lowly.

"Why do you want to know so badly?" JongWoon asked, somehow managing not to flinch at the look in KyuJong's eyes. 

KyuJong pursed his lips and turned back to the navigation console. "Because it would be nice to know why the Captain doesn't treat me like a member of the crew half the time," he said.

The older man looked down at his lap, wringing his hands a little. "He doesn't mean to," he said quietly. "Crew's family to him. But his family abandoned him...why would he want another family member who's just going to do the same..." 

"Who says I am?" KyuJong looked at him over his shoulder. "Even though I haven't exactly felt welcome sometimes, I'm not going anywhere. If he keeps pushing me away though..." he shook his head and turned away. There was more to it of course, but JongWoon didn't need to know that. "I just don't want to be an outsider anymore."

JongWoon was silent for a long moment. He could only see one way to solve what was going on...and HyunJoong was going to _kill_ him for it.

"You know JaeJoong used to be our pilot, right?" 

Turning back around, KyuJong nodded. "Yes, that's what I was told."

The negotiator fidgeted nervously. "Well...he was also..." He glanced at the hatch to make sure it was still closed. It would probably be a while before HyunJoong came back.

"He was also HyunJoong's lover." 

KyuJong's eyebrows went up at that. Well, some things made sense now, especially the late night visits. "So what happened?"

JongWoon's expression darkened slightly, unusual for the happy-go-lucky man. "He was a lying, cheating, backstabbing snake, that's what happened," he said, looking down at his lap.

"Everyone knew he was only with HyunJoong because of his connections...everyone except for HyunJoong of course, cause people are blind idiots when they're in love. JaeJoong was seeing someone behind HyunJoong's back, a military man who we sometimes escorted from place to place. He used HyunJoong for everything he had. When the Captain had nothing left, JaeJoong bailed and left to work on the military man's ship, taking the rest of the crew and breaking HyunJoong's heart at the same time." 

Unable to think of anything to say to that, KyuJong paled slightly remembering what he had said to HyunJoong just prior. HyunJoong was expecting him to do just the same, to use him and leave him. "I can see why he didn't to say anything," he said softly after a moment, looking towards the hatch. "Thank you for telling me."

JongWoon's lips curved into a small, sad smile. "Sure. Just don't let anyone know I told you, okay? Hyun's gonna send me out the airlock, either me or Joonie, it's a lot harder to get away with things when there's only the two of us," he joked feebly. "We should get this ship moving. Or you should, I'm not touching anything." 

Nodding, KyuJong turned around. He stared blankly at the console for a moment before hitting controls to start the engine up. Moving completely on automatic, KyuJong requested ground clearance and turned back to the controls to wait. He would definitely have to apologize now for what he had said; he just hoped the Captain would forgive him.

Permission had just came in when the hatch opened again, HyunJoong stepping through. He didn't look at either of them, sitting down in the Captain's chair and turning to the terminals to check in with the rest of the ship. JongWoon watched him for a moment before turning away to watch from the window as the clamps on either side of the ship, securing it to the dock, were removed. 

Once the docking clamps were released, KyuJong took the controls, hitting a few buttons until the ship started to rise. The new steering and engine rode like silk under his hands, and he had to smile at how smooth their ascent was into the atmosphere. The only time they felt any kind of turbulence was a soft bump when the shields hit the dense layers of ozone before they clouds cleared and they were flying clear of the planet.

"We're clear," he said, turning around to navigation and check their course one last time before hitting the autopilot.

Watching the terminals to make sure no error messages popped up, HyunJoong nodded slightly. The upgrades were running amazingly so far, Daniel had really pulled through for them. It made him wonder about the warning YoungSaeng and JungMin had given him the day before, about Daniel working for the military. They must have been mistaken; the ship wouldn't have been able to leave the atmosphere if that were the case.

After a moment HyunJoong flicked on the comm line. "How's the engine running, HyungJoon?" He sounded normal enough considering what had happened just before. 

"Gorgeous Captain," HyungJoon said, the awe clear in his voice. "I don't have to touch a thing. It's absolutely beautiful..." his voice trailed off.

"He's never going to leave engineering now," KyuJong chuckled softly.

"He did before?" JongWoon grinned sheepishly. "Tablo did a good job on the ship, must have cost a pretty penny."

"Actually, he gave us a large discount," HyunJoong shook his head. As well as done the vast majority of the upgrades on the list, he'd had his workers going day and night on the ship on what was surely a loss for him. HyunJoong had expected a discount of some sort, but not this much of one. 

"I've got a working sensor array, that's all I care about," KyuJong said, patting the shiny new monitor. "I'll feel better about leaving the bridge now."

"So what are we doing now?" JongWoon asked, stretching out. "On to the next supply stop?"

HyunJoong nodded. "It would be best to pick up as much supplies as we can." It was a good thing they were a cargo ship (vastly changed, but still a cargo ship) and could carry a lot; they would need it. He stood up. "I'll be in my quarters." There was a lot to look over, and he needed a bit of time away.

JongWoon watched him leave the bridge, draped out over one terminal with his head in his arms. 

Sighing heavily when HyunJoong left, KyuJong turned around to look over at the negotiator. "I should probably wait a bit to apologize to him, shouldn't I?"

The older man turned his head to look at KyuJong, then nodded. "I'd say it's safer that way," he said quietly. "Just try not to be too mad at him if he doesn't accept the apology." 

KyuJong's eyes dropped and he nodded, turning back around. Even if HyunJoong did accept his apology, he knew their tentative friendship was damaged, which meant other aspects of their relationship were frayed as well. It would probably be a while before the Captain would look at him, let alone talk to him again. "If you have other stuff to do, you don't need to keep me company," he said softly.

"What am I supposed to do, watch Joonie drool over the new engine?" JongWoon shrugged. "I can work up here, stop you from getting too bored. Unless that was a hint to scram." 

"You can stay if you want, just don't expect me to be good conversation," KyuJong shrugged, shifting down in his seat to look out the window at the stars.

"Good thing I'm great with monologues then," JongWoon grinned, watching the younger man and trying to figure out how to cheer him up a little. He hadn't known just what kind of an impact his words would have. "You're five times a better pilot then JaeJoong, you know. He would have slammed us into the dirt with all those stunts you pull." 

KyuJong laughed lightly at that. "Well, not everyone has learned how to fly before they could walk."

JongWoon blinked at KyuJong. "Seriously? Considering most people learn how to walk before three..." 

"My father was a pilot," KyuJong shrugged. "It's not like he had anyone to watch me when I was little so he'd bring me with him to the bridge. I was piloting the ship on my own by the time I was twelve."

"Wow," JongWoon looked at him in amazement. "It takes most people until they're 20 at least to fly a ship without a co-pilot or anything." He really wondered why KyuJong hadn't picked a more exciting career than a civilian transport; he would have had a blast. "Never thought about going into deep-space exploration or something? Most pilots I've talked to dream of it." 

"No, I never wanted to be anything more than a simple pilot on a transport," KyuJong said with a smile. "Exploring and all that just doesn't interest me that much."

"You'd be the best civilian pilot ever," JongWoon chuckled. "Though it looks like, if we're really going into unclaimed space, we're going to be doing a bit of exploring anyways. Who knows what's out there. I know HyunJoong has some basic maps, but most of it is blank space." 

"I don't mind, as long as I get to keep seeing this view," KyuJong smiled sadly. "You don't think he'd put me off the ship, do you?"

"Don't think so," JongWoon shook his head, looking over at him. "Did you mean what you said, about joining JaeJoong's ship? It would get you out of this mess we're in now." 

"Of course not," KyuJong shook his head, turning to look at him. "He offered me a job, I declined. I like this ship, and that guy gave me the shivers."

"He's not the nicest person," JongWoon sighed. "But he had the rest of the crew wrapped around his little finger, I'm glad you at least didn't fall for it." 

"I could tell he was trying to goad the Captain into something, and that had my teeth on edge," KyuJong said with a frown. "I don't know why I said what I did to the Captain. I guess I was just so frustrated at him continuously avoiding my questions. How long you think I should give him before I try to apologize?"

"I'd say at least the rest of the day," the negotiator shrugged. "He's been out of sorts ever since the others left, sometimes I think he doesn't even trust that HyungJoon and I are going to stay on. It wouldn't surprise me if he's convinced himself you're going to jump ship next planet over, and he's a little stubborn on changing his point of view if you haven't noticed by now." 

"Yeah, I've noticed," KyuJong rolled his eyes, but smiled a little at that. "So, were you and HyungJoon offered to join with JaeJoong's crew as well?"

"Of course we were, with official papers for transfer already done and everything," JongWoon rolled his eyes. "We both told him he could take those papers and shove them up his ass." 

KyuJong couldn't help but snort at that and laugh. "I'm glad that he had you two at least, no one deserves to have what happened to him happen. He's a good guy, I just wish I had known him before all that mess."

JongWoon smiled wistfully. "You would have adored him if you'd seen him before, he was the best Captain a guy could ever ask for. Not that he isn't now...but he needs time to get back to normal, and I don't think with our situation now that's going to be happening for a while." He rested his head down on the terminal. "If you'd been our pilot before, not JaeJoong, so much would be different." 

"I'll just have to make do, and try not to get on his bad side again," KyuJong sighed, messing with some of the controls in front of him. He heard the hatch opening and looked up to see HyungJoon poking his head in.

"Wow," HyungJoon whistled lowly at seeing some of the new equipment. "Can't wait to get my hands on these," he said, eyes widening as he came up behind KyuJong to start poking at the equipment. KyuJong swatted at his hands.

"You're not coming near it unless there's a problem I can't fix," KyuJong grumbled.

"Don't start fighting over the equipment now," JongWoon laughed at them both. "YoungSaeng and JungMin know they're not barricaded in their room anymore, right?" 

"Uh... I don't know," HyungJoon said, stepping slowly away from KyuJong. "I don't really like going to their room by myself. Come with me?" he asked JongWoon with wide hopeful eyes.

"Why me?" JongWoon whined. "Every time I go they're in the middle of something, usually something I don't want to see." Grumbling, he grudgingly got up and pointed at KyuJong. "Next time, he's going." 

"Have fun," KyuJong chuckled, turning back to look out the window, settling in his seat. "At least wait until they open the door first."

"Yeah, we know that now," HyungJoon grumbled, taking JongWoon's hand and leading him from the bridge. Once the hatch was closed and they were heading down the hall, he glanced over at his friend. "Well he seems in a better mood," he said quietly.

"...Yeah..." JongWoon squirmed a little nervously. "Uh...about that..." 

HyungJoon's eyes narrowed. "What? What happened? Or should I ask what you did?"

The older man scooted a bit away from his friend. "I kinda...told him." 

"You _what_?" HyungJoon stopped, staring at JongWoon in disbelief. "HyunJoong is going to _kill_ us. I'd say he would just kill you, but I know I'm going to end up dead right beside you. Why did you do that?"

JongWoon flailed a little helplessly, looking up and down the hallway to make sure no one else was around. "We both know HyunJoong's never going to say a word about it, and I don't want to see them at each other's throats for however long it would have taken KyuJong to get fed up and leave. He needed to know, you said so yourself!" 

"Well... yeah... but most of that is HyunJoong's private business," HyungJoon hissed, grabbing JongWoon's arm and starting to move again. "How much did you tell him?"

"I...I think I summarized everything pretty well?" JongWoon winced. "He wanted to know what happened Joon, I can't really leave half of it out, and it affected us too, not just HyunJoong. I just didn't want him to think HyunJoong hated him." 

Sighing, HyungJoon shook his head. He didn't fault JongWoon for saying something; he probably would have done the same if he'd been on the bridge. "Okay, I can see your point, but that doesn't mean HyunJoong isn't going to kill us when he finds out, and you know he will find out."

"I told KyuJong not to mention it to anyone, so I hope it's a while before he finds out, and he's had a chance to calm down and we can talk it over?" JongWoon looked helplessly at his best friend. "Okay that sounds stupid, I know he's going to kill us, but it's better than not saying anything." He clung to HyungJoon's arm a little. "Maybe you can take me to see all the engine upgrades and we can disappear for a while until he stops hunting us." 

HyungJoon nodded, a panicked look in his eyes. "Yeah, that sounds good. Where is the Captain anyway? I thought he was going to the bridge?"

"He did, he went back to his quarters, probably to work on the logs. So we're safe for a few more hours." JongWoon headed down the stairs onto the crew deck, and towards JungMin and YoungSaeng's room. 

"It's probably going to be a few days before he's okay again," HyungJoon sighed, following after him. "He was making such good progress too. I wish we'd been out there, I'd like to have given that no good creep a piece of my mind."

"Quite personally, I'd have opted for testing out our new weapon system on him if it wouldn't have gotten us into more trouble than we're already in," JongWoon wrinkled his nose. "Is it too much to hope we'll never see him again?" 

"I guess that's one of the bright points of trying to disappear into unclaimed space," HyungJoon said, giving JongWoon a wry smile. Stopping at JungMin and YoungSaeng's door, he took a deep breath before hesitantly reaching up to knock.

JongWoon watched the door warily. "How long do we give them before we open it?" he asked his friend, shuffling a little behind him. 

"Uh.. how about forever?" HyungJoon whimpered, nearly backing up into JongWoon when the door opened.

YoungSaeng peered out at them, his hair in disarray and he blinked a little blearily at them. "Yes?" his voice was a little scratchy.

HyungJoon cleared his throat, trying to speak. "Uh, just wanted to let you two know that we're clear of the station, so you're not confined to your rooms anymore. Yeah, that's it."

"All the workers are gone?" JungMin's head popped up in the space above YoungSaeng's, accidentally nudging the door open a little.

JongWoon turned bright red and quickly grabbed HyungJoon's arm, dragging him away. "Y-yes, they're all gone, you're free to go! Just with clothes on!" 

YoungSaeng watched the two scramble back down the corridor in a hurry, snorting softly as he looked up at JungMin. "You did that on purpose."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," JungMin blinked at YoungSaeng innocently. 

"Uh huh," YoungSaeng rolled his eyes, shutting the door. Turning around, he leaned up against the cool metal and looked up at him. "So, we're allowed to leave the room now."

"Great," JungMin grinned. "I'm a little surprised we got off the planet actually." He leaned his hands against the door on either side of the older man. "What now?" 

"Now I think we should finish what you started," YoungSaeng said with a smirk, pushing JungMin back towards the bed.

******************************10************************************************

"You done staring at it yet?" JongWoon laughed, watching HyungJoon go over the new engine for the hundredth time since leaving the planet. "It hasn't changed between now and half an hour ago."

He adored Joon, he really did, but he could only watch him drool over equipment for so long. 

"But it's so pretty!" HyungJoon said wistfully. "I mean, just listen to how quiet it is." He patted one of the new components, grinning stupidly. "I wish I could take it apart and put it back together again, but I think the Captain would kill me for it."

"Yes he would, especially since it's currently in use," JongWoon chuckled. "You can take it apart later, much later. How long are we gonna stay down here?" A new engine didn't change the smell of oil in the room, and it was getting to be a little nauseating. He didn't know how HyungJoon didn't notice it. 

"You came down to visit me, but I guess we can go do something else," HyungJoon said, turning around to look at JongWoon. "What'd you want to do?"

"Visit you, drag you out of here before you get high off the oil, same thing," JongWoon shrugged. "Maybe we can grab Kyu and play a game or something, he's in star-watching-zombie state in the bridge." 

"We need to break him of that habit, it's weird," HyungJoon shook his head, taking JongWoon's arm to leave the engine room. As they reached the door, the overhead coms crackled on.

"Food's ready," came YoungSaeng's quiet, curt voice and the coms cut off again.

"Oh, I guess it's time to eat, I was kind of hungry anyway," HyungJoon grinned.

"This is going to be fun," JongWoon winced. They hadn't seen HyunJoong all day, and having both him and KyuJong in the same room probably wasn't going to be very enjoyable.

Heading out of the engine room, they walked down the hallway towards the stairs. "Where are we going next, anyways?" 

"Some supply station a couple systems over," HyungJoon shrugged. "Kyu might know the name of the planet. I'm not about to ask the Captain." He looked over at JongWoon with a scared smile. "We need to be on our best behavior the next couple of days, or he really might space us."

"I'm hoping he won't be that mad, but yes, best behavior, no touching things, got it," JongWoon nodded quickly and clung more to his best friend. "How long do you think it'll be until it's safe?" 

"Safe from the Captain or safe from the Feds?" HyungJoon whined miserably. "I'd say never on both counts. We're so screwed."

"We'll figure something out," JongWoon winced. "I hope."

Feet headed down the stairs from the level above, and JongWoon smiled nervously at HyunJoong when the man appeared. "Hey sir."

He looked up and saw them. "Hey," he nodded, continuing along the way towards the mess hall. 

HyungJoon exchanged a pained look with JongWoon as they followed him into the mess hall. 

YoungSaeng had set a pot of soup onto the table and was ladling out bowls for everyone. He didn't look up when the three came in, passing a bowl to JungMin before he took a seat.

Taking a seat next to HyungJoon, JongWoon was relieved to see there wasn't a layer of red spice over the soup. "Looks good YoungSaeng," he smiled, trying to avoid looking around too much.

JungMin eyed them at the strange atmosphere, but didn't say anything, picking up his spoon and starting to eat. 

Nodding, YoungSaeng started to eat as well. There was something off with how the two crewmembers kept avoiding looking at HyunJoong. It became even more apparent something was off when KyuJong entered the room, the pilot hesitating in the doorway before coming in.

Bypassing the empty seat next to HyunJoong, KyuJong took his bowl and sat down next to JungMin, quietly eating without looking at anyone.

JongWoon looked nervously between them all, not sure what to say. Something would have to be done before YoungSaeng or JungMin asked, because that would bring up a whole other situation.

"So, can we test out the new weapons system?" He asked out of nowhere, glancing at HyungJoon quickly to help him start up a conversation. "If we run into an asteroid field or something?" 

"Uh, I think so?" HyungJoon blinked at the question, looking up at JongWoon then at the Captain. "We'd need Captain's permission of course, and we'd have to be in an asteroid field and not just shooting off for fun."

"There's an asteroid belt between the fifth and sixth planets in the Dyan system where we'll be stopping," KyuJong said, not looking up. "We have to pass through it on our way to Dyan Major."

"Sounds like a good spot, need to make sure the weapons were installed properly," JongWoon grinned.

The corner of HyunJoong's lips quirked slightly. "Just don't use up all our ammo, it's hard to get a hold of it since we're a civilian ship. Oh, and you're not allowed to touch that system too by the way."

"Figured," JongWoon sniffed. 

"You can watch at least," HyungJoon grinned at his friend. It would probably be the only fun they got for a while. "Going to join us Kyu?"

KyuJong looked up, glancing between them and then at HyunJoong. "Sure, sounds like fun."

"Blowing up asteroids, what's not fun about it," JongWoon chuckled. "And if we get any backlash, guess we test out the shields too."

"Does that mean I finally get to work on something in the engine room?" JungMin grumbled.

"Don't think so, the whole engine's different now," JongWoon grinned sheepishly at the redhead's annoyed look. 

"Shields are still the same," HyungJoon said, blowing lightly on a spoonful of the hot soup. "So you'll be able to do the regular maintenance on that at least."

JungMin nodded slightly, tapping his fingers against his bowl.

"That's all you've shown him?" HyunJoong raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure he can handle more than that, there's hardly any maintenance on the shield." 

HyungJoon blinked, opening his mouth to say something but couldn't think of anything. "Er.. well... it's only been a few days, and now we have whole new system so...." he withered slightly under the look he was getting from HyunJoong. "I guess I can show him some more things."

"Time to share your engine, Joonie," JongWoon patted his shoulder sympathetically. JungMin snorted a little at the expression on the youngest's face. 

HyungJoon pouted at JongWoon before looking back at the Captain with a heavy sigh. "I'm going to guess you mean right away too right?"

"Well, finish your food first, but yes," HyunJoong shook his head in amusement. 

"So is there anything else I could do around the ship?" YoungSaeng asked softly, looking to HyunJoong. "Such a small crew I don't need to be cooking all the time."

HyunJoong glanced at him. "We can go over things that you can do after the meal," he nodded. He still wanted to keep both YoungSaeng and JungMin off the bridge, which reduced the amount of things they could do on board. 

"Alright, looking forward to it" YoungSaeng nodded with a smile, returning to his meal.

The conversation dropped back into an uncomfortable silence that HyungJoon didn't know how to fill. YoungSaeng and JungMin seemed to be aware that something was up with how YoungSaeng glanced at the redhead, but luckily no one was saying anything. HyungJoon sighed inwardly and stared down at his soup, wishing things would get better, but not knowing what to do.

After a few moments, KyuJong silently got up from the table, his soup half finished, and took his bowl to the counter. "I'll be on the bridge if anyone needs me," he said, heading out of the room.

JongWoon watched him leave, trying not to look at HyunJoong beside him. The Captain didn't even seem to lift his head at their pilot's exit.

He managed to get the rest of his soup finished before going to place the bowl in the kitchen too. "See you after you're done with the training," he gave HyungJoon a tentative smile before leaving as well. 

HyungJoon managed not to whimper or pout when JongWoon left, but his shoulders slumped as he looked up at JungMin. "Well, I guess we should go if you're all done," he mumbled. YoungSaeng was getting up, taking his bowl for him to take over to the counter and starting on dishes.

JungMin pursed his lips, glancing after YoungSaeng before nodding. "Why not." He placed his spoon down.

HyunJoong stood as well, gathering the rest of the empty dishes on the table and going into the kitchen as well where he started helping YoungSaeng with the dishes without a word. 

YoungSaeng watched the two leave the room out of the corner of his eyes, the younger scurrying quickly away from the redhead. Laughing inwardly, YoungSaeng washed out the bowls and looked over at HyunJoong. "Did you want to discuss what I can do now, or wait a bit longer?"

The older man shrugged, waiting to dry. "Doesn't matter. Was there anything else you feel comfortable doing besides cook?" 

Pursing his lips, YoungSaeng thought about that as he handed over a clean bowl. "My skills are...limited," he said softly. "But I'm willing to learn and help out. I feel kind of useless most of the time just lounging around the room."

HyunJoong drew in a slow breath, thinking about that. "Truthfully since you aren't allowed on the bridge, there aren't many positions that can be filled unless you enjoy cleaning. But..." He tapped his fingers lightly against the bowl he was drying. "Once we're out in unclaimed space, there will be many problems we don't know how to face. We're not military men, we're civilians. Even something like a pirate attack, none of my crew know how to defend themselves and I can name two more likely to shoot themselves in the foot than a pirate."

He glanced over at YoungSaeng. "If you feel up to it, you could help my crew prepare for being out there." 

YoungSaeng considered that, knowing how unprepared this crew was for what was out there. He had seen how well the engineer and negotiator had handled themselves in a fight (poorly). "I think it would be in all of our best interests to know how to defend yourselves. I'll do it. As long as everyone is cooperative it shouldn't be that difficult. Tiring, but not difficult." Picking up another bowl, his lips curled into a smile. "It could also help to alleviate some of your crews boredom during the day."

The Captain nodded. "Perhaps you could start them off with something they can't injure themselves with though...I won't lie in saying it isn't going to be a challenge. We have a few weapons on board, but they're locked off, I'll have to get them out." He looked down at the bowl in his hands, eyes tired. 

"The first line of self-defense is your own hands," YoungSaeng said softly, finishing up with the last bowl and turning off the water. "I wouldn't trust any of them with weapons just yet. If they manage to injure themselves with their own hands though, they may be a lost cause."

HyunJoong chuckled a little. "I wouldn't put it past them. I'd be happy if you could just teach them how to get out of a hold at the very least so they're not sitting ducks." He picked up the last bowl to dry. 

"That should be easy enough," YoungSaeng smiled softly, leaning against the counter and looking up at the Captain. "I'm sure we can arrange to start training soon though. That should include you as well Captain."

"Yes, I'll be training as well," HyunJoong nodded, placing the bowl away and hanging up the towel. "Though I'm more worried about HyungJoon and JongWoon than myself." 

YoungSaeng sighed, shaking his head. "It's going to be interesting, that's for sure," he said, pushing away from the counter to head towards the door. "Well if you don't need me for anything else Captain, I'll be in my room."

"..." HyunJoong watched YoungSaeng turn to leave, swallowing. Before he could get out of arm's reach, the older man reached out and caught his wrist, pulling him closer. "...Wait." 

Looking up at HyunJoong sharply when the man took his wrist, YoungSaeng's brow furrowed in question. "Something else I can help you with, Captain?" he asked.

HyunJoong was conflicted, knowing nothing good could come of this. But after everything that had happened that day, he didn't know if he could stand going to bed alone. And going to KyuJong was out of the question, when the younger man most likely wasn't going to be with them for much longer.

Ducking his head a little, he kissed YoungSaeng's neck lightly, lips lingering against the soft skin. 

Eyes fluttering, YoungSaeng's lips curled into a smile. That had been much easier than he anticipated. Though the Captain had seemed extra tense that day, for reasons he wasn't sure. Sighing softly, he tilted his head to whisper in HyunJoong's ear. "My room?"

The older man nodded, his hands having found their way to YoungSaeng's waist. He had to make himself lift his head away from YoungSaeng's neck, shifting slightly so that he could follow the other to the door. 

Smiling coyly up at him, YoungSaeng turned towards the door. He didn't say anything on the way back to his room, and it was likely HyunJoong wasn't up for much conversation. That suited YoungSaeng just fine, he wasn't much of a talker anyway. 

Opening up the door to his and JungMin's room, he stepped in and waited for HyunJoong to join him. He didn't worry so much about JungMin coming back; the younger would find something or someone else to amuse him. Once the door was closed, YoungSaeng turned to HyunJoong, his head tilted to the side lightly.

HyunJoong listened to the door close with a click, his eyes meeting YoungSaeng's. It took just a moment before he stepped forward, fingers catching on the loops of YoungSaeng's pants and pulling him closer, ducking his head to nip at YoungSaeng's jawline. 

Sighing softly, YoungSaeng slid his hands up HyunJoong's chest, more than a little surprised at how firm the body was underneath. His fingers found the buttons on his uniform and were starting to undo them.

Ducking his head to bite down on YoungSaeng's neck, HyunJoong's own hands started to do the same, moving up and pushing YoungSaeng's shirt up to expose the pale skin underneath. Fingertips ran over his flat stomach and along the outline of his ribs before pulling the shirt up higher, backing YoungSaeng against the wall. 

YoungSaeng had HyunJoong's shirt undone and pushed down over his shoulders when he felt his own shirt being pulled off. Lifting up his arms to help, YoungSaeng immediately resumed pushing down HyunJoong's shirt off his arms and sliding his hands up the underneath the under shirt.

Feeling his uniform fall to the ground, his undershirt being pushed up at the same time, HyunJoong shifted to pull off that as well in one shot. The material hit the ground as he ran his hands along YoungSaeng's chest, fingers catching on sensitive areas. 

Gasping, YoungSaeng's head tipped back a little, enjoying HyunJoong's touch. His hands were continuing to keep busy though, and were unzipping the Captain's pants, pushing them down.

HyunJoong brought his own hands back down to do the same, undoing YoungSaeng's pants. He rolled their hips together hard, releasing a shaky breath against YoungSaeng's ear. 

Groaning, YoungSaeng managed to get his pants kicked off his feet and he pulled HyunJoong closer, wrapping his arms around the man's neck. Leaning in, he bit lightly at the soft skin of his shoulder, fingernail's digging into his back.

The Captain gave a low moan in the back of his throat, enjoying the feeling of teeth against his skin. He didn't even think about the fact that there was a bed just a few feet to his left, moving was out of the question when they were this close. He didn't want time to think, just going with what he wanted in that instant. His hands slid down YoungSaeng's sides and stomach, pushing underneath his boxers impatiently. 

YoungSaeng gasped, his head tipping back to hit the wall with a soft thud. It took a moment before he was coherent enough to finally be rid of his boxers, wiggling out of them and tossing them to the side. He had started to help HyunJoong with his when the older man grabbed his wrists again and spun him around. holding his wrists in one hand, pinned to the wall.

Cheek pressed against the cool metal, YoungSaeng glanced back at him over his shoulder when an arm wrapped around his waist. It wasn't much of a warning and YoungSaeng cried out, biting on his lip as the older man moved against him. The only sounds for the next few moments were YoungSaeng's moans and skin against skin. 

It didn't last long, and YoungSaeng was panting when HyunJoong pressed his chest against his back, hot breath in his ear while he tried to catch his own.

It took a minute for either of them to move, HyunJoong waiting for his legs to stop feeling like they were going to give way any second. Finally he leaned back, slowly releasing YoungSaeng's wrists as he straightened and stepped away from him. His breathing was still erratic, one hand brushing the bead of sweat from his forehead as he looked at YoungSaeng before starting to pick up his clothes. 

Taking a couple of slow deep breaths, YoungSaeng slowly turned around to lean his back against the wall. He didn't bother with his clothes since he was just going to take a nap anyway. "Well, I don't know about you, but I feel better," he murmured softly, watching the man dress.

HyunJoong looked up at him, and nodded a little. He felt a little better after that, at least thanks to the fact he'd probably fall asleep without problems when he got back to his quarters. There was no point trying to stay up working when he'd just drive himself crazy with thinking too much.

"Thanks," he murmured as he buttoned up his uniform shirt again, smoothing out the material. 

"Any time," YoungSaeng smiled, stretching his arms out to the side and padding over to the bed to sprawl out. "I'm always available if you need me."

The older man nodded, glad when YoungSaeng left it at that. Once he was sure he had everything, he headed to the door and left with a quiet 'night', heading back to his own cabin. 

When HyunJoong left, YoungSaeng chuckled to himself, stretching out lazily on the bed. He was pretty sure that wouldn't be the last time the Captain came to visit him. 

That had been almost a little too easy, and now YoungSaeng was curious as to what had happened for the Captain to be in such a state. He'd discuss it with JungMin later; the redhead would be disappointed that hadn't taken very long.

******************

"Are we sure about this?"

JongWoon looked at HyungJoon helplessly, clinging to his best friend. They were waiting in the now empty cargo hold (the containers had been shoved to one side) for their first lessons in fighting, and he had a very bad feeling about this. "It's not too late to run away." 

"If we ran, they'll find us," HyungJoon said, his voice just as nervous as his eyes looked. "And then the Captain will string us up by our toes." The sad part was, they both knew the training was necessary if they wanted to survive in unclaimed space. It was just that they were scared witless of their instructors. "Doesn't matter, they're just going to kill us anyway."

"Why do _both_ of them have to show up?" JongWoon whined. "Why not just YoungSaeng? He's less scary and temperamental and—OW!" He staggered as something connected with the back of his head.

"Want to keep going?" JungMin smirked, perched on the railing of the catwalk up above. 

HyungJoon nearly jumped out of his skin when JongWoon had yelped, whirling around to look up at JungMin with wide eyes. The redhead had really good aim.

"I need JungMin because I need someone to help me demonstrate," YoungSaeng said, coming out onto the catwalk to stand next to JungMin. "Since I need someone who isn't going to flail around and likely injure themselves while I did so, I had to ask JungMin to help. You're lucky he agreed willingly, or he wouldn't be in such a good mood."

JongWoon held his tongue on that one, refraining from saying the redhead seemed just as dangerous in a good mood as he was in a bad one. Instead he reattached himself to HyungJoon's side as JungMin swung his legs back over onto the catwalk, standing and going to walk down to them.

"Okay, first, we can't teach you anything if the clinging doesn't stop," JungMin snorted. 

HyungJoon pouted, looking at JongWoon. Holding on to his best friend was comforting, but he could see why they wouldn't be able to learn much if they didn't let go. Reluctantly, he unwound his fingers from the death grip around JongWoon's arm and shuffled an inch away.

YoungSaeng followed JungMin down the stairs to stop a few paces away from the two friends. He sighed when he saw the barely noticeable gap between them, but figured it would be the best he was going to get at the moment.

"We're going to start with hand to hand defense," YoungSaeng said, crossing his arms over his chest. "If you can't protect yourself with your own two hands, then a weapon will be just as useless to you and you might as well lay down and let them kill you."

JongWoon winced a little. "I-It wouldn't be like that, would it?"

"Of course it will be, do you think pirates care you're civilians?" JungMin rolled his eyes, hands on his hips. "Okay, wait, they might care. Instead of killing you outright, they'll use you as a hostage, or a slave on their ship. Either that or a bed-warmer. Then they'll kill you."

The negotiator turned pale, somehow managing not to attach himself to HyungJoon again. 

HyungJoon did his best not to whimper, his eyes wide at everything JungMin was saying. There was no way they could do this. They were going to die.

"I think you've scared them enough Min," YoungSaeng said with a smile. "First lessons will be about how to bring down an opponent. HyungJoon, try to attack me."

"No way," HyungJoon shook his head violently, taking a step back. He'd already seen how easily YoungSaeng had taken down that guy on Lenor's Moon, he didn't need his nose broken.

"Fine, JungMin?" YoungSaeng chuckled, turning to look up at the red head.

JungMin rolled his eyes. "Fine fine. Simple attack, right? We're going to have to get in some proper sparring later." He was annoyed he'd have to tone it down for the sake of the lesson.

JongWoon took a step back as well, watching with wide eyes as JungMin lashed out without warning, aiming a solid kick to YoungSaeng's stomach that would have either civilian down for the count if it landed. 

HyungJoon couldn't even follow how quickly YoungSaeng moved, sidestepping the attack as he grabbed JungMin's ankle with his forearms and twisted sharply. The move used JungMin's own momentum to knock him off-balance, sending the redhead spinning around. YoungSaeng still held JungMin's ankle is a tight grip and pushed JungMin down onto his stomach, stepping on his back and holding his leg up at an awkward angle.

The engineer gave a little choked sound. There was no way he'd be able to do that.

Wincing at the awkward angle his leg was in, JungMin put his chin in one hand and looked up at YoungSaeng. "Can we switch places later?"

"How the hell are we supposed to do that?" JongWoon whined, staring at them in shock. 

YoungSaeng gave JungMin a wry smile as he let the man go and held out a hand to help him up. "Maybe," he said softly. His eyes slid over to JongWoon at the question. "I'll show you, that's why we're here."

"So, what do we do?" HyungJoon shifted from foot to foot nervously.

"You two try first, then we'll go from there," YoungSaeng said with a smile.

"....Uh..." JongWoon stared at YoungSaeng, then at HyungJoon. Did he mean try on each other?

"Er...you want to attack first?" he asked his best friend, shuffling a little nervously as he backed up a few steps. JungMin rubbed his leg before straightening, watching them both with poorly-concealed amusement. 

YoungSaeng rolled his eyes, leaning against JungMin and crossing his arms. At least this would be interesting.

"Uh.. okay," HyungJoon said, licking his lips nervously. He gave JongWoon a hesitant smile before he brought his foot up, trying to mimic the kick that JungMin had tried on YoungSaeng.

JongWoon's eyes widened and he tried to grab HyungJoon's foot like YoungSaeng had to bring the younger man down. But his grip was completely wrong, and when he tried to twist his friend's leg around, he ended up knocking _both_ of them off balance and they landed on the ground in a tangle of limbs.

JungMin snorted and covered his eyes with one hand. "Oh boy..." 

"At least he managed to not get kicked in the stomach," YoungSaeng sighed, trying to see the bright spot.

HyungJoon was trying with little avail to disentangle himself from JongWoon. He managed to get one leg clear, but as he stood up, JongWoon had also been trying to stand and they knocked heads together, sending them both back to the floor.

"It's going to be a very long day," YoungSaeng said, resting his head on JungMin's shoulder.

"No wonder the Captain wanted you to start with them first, they're the most trouble," JungMin rolled his eyes, wrapping one arm around YoungSaeng's shoulders. "Yah, are you two clowns done?"

"Yes," JongWoon winced, holding his head and pouting at HyungJoon before carefully managing to get back to his feet and helping the younger man do the same.

JungMin gave a long-suffering sigh. "First of all, you grabbed his foot, not his ankle, and you grabbed it way too early. You put yourself off-balance more than you did him." 

"Okay, so now what?" HyungJoon asked rubbing the sore spot on his forehead.

"Now we'll split up," YoungSaeng said, looking between them. "JungMin will work with you, and I'll work with JongWoon. We'll show you how to deflect attacks like that."

HyungJoon paled visibly at hearing JungMin would be training him.

"O-okay," JongWoon stammered, looking no better than HyungJoon as he shuffled closer to his friend.

JungMin rolled his eyes and walked over to the other end of the cargo hold, clipping HyungJoon off the head on his way by. "Come on, let's get this over with." JongWoon gave HyungJoon a 'we're gonna die' look. 

HyungJoon whimpered, returning the look as he slowly followed the redhead. "If I die, you can have all my stuff," he said to JongWoon over his shoulder.

Waiting patiently, YoungSaeng had his arms crossed, watching the other two move off before returning his attention to JongWoon. "You aren't going to get hurt as long as you follow my directions, understood?"

JongWoon turned back to YoungSaeng, giving the younger man a pained smile. "Does trying to follow your directions count?" 

YoungSaeng stared blankly at JongWoon. It was going to be a very long day. "Try to hit me," he said, arms still crossed. "Doesn't matter where, or with what."

"Uh...okay..." JongWoon tried to remember the pre-military training; it was hard, considering he'd failed every single course except for debating and medic classes. After a moment he shifted slightly, stepping closer to try throwing a punch at the other man's face. 

Something flashed in YoungSaeng's eyes the moment JongWoon started to the throw his punch. His hand shot up, wrapping around JongWoon's wrist and twisting, his other arm hooking up to his elbow. Yanking on the wrist and using JongWoon's own momentum, YoungSaeng had JongWoon's arm immobilized, bent behind him at an awkward angle. "Good. Did you see what I did?" he asked, leaning over JongWoon's shoulder to ask in his ear.

"Ow, ow ow," JongWoon winced, trying to move his arm and relieve some of the strain but it just made it hurt more. The light puff of breath against his ear made him shiver. "You...turned me around? I-I don't know, you went too fast, but whatever you did it definitely worked," he stammered. 

"Don't struggle or you'll just hurt yourself," YoungSaeng said softly, letting him go slowly and turning him back around. "I'll show you how it's done. Hold out your arm as if you were going to hit me," he said, waiting until JongWoon had done that. "Now, you move with the momentum of the opponent, and grab their wrist like this," he said, showing him exactly what he had done before, only in slow motion until he had JongWoon back in the hold again. "Did you follow that?" he murmured in his ear again.

"I...think so, yeah," the older man tried to look over his shoulder at YoungSaeng and winced at the pain. Not moving, right. "You have to grab their wrist like that? Isn't it hard to make sure you're doing it right in the middle of a fight?" These people were trained fighters, but JongWoon didn't know how he'd be able to keep up if they were attacked. 

"It's easier than you think," YoungSaeng said, letting him go again. "We'll practice a few times before we try, and don't worry, I'll pull the punches so I don't injure that pretty face."

Blinking owlishly at the younger man, JongWoon turned pink. "O-okay. Uh. C-could we look at the grip first?" He squirmed a little, rubbing his arm before trying to remember how YoungSaeng had grabbed his wrist. 

"Of course," YoungSaeng smiled, holding out his arm and showing JongWoon exactly how to grip his wrist. "It's easier when in motion, don't over-think it," he said softly, going through the motion again and again. "You ready to try?"

Starting to nod, JongWoon jumped at a loud shriek from the other end of the cargo hold. JungMin had gotten annoyed and hit HyungJoon again. "For God's sake, stop whining like a four-year-old!"

Wincing, JongWoon turned back to YoungSaeng, infinitely glad he was training with the smaller man. "Okay, I think I'm ready." 

YoungSaeng rolled his eyes at the outburst, but said nothing. "Alright, ready yourself," he said, giving JongWoon only a second of warning before bringing his fist up around, aiming for JongWoon's cheek.

Eyes widening, JongWoon quickly brought his hand up to stop the hit, taking an instinctive step back. He managed to grab YoungSaeng's wrist, but the grip was off and the step back had brought him too far away to attempt following through, the negotiator just managing to avoid pitching onto his face. "Oops." 

Stopping his arm from following through, YoungSaeng sighed a little and pulled JongWoon back closer. "Try again, don't step back," he said, swinging out at him again.

"Easier said than done!" JongWoon yelped, grabbing YoungSaeng's wrist again. When he tried to turn the other man around, he didn't quite figure it out in time and nearly got a fist in the face if YoungSaeng hadn't stopped. 

Sighing heavily, YoungSaeng rubbed at his forehead. "We'll try it slow again, for an hour until you've got it, alright?" he said, a hint of frustration in his tone. He imagined JungMin wasn't faring much better with HyungJoon, but this needed to be done. They couldn't protect everyone on the ship if it came down to it.

"O-okay," JongWoon winced, hearing the frustration in the younger man's voice. He and HyungJoon would be lucky to get out of this alive.

The scary part was, if they couldn't get this down, there was no way they were going to be able to survive out in unclaimed space. 

The lessons dragged on for the most of the afternoon, and when YoungSaeng finally called for a halt, he wasn't sure if they had made any progress that day. JongWoon had managed to get the grip down, but his timing was still off and only managed to pin YoungSaeng once, but the angle was wrong and YoungSaeng was able to counter easily. 

Of course, JongWoon had fared better than HyungJoon. Even though the younger had picked up on the hold he was being shown faster, he wasn't walking away without at least some bruises from JungMin's hits.

When HyungJoon heard the call to stop, he slumped over onto the floor dramatically, and whined. "I don't think there's a part of me that doesn't hurt right now."

"Good, that means you're learning," JungMin rolled his eyes, kicking HyungJoon's leg before going over to YoungSaeng. "He's hopeless, we'd do better to lock him in a closet if pirates board the ship so his throat isn't slit."

JongWoon staggered over to where HyungJoon was lying down, crouching next to him. 

"It's only the first day," YoungSaeng soothed, running a hand up and down JungMin's arm. "It's going to take a bit of time, but they'll get it," he said, heading towards the stairs. "We'll practice again tomorrow, but we won't take it so easy on you like we did today," he called to the other two over his shoulder.

"Easy?" HyungJoon whimpered up at JongWoon. "What part of that was easy?"

"The part that no bones are broken?" JongWoon winced, looking down at him. "Come on, let's go hide for the rest of the day." He held out a hand to help the younger man to his feet. "Need a medpack or five?" 

"Ten," HyungJoon grumbled, taking JongWoon's hand and slowly getting to his feet. "I hope you did better than I did. I don't think I've ever been hit so often in my entire life."

"I'd say I did better, but I have a feeling when YoungSaeng snaps, I'll be lucky to get away with being decked," JongWoon shook his head. "Fighting just isn't our thing." He wrapped one arm around HyungJoon's shoulders, heading towards the stairs. "I'll take a look at those bruises, okay?" 

"Okay," HyungJoon nodded, leaning against JongWoon, wincing with every step. "I'm going to be covered in bruises by the time the week is out. You think the Captain's going to mind if I take the rest of the day off?"

"The new engine practically maintains itself, he should be fine with it? Is JungMin able to look after the systems now, or was last night's training a lost cause?" JongWoon asked, rubbing HyungJoon's arm sympathetically as he helped his best friend walk. 

"JungMin should be able to check on things, and if there's a real problem I can come down," HyungJoon said, slowly climbing up the stairs with JongWoon's help. "What about you? You have any work that needs doing now?"

"Do I ever? I never have anything to do, the Captain doesn't let me touch anything other than paperwork, and he's hogging that to himself," JongWoon pouted. "I'll keep you company." They got to the top of the stairs and through the door into the hallway, the older man steering them towards medical bay. 

"I don't blame him for that, he's trying to stay distracted," HyungJoon said with a sad smile. "KyuJong hasn't apologized to him yet, has he?"

"No, he hasn't," JongWoon shook his head. "As far as I'm aware of. I told Kyu to wait a bit, but it should be safe by now, right?" 

"Should hope so," HyungJoon snorted as the approached the door to the medical bay. JongWoon had to help ease him down onto the bed and lay down with a groan of pain. "I dunno, Captain seems a little better now, he's even smiling some."

"That's always a good start considering what he was like after they all left, but I doubt we're in the clear yet." JongWoon tugged on HyungJoon's shirt. "I need this off if you want me to fix your bruises." 

Wincing, HyungJoon slowly helped pull the shirt off and dropped it on the bed. He peered down at his torso, poking at the bruises on his ribs and stomach. Not to mention the ones on his arms, and there were probably some on his legs too. "I'm not sure how hitting me like that was supposed to help."

"I'm not sure if it had a point or if he was just aggravated. Maybe he was trying to toughen you up," JongWoon grinned, looking over the bruises and trying not to blush. This was stupid, he'd seen HyungJoon without a shirt hundreds of times. Usually when he had to treat him for bruises and scrapes. "They don't look that bad, I can get you a cream for this, not serious enough for a medpack." 

Not noticing the blush right away, HyungJoon pouted up at him. "But the medpacks feel nice and heals the bruises better. At least put one on this nice bruise on my ribs," he said, pointing and rolling slightly at the one on his back."

JongWoon sighed. "Okay, fine, one medpack. You're going to use up all my supplies." He paused at that, looking back at HyungJoon. "We have a couple more places to stop for supplies, but once we're out there, we're not going to be able to use medpacks for every bruise." Biting his lower lip, he searched around for a medpack and pulled it out of the drawer, shaking it up with one hand as the other searched for the cream. 

"I know," HyungJoon sobered, closing his eyes and sighing heavily. "I don't think that's settled in for me yet," he said quietly. "Can't really believe we managed to get in this deep. I'm scared JongWoon."

The older man looked down at him sadly. "I'm scared too." He pulled out the cream and closed the drawer with his hip, sitting down on the bed beside his friend and placing the supplies down. "But at least we're in this together, right? No matter what happens, we can get through it together." 

Opening his eyes, HyungJoon looked up at JongWoon and smiled, nodding. "Yeah," he said, taking JongWoon's hand in his own and squeezing it lightly. "Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to get some practice in on our own, you know? They're doing this to help us, we should do it right."

Nodding a little, JongWoon smiled at the grip on his hand. "That wouldn't be a bad idea...we might be able to get more done if we're not worried about being used as a punching bag," he chuckled softly. "Injuries first though. Roll over so I can put on the medpack you want so badly." He let go of HyungJoon's hand to shake up the medpack again, pulling off the paper cover. 

"Thank you," HyungJoon grinned, rolling over onto his stomach, hissing at the pressure on the bruises and settled into a comfortable position. "You going to keep me company for a while?"

"As long as you want me to? It's not as if I have anything else to do." JongWoon pressed the medpack lightly over the bruise, smoothing it down until it stuck. "Okay, back over, time for the rest of it." 

Rolling back over, HyungJoon wiggled a little at the feel of the medpack. "I'd like it if you stayed, it's boring otherwise," HyungJoon said with a smile, his eyes lingering on JongWoon's face before looking away. "Maybe we can watch a movie later in my room."

"No super scary horror movies, right?" JongWoon gave a sheepish grin. "I've had enough of those for a while." He unscrewed the top to the container in his hands, scooping out a bit of the cool cream with his fingers. Hesitating slightly, he leaned over and started to spread the cream on the worst of the bruises he could see. "Maybe we should just bubble-wrap you for the next lesson." 

Squirming slightly at the feel of the cream on his skin, HyungJoon gave JongWoon a wry look. "Next time you get to train with JungMin, see how you like it. I'm sure I'll be the one putting cream on you afterwards."

"I-I'd rather stick with YoungSaeng, thanks," JongWoon stammered, turning slightly pink at the idea of HyungJoon rubbing his hands over his chest. Nope, not thinking about that. 

"You just like to see me be the one to get beat up," HyungJoon sighed. "As if I don't get enough abuse from JungMin when I'm training _him_." Squirming again, he tried not to laugh. "Yah, you're tickling me," he chuckled.

"I'm trying not to, stop _wiggling_ ," JongWoon whined, swatting HyungJoon's chest lightly. "You're worse than HyunJoong in a laughing fit." He moved on to the next bruise. 

"Sorry," HyungJoon chuckled, trying to sit still. Chewing on his lip, he looked up at JongWoon for a moment before giving him a pained smile. "Um.. I didn't mention the bruises on my legs, they'll probably need cream too."

JongWoon stared at HyungJoon helplessly. So he was basically stripping his best friend down to his boxers. Great. "Fine, fine, you owe me a ton of cream next supply stop," he groaned, muttering to himself as he worked. "I don't care if he kicked you in the ass or not, if there's a bruise there, you're on your own for that one." 

"You're not going near my ass," HyungJoon said, making sure his voice didn't squeak at that as he fumbled with the button on his pants and pushed them down. "He got me really good on the thigh, that's all," he said, pushing the pants down to show the large purple bruise.

"Ouch, that looks nasty," JongWoon winced. Inwardly he was trying not to freak out at HyungJoon's pants being down past his boxers, and that the bruise was half- _under_ the younger man's boxers. Why did JungMin have to kick him _there_?

"You're going to use up all my bruise cream," the negotiator grumbled, doing his best to keep his attention on his hand and not anywhere else as he switch focus to rub cream into that bruise, fingers dipping slightly under the edge of HyungJoon's boxers. 

"Complain to JungMin then," HyungJoon mumbled, biting on his lip and trying to look anywhere but JongWoon. He couldn't help the strangled squeak he made when JongWoon's fingers dipped under his boxers. It didn't help that he actually liked JongWoon touching him, a fact he was becoming all too uncomfortably aware of, and if he didn't think of something else, JongWoon would notice really soon as well. He could already feel his boxers tightening. Not good.

Turning bright red at the squeak, JongWoon was ready to just give up then, and get HyungJoon to do it himself, he wasn't a complete invalid. But he managed to finish rubbing the cream in with minimal staring (it was impossible to avoid completely). Noticing that something was definitely different than just a few moments ago, he managed to choke back a panicked noise and removed his hand from HyungJoon's thigh. "Th-there, all fixed, tell him not to kick you anymore." He busied himself securing the cap back on the container. 

"Easier said than done," HyungJoon coughed, pulling his pants back up quickly and trying to hide his embarrassment. "Um.. thanks," he said, face completely flushed. "How long.. erm... when can I take this off.. I mean the medpack," he stuttered helplessly.

"I-In 2 hours if the swelling's gone down," JongWoon stammered, jumping off the bed to put the cream away, using it as an excuse to get to the other end of the room for a while. 

"I guess that's not that long," HyungJoon said, watching JongWoon's turned back. Despite wanting to act normal around the older man, he still couldn't help feel something for him, and now things were just _weird_. Did he seriously just get a hard-on for his best friend? They'd cuddled in the same bed for years, but one kiss and now he... now what? Wanted to jump him? HyungJoon groaned and covered his face with his hands.

Taking longer than usual to put everything away, JongWoon drew in a breath to calm himself down before turning around again. "Uh...s-so you should probably be okay to move in half hour or so, we can go watch that movie if you want?" He tried, swallowing as he leaned against the wall away from HyungJoon. 

"Um.. okay yeah, sure," HyungJoon nodded, glancing over at him. "I'm thinking action, lots of explosions and stuff. Sound good?"

"Sounds great," JongWoon smiled tentatively. Something with the least amount of romance as possible. "I have a few of those. Is the medpack and cream helping?" 

"Yeah, they don't hurt nearly as bad anymore," HyungJoon nodded, looking down at the bruises again. "YoungSaeng didn't hurt you any did he?"

"No, he was restraining himself. I was the one nearly pulling my arms out of their sockets by struggling in the hold he put me him," JongWoon winced, rolling his shoulders a little. 

"Are your shoulders okay?" HyungJoon blinked, the awkwardness forgotten as he worried for his friend and sat up. "You want me to look at them?"

"They're fine, just a little sore," JongWoon smiled at the younger man. After a moment he walked back over and sat down on the bed next to him. "Don't move too quickly, that isn't going to help any. 

"At least let me look," HyungJoon frowned at him. "You could use some of that cream yourself otherwise you won't be able to lift up your arms tomorrow."

"It'll be fine," JongWoon whined, not wanting to think about taking his shirt off. Just when the blushing was starting to fade.

But he could see HyungJoon wasn't going to let it go, so he sighed before reluctantly pulling his shirt up and off. 

Realizing why this was probably a bad idea when JongWoon took off his shirt, HyungJoon blinked and tried to focus on looking at his friend's shoulder. "Er... yeah, it's already swelling up, where's that cream?" he said, sliding off the bed and padding over to the drawers to find it.

"Top drawer, at the front," JongWoon shivered a little at the cold air in the room. "He told me not to struggle, but it's freaky how fast he moves." 

Finding the cream, HyungJoon came back to sit down next to him on the bed, wincing slightly as he did. "Yeah, JungMin's not that much slower, and he really wasn't holding back when he told me to block his hits."

"They must have had really intense training," JongWoon shook his head, shifting after a moment so that his back was to HyungJoon. Maybe that would make things less awkward...or at least stop HyungJoon from seeing his face if he exploded into a blush. 

"Must have," HyungJoon agreed, getting the top of the bottle open and squeezing out a bit onto his fingers. Trying to ignore his awkwardness as he started rubbing JongWoon's shoulder, HyungJoon thought about the other two. "I wonder where they're from? They don't ever talk about themselves, or talk much at all really, but don't you think it's odd wanting to get a hold of family or something?"

"You'd think after being locked up in shipping containers, they'd want to reach someone," JongWoon nodded. "Maybe it's too dangerous to? I mean, they were assassins for the military. I don't know, they scowl whenever we start asking too many questions." 

"Or hit," HyungJoon grumbled, continuing to massage the cream into JongWoon's shoulder. It seemed like JungMin had taken a shine to beating him up. Just him, not anyone else. He had no idea what he had done to deserve that. "I guess it's just one of those things that takes time you know? We're all probably going to be stuck on this ship for a while, or forever."

"We'll find out eventually," JongWoon nodded. "Just about done?" He tried to look back over his shoulder at his friend. The cream felt good against his skin though (the fingers too, but he wasn't saying that). 

Blinking, HyungJoon abruptly pulled his hands back. He'd been so wrapped up in thinking about other things he'd got carried away. "Er.. yeah, sorry. Unless you want it on both shoulders? The other one doesn't look as bad, but it's a little bruised."

JongWoon shook his head. "No, the one shoulder should be fine." He turned himself back around, hands out to take the cream and put it away. At least this cream was inexpensive and easy to find. 

Putting the cap back on, HyungJoon handed over the bottle, looking away when JongWoon turned toward him. "So uhh, how about that movie now?" he said a little uncomfortably.

The older man swallowed. "Yeah, movie sounds good." He stood up and went to put the container away again before heading back to the bed, picking up his shirt and pulling it over his head. "You going to put your shirt back on? Be careful not to pull off the medpack." 

"Oh.. yeah, forgot," HyungJoon mumbled, quickly trying to pull on his shirt. Standing up, he winced a little but the pain was drastically less than when he had hobbled in here. "Thanks, you always take such good care of me," he gave JongWoon a lopsided grin.

"Someone has to, or you'd be down for the count half of the year," JongWoon chuckled, smiling at his friend. "Come on, let's go find a good movie to watch." He headed to the door, opening it. 

*******************************11**************************************************

KyuJong landed on the floor of the cargo bay with 'oof', wincing slightly where his backside had connected with the unforgiving metal. Two hours into their first training session and he had enough bruises to last him a lifetime. Scrambling back up before he could get yelled at, he took his stance again, waiting for instruction.

He was lucky he had as good of reflexes as he did, or JungMin would have wiped the floor with him already. "Show me that one more time," he said, a little breathless.

Hands on his hips as he watched KyuJong get up, JungMin grumbled under his breath. "Fine, watch more carefully this time." At least KyuJong wasn't as hopeless as HyungJoon. "The easiest thing to do is grab their weapon arm, and pull them backwards while you trip them with a leg behind their knees."

He stepped closer, tapping the back of KyuJong's knees lightly before positioning himself so if he were to pull KyuJong backwards, the older man would fall over his hip. "You need to get _closer_ to do to it right, if you're too far you can't trip them and they'll just stab you on the way down if you don't get them face-first to the ground." 

Nodding, made sure to pay extra attention this time. He could see his problem now, that he'd been too far back and tripped over his own feet. He had been too hesitant in his moves so far, not sure if he was doing it correctly but he needed to be more aggressive. "Okay, got it," KyuJong said, wiping his sweaty hands on his pants, ready to try again.

JungMin nodded. "Honestly, stop worrying if you're doing it wrong. I can catch myself if I fall wrong, and you've been hurting yourself enough that one more landing isn't going to make a difference. This isn't practice, this is a fight with a pirate trying to take over your ship, now do something about it!" He threw another punch. 

KyuJong scowled at the tone, reflexively moving into JungMin's movement as he grabbed the redhead's arm. Using JungMin's momentum against him as he pulled on the arm, and got his leg into position to trip the man up.

Feeling his balance go, JungMin's eyes flashed as he let himself fall over, landing hard on his back. Wincing slightly, he looked up at KyuJong. "Not bad. Just one thing." He hit his fist lightly against KyuJong's leg, like he'd stabbed him with an imaginary blade. "I'm supposed to be on my stomach, so I can't do this. Don't stop once I'm tripped, keep going while I'm disorientated and make sure I can't punch a knife into your leg." 

"Right," KyuJong sighed, holding out his hand to help the other man up. "I don't think I had enough momentum going the right way. Again?" he chuckled halfheartedly, already a little drained from the training. Being only a pilot did have its drawbacks, he wasn't used to this much moving around.

Standing up, JungMin stretched and looked over at the others. From what he saw, they were fairing about the same. "How about a ten minute break. Saeng?"

HyunJoong looked up somewhat thankfully from where he'd landed on the ground; he was fairing a little better than KyuJong, having been exposed to some form of military training before, but was still having difficulty since it had been a while and he only half-remembered the training. 

YoungSaeng looked over at JungMin, nodding. "Fine, ten minute break," he said, holding out his hand to help HyunJoong up. "You've had training," he remarked softly, nodding in approval. "A little rusty though."

"It's been a while," HyunJoong sighed, taking the hand and standing up. "I never thought I'd need it." Brushing damp bangs out of his face, he stretched out his arms and legs before they could cramp up, glancing over at the others before going to take a seat on a container. "How were JongWoon and HyungJoon to train?" 

Pursing his lips, YoungSaeng crossed his arms as he shook his head. "They're going to need a lot more time than we have," he said softly. "JungMin suggested just locking them in a closet if the ship ever is boarded and I have half a mind to agree with him. HyungJoon is the better of the two, he just gets flustered around JungMin. JongWoon may be a lost cause."

HyunJoong's lips quirked slightly. "JongWoon is always a lost cause. I'd be thankful if you can at least teach him how to get out of a hold. HyungJoon will probably take a while too. Neither of them have fought in their lives...which is probably going to change once we're out there. That still gives us a while to prepare." 

"I'll do my best in getting them prepared, but it's hard to judge results until something happens," YoungSaeng said, shrugging his shoulders. "Someone's true merit isn't tested until their life is on the line. For all his bluster, JungMin wouldn't seriously maim or kill these two." Taking a seat next to him on the container, YoungSaeng looked towards where JungMin and KyuJong were talking. "The goal I think is to make sure we aren't boarded by pirates in the first place though, right?"

"Right," HyunJoong nodded. "I'm hoping it doesn't come down to that, but you can never be too prepared." He rubbed his temple lightly. "Have either you or JungMin been out in deep space before? Even going by all the textbooks, there's very little information other than the fact it's full of pirates and dangerous to travel through." 

YoungSaeng nodded slowly. "Yes, we've been in deep space, and are aware of what's out there," he said softly, glancing over at him. "I hope you understand that when we get out there, if we tell you to do something, it won't be advice."

HyunJoong nodded slightly. "Understood." They'd have to rely entirely on YoungSaeng and JungMin once out there. He'd have to let them into the bridge sooner or later. "Perhaps we could all sit down later and you both could introduce us to what else we might find out there?" 

"Alright," YoungSaeng agreed, looking back over at KyuJong and JungMin. "At the least, you have an advantage in your pilot. Most civilian pilots would be useless out there. It's fortunate you have him on board."

"...." HyunJoong was silent for a moment too long, hands clasped tightly in his lap. "Yes, we are lucky for that," he murmured, not looking anywhere but the empty containers in front of them. They were lucky KyuJong was with them, for now. 

YoungSaeng turned to look at him, head tilted to the side. "Is there something wrong Captain?" he asked quietly.

Blinking, the older man glanced over at him, shaking his head. "No, there isn't," he said, sitting up a little straighter. "Has it been ten minutes yet? I think I'll be able to have that hold down with a few more tries." 

Lips quirked slightly, YoungSaeng nodded and slid off the container. He hadn't missed the long pause from the Captain after talking about the pilot. That was something to think on later though. "Breaks over," he called over to the other two.

KyuJong looked over and sighed, shoulders slumped. "Hopefully I'll get it right this time," he chuckled, stretching out his arms and getting back into position. "Ready."

JungMin jumped back up to his feet, arching his back as he stretched. "I told you, don't be so worried about getting the position exactly right. Fighting is meant to be a little messy. Okay, a lot." He glanced over at the other two, before brushing long red bangs out of his eyes and bouncing on the balls of his feet as he got ready. This wasn't as bad as when he was teaching HyungJoon at least. Once KyuJong was in position, he lashed out again with another punch to the stomach. 

Barely having time to think, KyuJong grabbed JungMin's wrist, and pulled him forward as he spun and slid behind him to kick the back of his knee hard. He kept his grip tight on JungMin's arm and twisted it sharply up to pin it against his back.

The redhead went down with a wince, landing on his stomach. Shit, he was a fast learner. JungMin knew better than to try moving his arm, knowing he'd dislocate his shoulder if he tried.

"Much better," he panted, tilting his head back to look up at KyuJong, shaking his head to get his hair out of his eyes. 

"Thanks," KyuJong said, looking down at him and slowly letting go of his arm. When his eyes met the others, he blinked, a little startled and backed up. For a moment he could have sworn the redhead's eyes had been...different. Looking again though and they looked their normal brown. Shaking his head to clear it, he held out his hand for the other. "Again?"

Taking KyuJong's hand, JungMin nodded as he climbed to his feet, rolling his shoulder. "Once you have this hold down, we'll move on to a few variations." He looked over at the other two, HyunJoong on the ground again. "Looks like you're a faster learner than your Captain." 

"He doesn't have a pilot's reflexes," KyuJong chuckled, eyes flitting over to where HyunJoong was but keeping his attention on the redhead. "Or maybe you're just a good teacher."

"Tell that to HyungJoon," JungMin snorted, lips quirked to one side in a smirk. "Squawks like a chicken." He threw another punch, coming from the other side this time. 

JungMin's talking was distracting enough that KyuJong almost missed the attack, instinctively stepping back as he grabbed JungMin's wrist. Thrown off balance, KyuJong went down, but used it to his advantage in dragging JungMin down with him, rolling and kicking the redhead in the stomach to send him over his head.

Caught by surprise, JungMin quickly grabbed the leg that had planted into his stomach and brought it over with him, tucking his feet to his chest so he wouldn't land sprawled out. Tugging hard on the captive leg as he turned, he brought KyuJong through a backwards somersault and twisted his leg up behind him at an awkward angle.

"Not bad," he grinned, leaning a little against the leg in his grip to keep KyuJong from moving. 

Squawking when he was pulled around and wincing at the hold JungMin had on his leg, KyuJong smirked wryly at him. "Except you've still got me, so I don't know how well that worked," he said, trying not to squirm in the hold.

"Hey, I'm a trained assassin, I can't let you _always_ win, it kills my pride," JungMin sniffed. "You're much more fun to train than HyungJoon though," he patted KyuJong's leg before releasing him, hopping to his feet and extending a hand. "That would have worked on some pirates, the main thing is that you get their weapon out of their hands first. Making someone fall on top of you while they're holding a knife is the easiest way to get a blade in your throat." 

"I'll keep that in mind," KyuJong nodded, taking JungMin's hand and getting to his feet. "HyungJoon that bad huh? No wonder those two have been practicing so much. Or trying to at least."

"They've been practicing outside the lessons?" JungMin blinked, then shrugged. "They're the closest you can get to hopeless. JongWoon trips himself up more than YoungSaeng does, and I can't get any practice in if HyungJoon keeps flipping out when I go to punch him, it's maddening." 

"Well, you kind of hit him a lot even if you're not practicing, he's like a scared puppy right now around you," KyuJong laughed, massaging his leg that had been twisted around. "They may be hopeless, but I think they want to do better. We all do."

"As long as you all want to, then I guess we'll be around for practice," JungMin sighed, stretching out his arms. "You okay to keep going?" 

"Yeah, just a little tired, not used to this," KyuJong nodded, getting ready.

"You civilians, so out of shape," JungMin smirked, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet before stepping forward with another solid punch. 

Anticipating the attack this time, KyuJong grabbed JungMin's wrist and swung him around, catching the other's ankle with his foot to knock him over. Following JungMin down, he twisted sharply on JungMin's wrist, and dropped a knee into his back. "Doesn't mean I can't learn still," he chuckled.

Yelping, JungMin chuckled, tilting his head back to look at the older man. "Yes, I see that," he grinned. "This is _really_ killing my pride." 

"Couple hours with HyungJoon should fix that," KyuJong said, standing up as he let go of JungMin's wrist. "So, what else have you got to show me?"

JungMin got back to his feet, rolling his shoulder. "Oh, a ton of things. Let's practice getting out of a few holds."

The practice session continued the rest of the afternoon, JungMin and YoungSaeng working their respective trainees until they had trouble standing steady. By the time practice was over, they'd both mastered a few holds each.

"Not bad," JungMin smirked, holding out a hand to help KyuJong up from the ground again after calling it quits. "Remember how to position your feet, you would have had that one down if you weren't putting yourself off-balance right from the start." 

Taking JungMin's hand, KyuJong shakily got to his feet, panting a little. "My knee was about ready to give out, I tried," he said. "I'll have it down next time, when I can actually feel my legs."

Nodding with a chuckle, JungMin pulled his hand back and stuffed them in his pockets, glancing over to where HyunJoong was rubbing a sore shoulder. "Next time then. Any questions?" 

"I don't think so," KyuJong said, glancing to where the other two were, YoungSaeng was heading in their direction, smiling lightly at JungMin. "I think I'm going to go lay down," KyuJong chuckled, limping away towards the stairs.

Watching him go, JungMin turned to YoungSaeng. He saw out of the corner of his eyes HyunJoong wait for KyuJong to be gone before leaving as well, heading in the other direction. "So, how was this batch?" He asked, stretching out his arms. 

"I think that went a lot better," YoungSaeng said softly, watching HyunJoong as he left the room before looking up at JungMin. "The Captain's had training at least. How did the pilot do?"

"No training, but he's in decent shape and a fast learner. Good to know the entire crew isn't hopeless, we may be able to get through this alive." Finishing stretching out, JungMin turned back to the older man. 

"That is the goal," YoungSaeng smirked, turning to go to the stairs. "We'll have our work cut out for us, but there isn't much else to do around this ship, and we can only play so much."

"True," JungMin laughed, following. "Speaking of playing, that was awfully quick. I thought you said the Captain would need more tact than that?" He draped one arm around YoungSaeng's waist. 

"It was awfully quick," YoungSaeng nodded, his lips pursed. "I think something happened on that planet. Everyone's been kind of on edge since then, the Captain especially. Is it just me, or are the Captain and pilot not even speaking anymore?"

"No, they don't even seem to be in the same room for long either," JungMin wrinkled his nose. "Wonder what's up. Things aren't going to go well if they're still on the outs with each other when we reach the edge of Fed space." 

YoungSaeng shook his head as they climbed the stairs to the catwalk, passing through the hatch onto the crewdeck. "I don't know. It's not like they're telling us much here If the Captain would stick around a little longer afterwards I'd try to get information out of him, but I've no sooner got my legs down and he's getting dressed."

"Hey, don't complain, you're getting laid more than me," JungMin sniffed. "Even if we asked I doubt they'd say anything. I mean, we're kind of keeping information from them too." 

"True, but we have our reasons," YoungSaeng said softly. His lips quirked up and he glanced at the other. "Not my fault my games usually end up that way while yours take a rather violent route. I'm sure if you wanted some you could get some from one of the others. Unless of course you're jealous?"

"Not my fault beating HyungJoon up is more fun than seducing him." JungMin bat his eyes at the older man. "If I said I was, would you be interested in curing my jealousy?" 

Opening up the door to their room, YoungSaeng smirked up at JungMin over his shoulder. "I don't know, I'm thinking I might stick with just the Captain for a while. I have to admit, he's pretty good." Meandering into the room, YoungSaeng stretched out his arms, keeping his back to JungMin. "you could always try the pilot, you two were looking pretty cozy on the floor there for a moment."

"What, try and be tactful like you? Slip a few words in and wait for him to corner me one night?" JungMin shut the door and strolled up behind YoungSaeng, trailing one hand along his waist. "Care to give a few pointers?" 

Leaning his head back on JungMin's shoulder and bringing a hand back to run through his hair, he smiled up at the other man. "I didn't say you had to be tactful. You can try the direct approach, that might work better for you."

"Yeah, except not everyone's looking for a quick lay and I don't feel like being shot out the airlock," JungMin rolled his eyes, bringing his head down to kiss YoungSaeng's neck lightly. 

"While that's true, we are also kind of stranded on board a ship with a small crew and heading out into dangerous space," YoungSaeng replied, his eyes fluttering and head tipped to the side. "The Captain can't be the only one looking for a little comfort right about now."

"Whatever you say." JungMin bit down a little, teeth scraping against the exposed bit of shoulder. "KyuJong's not the one I'm interested in right now." 

Groaning, YoungSaeng's fingers tightened in JungMin's hair. "Too bad for him then, he wouldn't know what he's missing."

"Mhm." The redhead continued to kiss and bite, pressing against YoungSaeng's back. The hand on his waist slid down to rub his thigh slowly. "What was that about sticking to just HyunJoong for a while?" 

"I think I could be persuaded to change my mind on that," YoungSaeng murmured, moaning softly at the attention his skin was getting. "Especially if you keep doing that."

"Thought so," JungMin smirked, leaving a mark on YoungSaeng's shoulder. "Besides, I doubt your new boy toy would be willing to switch positions with you, if you ask nicely." His long fingers slowly slid towards the inside of YoungSaeng's thigh. 

Squirming slightly, YoungSaeng pouted as he tilted his head to look at JungMin. "No, probably not," he murmured, leaning up to nibble on the man's ear. "Was that a hint?"

"Hm, I would have thought that too obvious for a hint." JungMin's eyes fluttered slightly at the teeth against his ear, biting down harder on the skin in front of his lips. 

Gasping slightly at the teeth, YoungSaeng turn around in JungMin's arms, placing his hands on the man's chest and slowly pushing him towards the bed. "You could stand to learn a thing or two on subtlety, JungMin," he smirked.

JungMin chuckled, eyes dancing. "Does that mean you'll be my teacher?" He backed up slowly, until he felt the bed against the back of his knees. 

"It'll be quite the challenge," YoungSaeng mused, sliding his hands under JungMin's shirt and started to lift it up to take off, his fingers tracing along the skin. "I'll have to warn you I am very demanding, and expect you to be diligent. I can be quite strict."

"You'll have my complete attention," JungMin smirked, running his own hands down YoungSaeng's chest before moving his arms to help YoungSaeng get his shirt off, going to do the same to the older man's. "And if I'm a good student?" 

Once his own shirt was off, YoungSaeng started unbuttoning JungMin's pants and pushing them and his boxers down. "Then you'll get rewards," YoungSaeng murmured, leaning up to kiss JungMin softly. "I'm sure you'll want a little incentive first though, yes?"

Returning the kiss, JungMin's hands found YoungSaeng's pants to undo them as well, tugging them off. "Yes teacher," he chuckled lowly, nipping lightly on YoungSaeng's lower lip. 

Pushing JungMin back onto the bed, YoungSaeng crawled up, scooting him up into a better position. "I'm glad you understand," he said, hovering over him with a smirk before leaning down to capture his lips in a firm kiss, his hand sliding up and down the man's bare thigh.

Continuing the kiss as he lowered down, YoungSaeng moaned into the redhead's mouth, sucking on his bottom lip and tongue until he needed to breathe. JungMin's legs tightly wrapped around his waist, and arms around his neck as he rocked against him. YoungSaeng gasped and shuddered, making a low keening noise as his whole body stiffened and then slumped over. Nose buried in JungMin's neck, he panted harshly as his heart rate tried to slow.

Chest rising and falling quickly, JungMin slowly unwound his legs from around the older man and let his head fall back against the pillow, lips parted as he tried to breathe. It took them a minute to recover, JungMin running his fingers through YoungSaeng's hair.

"Well, did I pass?" the redhead chuckled after a moment, rolling his head to one side so he could look at the man pressed against him. 

"With flying colors," YoungSaeng laughed softly, kissing JungMin's shoulder and neck gently before pulling back and sitting on his knees. Running his hands up and down the other's torso, he smirked down at him with half lidded eyes. "Maybe we can have another lesson after dinner."

"Sounds good to me," JungMin murmured, eyes fluttering at the hands against his skin. "Though if you keep doing this, I might not be able to wait until after dinner." 

YoungSaeng chuckled, leaning down to press a kiss to JungMin's chest before curling up on top of him, burying his nose in the man's neck. "Sorry, I think you wore me out for the moment."

The younger man smiled, wrapping his arms loosely around YoungSaeng. "Then I suppose I can wait." He rested his face against YoungSaeng's hair, closing his eyes. 

*********************

Tapping absently on the console in front of him, KyuJong kept looking over at the time. His shift was almost up and it would be another long afternoon of training with JungMin. He was still healing from the last session a couple days before, but they didn't have enough medical supplies to take care of a couple bruises here and there.

Glancing over his shoulder, he frowned lightly. JongWoon was supposed to come take over watching the sensors for him since they were in a rather heavy asteroid area, and wondered what was taking the negotiator so long.

It took another ten minutes before the hatch opened and JongWoon came running through, nearly skidding into the table in his haste. "I'm sorry! I lost track of time," he winced, steadying himself before he could go sprawling. "I'm not too late, am I?" 

Turning around slowly, KyuJong sighed and glanced at the clock again before looking at JongWoon with pursed lips. "About ten minutes, which means I'm about ten minutes late to training. If I get in trouble, I'm telling them it's your fault," he said, getting up out of the chair. "Just watch the sensors, and don't touch anything. If there's a problem, hail me on the coms."

"They won't kill you over ten minutes," JongWoon grinned sheepishly. "Got it, have fun." He went to sit down in the chair, looking over the sensors and keeping his hands behind his back to show KyuJong he wasn't about to touch anything. He'd gotten in trouble for that one already. 

"Won't kill me, but I don't feel like getting in trouble," KyuJong grumbled, heading out the hatch and closing it behind him. Jogging down the corridor, he slid down the ladder and took off down the hall towards the cargo bay. Stumbling out onto the catwalk, he leaned over the rail and looked around. He didn't see any sign of the others. It wasn't like any of those three to be late to something, especially training.

Turning back around, he went back through the hatch to head to the crew deck. He decided to head to JungMin and YoungSaeng's room, they might have lost track of time; HyunJoong was probably asleep on his desk again. Reaching the two's door, he knocked and waited. After a minute passed without an answer, he knocked again. Were they not here either?

Sighing, KyuJong tried the door, finding it unlocked and pushed it open to peer in. His eyes widened and breath caught in his throat. Quickly shutting the door again, he stared down at the handle, swallowing thickly. That hadn't been JungMin on top of YoungSaeng.

Footsteps sounded around the corner of the hallway. A moment later JungMin appeared, hands in his pockets and grumbling to himself.

He blinked when he spotted KyuJong outside his and YoungSaeng's room. "Yah, there you are, I was looking for you. You didn't show up." Walking closer, he frowned slightly at the expression on KyuJong's face. 

Hearing JungMin's voice, KyuJong looked up towards him, nodding. "Um.. JongWoon was late in getting to the bridge," he said slowly, stepping away from the door. "No one was in the cargo bay, so I came to find you." Taking a deep breath, he glanced at the door before starting back down the hall. "I think it's going to be just us."

"Hm?" JungMin blinked, walking after him and pausing at the door. Leaning against it lightly, he heard a low moan from inside and rolled his eyes. Figured. He followed after KyuJong, taking a few extra steps to catch up with the pilot's long strides. "I'd tell them that doesn't count as practice, but I don't think they'd listen." He glanced over at KyuJong beside him, judging his expression. 

KyuJong didn't say anything to that, his jaw clenched tightly. It shouldn't have surprised him really. Of course HyunJoong would move on to someone else now that they weren't talking, and YoungSaeng had offered himself to the Captain, so why wouldn't he take it? Didn't mean that it didn't hurt. He should have tried harder to apologize to HyunJoong.

"It doesn't bother you?" KyuJong asked quietly, keeping his eyes focused on the corridor. He hadn't tried to assume anything about the two's relationship, but he was surprised at how blase the redhead was.

"Why would it?" JungMin tilted his head to one side, watching the older man. "YoungSaeng's free to do whatever he wants, as am I. We're not tied to each other." He placed one hand on his hip, lips quirked. "It bothers _you_." It wasn't a question. 

Bristling slightly, KyuJong glanced over at JungMin with a scowl. "What would give you that idea?" he grumbled. "We're crewmates, that's it." All they would ever be now. It was obvious now HyunJoong didn't care about him, or even like him. He had just been convenient.

"The fact that your hackles are up at such a simple statement," the redhead smirked. He was sure he was right now; KyuJong's reactions were just too obvious, as well as both his and the Captain's behavior since the last planet. "Oh well, if you're just crewmates, I'd say his loss. You're pretty cute." 

KyuJong's eyes narrowed at that, but he looked away. That had been a very obvious ploy, and KyuJong wasn't sure how to respond, he was still reeling a little from the shock. It was probably the only reason he did what he did. Stopping in the middle of the hall, he frowned down at the flooring. "You think those two are going to show up to practice at all?"

JungMin stopped as well, tilting his head as he looked at the pilot. "Doubt it, they'll be in there for a while," he mused, watching KyuJong's expression. 

Clenching and unclenching his jaw, KyuJong nodded. His eyes slowly lifted up to look at the redhead. "I guess... we could just continue without them, or...." he trailed off, looking back the way they had come. "Or... do something else."

The younger man raised an eyebrow. "Something else?" He took a casual step forward. "Have anything in mind?" 

Chewing slightly on his lip, KyuJong met JungMin's eyes. This really wasn't like him, being this forward, but frankly he needed a distraction. "Maybe," he nodded, shuffling a little nervously to the side, back down the hall. "Why don't you come to my room, and we can discuss it?"

Looking at him, JungMin's lips curled into a half-smirk. "Of course," he replied, one thumb hooked into his pocket as he turned to go back the way they'd came, for all the world like they were just going to go over different fighting techniques. This was much more fun than practicing though.

And he'd had a little more information to share with YoungSaeng later, a definite plus. 

*********************

The ship landed with a soft bump, KyuJong hitting buttons on the console to power down systems and secure the docking clamps. Scooting over, he turned on the shipwide coms. "Ship is down, we've got a three hour docking pass. Try not to upset the locals this time," he said.

" _Yah! We didn't do anything the last time!_ " Came HyungJoon's retort through the speaker.

"Just be careful," HyunJoong sighed, putting his station on standby before getting to his feet. "JongWoon, no going anywhere without me."

" _Yes Captain,_ " JongWoon called sheepishly.

"Get in touch if there's any problems," HyunJoong said to KyuJong before turning and leaving the bridge, heading down to the cargo bay. They only had three hours to get as many supplies as they could, so the crew was going to have to split up. JongWoon would help him with the larger purchases, such as fuel and spare ship parts, while HyungJoon was taking JungMin and YoungSaeng for food.

None of them were happy with having the two outside the ship, but there was nothing they could do about it, they were low on hands and with such a small time slot, they would have to use what they could. 

YoungSaeng and JungMin were waiting in the cargo bay by the time HyungJoon got there, having gone over the supplies in engineering one last time. "YoungSaeng, you have food supply list, right?" HyungJoon asked, closing the hatch door and headed their way.

"Yes," YoungSaeng replied, a little irritated. That had been the fifth time someone had asked him and the answer hadn't changed in the span of ten minutes. "There aren't going to be many places out there to stop and get quality food," he said softly, leaning against JungMin. "I hope there's enough money to buy everything."

"I'm sure the Captain would have taken food of all things into account while he was working on those million and one papers," JungMin sighed, wrapping one arm loosely around YoungSaeng's shoulders.

"Yes, that was in there somewhere," JongWoon walked past them with another list. "We're also getting some of those machines that can take moisture out of the air for water? Gonna have to do a little talking for that one, it's usually for mining crew and the like." He went up to HyungJoon, holding out the list. "We didn't forget anything, right? Everything you need is here?" 

Taking the list, HyungJoon pursed his lips as he read over everything. "Yeah, looks good," he nodded, handing it back. "If anyone can talk their way into buying something, it's you, I bet you'll be able to get one and for half the price too," he said with a grin.

"Does that mean we shouldn't let you do the talking for buying food?" YoungSaeng asked, relaxing in JungMin's hold. HyungJoon wrinkled his nose slightly at the older man, but kept quiet.

"Don't let Joonie do the talking, he'll take it at twice the price and think he's got a deal," JongWoon laughed, ducking away from his best friend.

"We'll keep that in mind," JungMin snorted.

HyunJoong appeared at the top of the stairs, heading down. "We're all set to go?" 

"Yes sir," HyungJoon nodded, glancing at JungMin YoungSaeng nervously. He didn't like that he'd be the one stuck with those two, but he didn't have any say in it. Shuffling towards the door, he gave JongWoon a helpless look as the other two followed behind. "We'll see you in a couple hours then."

YoungSaeng looked up at JungMin, poking him slightly in the side. "Be on your best behavior," he said quietly.

JungMin twitched away at the poke. "Yes sir," he drawled, wrinkling his nose at YoungSaeng before following after HyungJoon. All joking aside though, he would be very careful this time. It was the first time they'd been off the ship since rescuing JongWoon and HyungJoon from those men on Lenor's Moon, and he knew there was a very good reason they had been restricted to the ship.

The station looked normal enough, but he watched out for trouble anyways, red bangs hiding his suspicious gaze. "You know where we need to go?" He asked HyungJoon. 

"Uhh.. yeah," HyungJoon nodded, keeping himself a little in front of them. "Most of these stations are set up the same, so we just need to get to the promenade and look around at the shops. Shouldn't be that hard." He was looking down each hall they passed as they meandered. YoungSaeng was getting the impression HyungJoon really didn't know where they were going.

"I think it's down this way," YoungSaeng said, stopping at and pointing down a hall HyungJoon had passed by.

"You sure?" HyungJoon stopped and turned, blinking at the older man.

"No, but it's better than wandering around after you," YoungSaeng shrugged and turned to go the way he had pointed, bringing JungMin with him. HyungJoon pouted and begrudgingly followed after them.

JungMin's lips curled upwards slightly as he followed along after YoungSaeng, glancing around for signs or something to let them know if they were going in the right direction. The hallway they had taken opened up onto a larger corridor, then another.

After a minute of walking, the redhead nudged YoungSaeng slightly, nodding to their right. "Everyone seems to be going in that direction." It made sense that the shops would be where the most people were. 

YoungSaeng nodded and followed along where JungMin had motioned. Eventually the hallway opened up to a large courtyard where hundreds of people were milling around. He looked over his shoulder at HyungJoon who was sulking, handing over his list. "These are the things we need," he told the engineer.

HyungJoon blinked and took the list from him, looking it over. "Oh, okay, uhh.. most of this stuff should be pretty easy to find. We'll start over here?" he said, heading towards the first food shop he saw. They'd have to shop around for prices of course, but they had to start somewhere. That and a couple of things YoungSaeng had on here would be hard to find.

"You good with prices?" JungMin murmured to YoungSaeng, frowning. He believed JongWoon when he said not to leave the prices up to HyungJoon, but while he knew how to haggle, he wasn't so sure about what the standard prices were for things. It wasn't exactly covered in assassin training. 

"Passable," YoungSaeng shrugged. "We're closer to the edge of controlled space, things may be a little more expensive out here than in systems closer to the core. We'll play it by ear." Following HyungJoon into the shop, he looked around with a frown. The shop owner looked to be busy so he poked around for a bit, seeing what they had available.

Nodding, JungMin looked around as well. Seeing how they were buying in bulk, he looked for the larger packages meant for long distances. They seemed to have large quantities of dried-out foods, which would be very good if JongWoon was able to get them that machine for converting moisture to water. As well, the dried-up stuff was less expensive than fresh produce, limited quantity this far away from most planets.

They would be able to get a good amount of stuff from this store, but JungMin nudged YoungSaeng first. "We're checking out a few stores before buying anything, right?" There could be a better deal farther down. 

"Yes," YoungSaeng nodded, wrinkling his nose at the prices. "They have a good selection, but way too pricey, even for this far out," he said. He looked over to where HyungJoon had got the attendants attention and was asking about some of the more exotic items on the list. After a short conversation, the engineer came back over to them, shaking his head.

"We'll have to keep looking, there's a couple things here on the list but he's not budging from prices," HyungJoon grumbled.

"Let's go then," YoungSaeng said, turning around and heading out back onto the promenade. Glancing around, he saw a smaller shop a little ways away. There seemed to be a lot more people going into that one than in the one they just left, meaning better deals usually.

HyungJoon followed them over to the other shop, chewing on his lip nervously. He saw a few military uniforms, which wasn't unusual on a station, but it was making him edgy all the same. They were supposed to have made their delivery by now, and there was no telling when the Federation would start looking for them.

YoungSaeng liked the look of this shop a great deal better, the prices were reasonable and the selection good. He immediately flagged down a clerk and started to haggle. He may have been trained as an assassin, but some jobs had involved commerce, something he quickly excelled at.

Looking around and frowning to himself as he noticed the amount of military, JungMin straightened the uniform he was wearing just to convince himself that they did have an alias for being here. Once he noticed YoungSaeng was busy, he turned to see if he could find some other things they might need. He wandered to the front of the shop, peering out.

The shop beside them seemed to have a good selection, as well as some things he knew they'd need that were missing in this shop. The redhead looked around before finding HyungJoon, nudging his arm slightly to get his attention rather than a usual thwack off the head. "There's some supplies in the shop beside this one, I'm gonna take a look." He headed back to the front of the store. 

"Er.. uh.." HyungJoon fumbled for something to say. He distinctly remembered the Captain telling him that they needed to stay together and not to let one of them wander off alone. The problem was he had no authority over these two really, since they only seemed to listen to HyunJoong. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw YoungSaeng was still occupied with the clerk so followed JungMin. "Wait, JungMin, I'll go with you." Hopefully they'd be back before YoungSaeng was done.

The redhead glanced over his shoulder as he stepped out of the shop and noticed HyungJoon was following. "You should stay with YoungSaeng, I'm just one store over," he frowned, going into the other store. As he'd thought, the prices here were pretty good too, and there were a few things they would have been missing. Looking over everything, JungMin searched for a clerk to haggle with. 

"But we're supposed to stay together," HyungJoon whined, continuing to follow JungMin into the store. He only followed the other to make sure he didn't go into another store afterwards so they could go back to YoungSaeng once they were done. It could be a while before YoungSaeng was finished since they were getting the bulk of the items at that shop.

The clerk was very agreeable to YoungSaeng's terms, and he was able to get a very good discount for most of what they needed. He may have flirted just a bit, and may have made some promises he didn't intend to keep, but that was the nature of the business. Filling out the necessary forms, he added the cost of the supplies to their account and told the clerk their docking slip number, the clerk promised their goods would be pushed up to be delivered immediately.

Satisfied with how well that went, YoungSaeng turned and looked around for the other two. The patrons in the shop had thinned out but he didn't see JungMin and HyungJoon anywhere. Scowling, he headed out to the front of the shop, looking around on the promenade for them. Picking a direction, he started to look for them, going in the opposite direction of where JungMin and HyungJoon were.

Rolling his eyes at HyungJoon's whining, JungMin was able to snag a clerk on his way by. Deciding the charismatic approach would be the most effective, JungMin launched into bargaining with the other man, all bright smiles and white teeth. It took a bit, but he was able to get them a better price than what was listed, starting on the paperwork.

Once he was done and had been told the purchase would be delivered quickly, JungMin turned back to HyungJoon. "All set." 

"Let's go then," HyungJoon said, shuffling nervously and edging out of the shop. That had taken a lot longer than he had thought it would and hoped YoungSaeng wouldn't be too mad they had left him. He scurried over to the other shop, looking for the other man. "Uh..." HyungJoon started to panic when he didn't see YoungSaeng anywhere. "Crap, not good." Turning around, he looked wide-eyed around the area, searching for any sign of him.

Getting more irritated by the minute, YoungSaeng stopped in a huff when he found himself back at he hallway they had come in through. He hadn't seen the redhead or engineer this way, so he turned around, intending to go back to the shop he had started at to wait for them. Turning sharply, he almost slammed right into a couple of military officers. "Excuse me," he murmured, keeping his head down and moving past them.

"Yah! Where's your collar?"

YoungSaeng froze, eyes going wide and quickly narrowing again. Risking a quick glance over his shoulder confirmed what he knew. He recognized the one, and had worked with him before. Not good. YoungSaeng took off, not looking back again as he raced through the promenade, dodging around people who were in his way. He didn't have to look to know they'd be chasing after him.

***********************************12*********************************************

Seeing no sign of YoungSaeng, JungMin's eyes narrowed and he resisted the urge to hit HyungJoon off the head. "You didn't tell him where we were before you ran out too?" he hissed, looking around for the older man. He didn't see him anywhere. Damn it all, there had been a _reason_ why he'd told HyungJoon where he was going, he would have assumed the engineer would do the same.

Striding to the corner of the promenade to see if he could spot YoungSaeng in the crowd, JungMin's eyes widened when he saw figures trying to jostle through the crowd, following after a shorter person in front...YoungSaeng. "Shit..." He could recognize military outfits a mile away.

"Military caught Saeng, let the Captain know _now_ ," JungMin snapped to HyungJoon, quickly looking around for a way to escape. Spotting a path between the different shops, he nudged HyungJoon towards it. "Be ready to run."

He waited for YoungSaeng to draw level before reaching out and grabbing the older man's sleeve, yanking him in between the shops and starting to run. 

Yelping when he felt the tug, YoungSaeng caught himself before hitting JungMin. Glancing back over his shoulder, the soldiers were still following after them. Scowling, he faced forward again and continued to run. 

"Where the _hell_ did you two go?" he snarled, taking a corner and hurrying along. They had to find their way back to the ship, but it was like a maze in these back corridors. "HyungJoon, hurry up!" YoungSaeng called over his shoulder, the engineer was fumbling with his coms and lagging behind. He didn't have the endurance they did, not used to having to run.

"Captain?!" HyungJoon whimpered once he got the com device opened. "Trouble, get back to the ship, tell Kyu to lift off soon as we get there!"

HyunJoong didn't waste any time asking what had happened. _"It takes fives minutes for the ship's engine to warm up, get back quickly."_

"Later," JungMin replied to YoungSaeng, glancing behind them. The military were gaining on HyungJoon; it was only thanks to the amount of civilians around that they hadn't released fire on them yet, but that would change as they got closer to the ship.

"Come _on!_ " JungMin dropped back behind HyungJoon, pushing him faster before whirling around, pulling down a stack of crates they'd just passed by. They fell across the narrow path and burst open, goods scattering. The redhead turned around and sprinted to catch up; hopefully it would buy them some time. 

HyungJoon shoved the device back in his pocket and tried to pick up speed. He was already panting though, and probably wouldn't be able to run for much longer. Hopefully they were near enough to the ship, but that wouldn't be their luck.

Careening around another corner, YoungSaeng glanced back over his shoulder briefly to see how far back the soldiers were, failing to see the two coming towards them down the hallway.

"Watch out!" HyungJoon cried, seeing one of the soldiers in front of them pulling out a long stick and swinging at YoungSaeng who was skidding to a halt in front of him. YoungSaeng didn't have time to react when the shock lance connected with his torso, electricity crackling through the air. Screaming from the shock, YoungSaeng's head snapped back and his body went rigid. The other soldier was pulling out another lance and made to hit YoungSaeng again.

"NO!" The hit never landed as JungMin slammed full-force into the soldier, bringing him down to the ground. Wrestling for the electric lance, JungMin brought it down to press hard into the soldier's throat, cutting off his air. The soldier was successfully distracted by the fight to breathe, JungMin taking advantage of the split second to grab the soldier's neck and twist sharply until he heard a snap. 

The soldier who had been attacking YoungSaeng pulled the lance back, YoungSaeng's body crumpling to the floor as he turned his attention on JungMin. Watching in horror a few steps away, HyungJoon scowled and threw himself at the soldier who was bringing the shock lance up to hit JungMin, knocking them both over to the floor. 

The lance clattered away and HyungJoon only had a split second to do something before the soldier would be able to counter him. Mustering up all his courage, HyungJoon pulled back his fist and hit the soldier as hard as he could in the jaw, a rewarding cracking noise meant the jaw was dislocated and the soldier went limp. Panting, HyungJoon looked over his shoulder as the original two soldiers were now almost on them. Scrambling to his feet, he went to YoungSaeng's side to try and lift the man up, but he was a lot heavier than he looked.

Straightening and looking quickly between the oncoming soldiers, HyungJoon and YoungSaeng, JungMin got to his feet and picked up the charged lance. "Here," he shoved the stick into HyungJoon's hands, before pulling YoungSaeng's limp body up and wincing as he draped the unconscious man over his back, securing his hands under YoungSaeng's knees. "Let's go!"

He hurried down the corridor, remembering which direction they had to turn to get back to the docks.

Taking the lance, HyungJoon swallowed nervously and tried to keep up with JungMin, glancing over his shoulder. One of the soldiers stopped when they reached their two down counterparts while the other continued on after them. At the speed they were going, the soldier would be on top of them soon and with JungMin holding onto YoungSaeng he wouldn't be able to fight them off.

Steeling himself up again, HyungJoon stopped and turned, holding the stick out in front of him like a baseball bat. The least he could do was give JungMin a better head start to get away. He wasn't letting the military get them. As the soldier drew closer, he could see the amused smirk on the man's face. Obviously he thought HyungJoon would be easy enough to subdue.

HyungJoon hadn't lived through the beatings from JungMin to be taken down so easily though, and as soon as the soldier was close enough, HyungJoon swung. The lance connected with the soldier's head, the man's eyes widening in surprise and his mouth opened in a choked scream. HyungJoon could feel the electricity crackling around them as the man was electrocuted. It took a second before HyungJoon could move and pull the lance away, the man's body falling to the floor. Staring down at him for a brief moment, HyungJoon whimpered at the smoke rising up from the burned hair where the lance had connected.

Looking up, the other soldier was starting toward him. Whimpering again, HyungJoon dropped the lance and turned around to catch up with JungMin.

Glancing behind him to see HyungJoon hurrying to catch up, JungMin clenched his jaw and ran as fast as he could down the hallway towards the docks. It had been at least five minutes; he hoped they were ready, because once word got out, the station would be on lockdown.

By the time HyungJoon had drawn level with him again, they were at the docks. JungMin headed straight for the ship, seeing HyunJoong waiting for them at the entrance.

Eyes narrowing as he saw them, HyunJoong held his comm device to his face. "Be ready to go as soon as they're in, KyuJong." The supplies had already arrived, JongWoon securing them the best he could in the cargo bay so that they wouldn't be crushed against them if the ship took a sharp turn.

The soldier chasing after them started shouting when he saw them headed for the ship, yelling for the others around to stop the pair. Taking full advantage of the confusion, JungMin jumped in through the open hatch, HyunJoong reaching out to help HyungJoon get in. 

Taking HyunJoong's hand, HyungJoon dove into the hatch just as HyunJoong closed the airlock. Within seconds, the floor lurched and he could feel the ship starting to take off. Panting, HyungJoon dropped wearily to the ground, trying to catch his breath.

" _Clear of the station Captain, no pursuit so far._ " KyuJong's voice called over the coms. " _It's going to be a little bumpy until we're out of the system._ "

"I'll take bumpy over having to go back to that," HyungJoon whimpered.

"HyungJoon!" JongWoon sprinted over and nearly went sprawling as the ship tilted to one side. Going to his knees, he pulled the younger man into a hug, holding him tightly. "What happened?!"

"Military saw us," JungMin muttered, looking over his shoulder at YoungSaeng on his back. After making sure HyungJoon wasn't injured, HyunJoong went to check the unconscious man, testing for a pulse and peeling back one eye. 

HyungJoon clung to his friend, burying his face in the man's shirt and holding him tightly. He was so glad JongWoon hadn't been with them, he didn't even want to think about if his best friend would have got hurt. Thinking of that, he turned his head to look over at YoungSaeng, who was still completely knocked out. "I... I think I killed someone," he whimpered, looking up at JongWoon, his lip trembling.

Staring down at the younger man, JongWoon swallowed and held him tighter, resting their foreheads together lightly. He'd been so scared when he'd heard the others were in trouble.

"You're here, that's what matters most, okay?" he whispered, managing not to cry as he rubbed his hand along HyungJoon's back. 

Nodding, HyungJoon closed his eyes and wrapped his arms tighter around JongWoon, not wanting to let him go. That had been way too close, and now HyungJoon really understood why they needed to take practice more seriously. "Is.. is YoungSaeng okay?" he asked, looking over at the others, worried that the other man hadn't moved yet.

"He's going to need medical attention," HyunJoong said quietly, glancing over at them after having a quick word with JungMin to find out what had happened. He was honestly surprised the man was still alive after being hit with a charged lance. "JongWoon?"

"Y-yeah," JongWoon said after a moment, reluctant to let go of his friend. Running his fingers through HyungJoon's hair, he rested his cheek on top of his head before drawing in a breath and standing, wobbling a little as the ship tilted back and forth. "Come with me?" He held on to HyungJoon's sleeve as JungMin started towards the stairs, bringing YoungSaeng to medical bay. 

HyungJoon got to his feet, not wanting to be too far away from JongWoon right then and followed after them to the medbay. He looked down at his hand that was bruised from where he'd punched the guy. Having never hit someone before in his life, he was surprised at how good that had felt to knock the guy out.

Soon as they were inside the medbay, and YoungSaeng was being carefully lowered onto the bed, the overhead coms went off again. " _Captain, can you come to the bridge_?"

"Right away," HyunJoong replied, glancing at JongWoon. "Keep me updated on his condition."

JongWoon nodded, and HyunJoong left the room heading up to the bridge. He took the stairs two at a time, getting to the front of the ship quickly. He was through the hatch a minute later. "What's our status?" 

"We're out of the system," KyuJong said, setting their course in the navigation console and looking up at HyunJoong with a worried look. "But I was checking military transmissions before we left com range. They're definitely looking for us now. We've got a big bounty on our heads," he said, turning back around to set the autopilot, the ship shifting smoothly into warp. "We should consider changing our call sign. I think I can do it."

Sitting down in his chair, HyunJoong nodded. "That would be best. We'll have to plot our next course straight for the border." He'd hoped to have a few more supply stops, but that couldn't be helped. At least they'd gotten all the supplies they could at the station.

Turning around, he pulled out the star charts to figure out how they were going to do this. "Are the external communications offline?" Anything they could be tracked up would have to be turned off. 

"Yes sir," KyuJong nodded, double checking just to make sure. "Turned them off soon as we were out of the system. We'll have to turn them back on when we get close to the border though, in case we get stopped for a check," he said, chewing on his lip nervously. "If we get the call sign changed though, they should let us pass without problems. Hopefully. Is everyone okay?"

"Mostly," HyunJoong replied, checking over the ship for damage caused by the rough departure. "YoungSaeng was hit with a charged lance, JongWoon's looking after him right now. He's still alive, but he'll probably be out of it for a while. Other than that, they're shaken but fine." He frowned slightly, tapping his fingers against the terminal. "I'd like to find an unguarded spot in the border to slip through, but there's no way of knowing where the patrols are..." 

"We're at least a week out, when we get closer I can do sensor sweeps and find the best place to cross," KyuJong said. "This new sensor array has a broader range. With any luck we'll see patrols before they see us." Frowning slightly, he turned to look over at HyunJoong. "I'm glad everyone's okay."

HyunJoong sighed, rubbing his temple. "I am too." He was silent for a moment before getting to his feet. "I need to take a look at what supplies we have, since we're obviously not making any more stops," he picked up a data pad. "Are you able to take the bridge for another hour? I'll have HyungJoon take over once he's had a chance to stop shaking." 

"Yeah, I've got some work to do still anyway," KyuJong nodded, turning back around. "Let him take a break for a while, he probably needs it."

Nodding slightly, HyunJoong headed towards the hatch. "Call down if you need anything." He paused slightly, half out of the bridge, looking down at the floor. He had wondered, when HyungJoon called through in a panic, if there would be a pilot at the ship to get it ready.

"You responded quickly," he said quietly after a moment, his back to the bridge. "Thank you for getting us out." He stepped out of the hatch, headed down towards the cargo bay. 

KyuJong watched him go, lips quirked sadly as he turned around to get back to the logs he was going through. Once again he let a perfectly good opportunity to apologize pass by. Scrubbing a hand through his hair, he tried to focus on his work, and not think about the Captain. Maybe after the excitement, JungMin would come see him later, or if he'd stick to YoungSaeng's side since he was injured. Sighing, he scrolled back through the communication logs again.

*************************

"You sure you're not gonna get some sleep?" JongWoon frowned slightly, playing with HyungJoon's sleeve. They were still in the medical bay several hours later, JongWoon refusing to leave unless YoungSaeng had woken up. JungMin didn't appear to be going anywhere either, though he definitely disliked the room, sitting on the bed next to YoungSaeng with his knees drawn to his chest and eyes on the unconscious man. 

Shaking his head, HyungJoon clung to his friend's arm. "No, I don't want to be alone right now," he admitted a little painfully. As much as he hated to admit it though, he was exhausted and kept nodding off against JongWoon's shoulder.

Moaning softly, YoungSaeng's eyes fluttered and then winced in pain as he finally came around. He could feel JungMin next to him without opening his eyes, and briefly wondered if they were in some military holding cell. "Min?"

JungMin perked up at the noise that left YoungSaeng's lips. "Hey Saeng." He brushed locks of black hair out of the older man's face. "You okay?"

JongWoon hugged HyungJoon, watching the others. "I'm just gonna check if he's okay, then we can go sleep okay?" He murmured to his friend, resting his cheek against HyungJoon's head before easing to his feet, padding over to the edge of the other bed. 

"I've been better," YoungSaeng murmured, finally getting his eyes open and looking around. He was relieved to see they were in the medical bay on the ship, and not caught. "I still hate shock lances," he grumbled.

"I'm surprised you're alive," JongWoon winced. "I didn't want to connect you to anything since JungMin said you would be fine and you....don't really like all the equipment in here, but would it be okay to do a few tests just to be sure? No needles or anything, just basic check-ups." He picked up his small flashlight. 

YoungSaeng frowned a little, but nodded. "Okay, as long as you can do something about this headache, I've got now," he said, holding out his hand to JungMin. "You okay?"

JungMin nodded, taking the offered hand and squeezing it lightly. "Yeah, I'm fine." He tried a small smile. "Didn't we go over this already?" He joked. "You have to watch where you're running." He kept an eye on JongWoon as the older man started to check over YoungSaeng's temperature, listening to his heart and doing a few reaction time tests. 

YoungSaeng tried to ignore what JongWoon was doing for the most part, concentrating on JungMin. "I wasn't expecting there to be backup, but I should know better," he murmured, hissing slightly at a particularly painful prod. He looked down at his clothes, frowning at the burn mark on his shirt. "Are you almost done?"

"Uh, just about," JongWoon murmured. "I need to change your medpack." He'd put one on the burn from the lance hours ago, but it would be almost used up by now. "Can I..." he motioned sheepishly at YoungSaeng's shirt. 

Pursing his lips, YoungSaeng nodded shortly and looked away to up at JungMin. "I expect a full explanation later about what happened," he said softly, his voice weak sounding as he tried not to fall back asleep.

"Yes yes," JungMin squeezed YoungSaeng's hand again, eyes worried.

JongWoon rolled YoungSaeng's shirt up carefully, peeling the used medpack off his skin and wincing at the burn underneath. They'd have to start watching how they used their supplies now. "We can use one more medpack on this to get rid of the worst of the burn, and then a bit of paste should take care of the rest." He went to get another medpack, shaking it up and peeling off the paper cover before smoothing it out over the burn with gentle fingers. 

"I'm sure that will suffice," YoungSaeng nodded, wincing slightly at the pain. "Do I have to stay here, or can I go back to my room now?" he asked, looking up at JongWoon with tired eyes.

The older man gave him a tentative smile. "You can go back to your room, I'll just need to check on you in a few hours if that's all right."

JungMin stood up, shuffling to the other side of the bed. "Can you stand, Saeng? I can carry you back." 

"I'm not a child," YoungSaeng scowled, slowly getting to sitting up. Using JungMin as support, he rose up off the bed, a little shaky on his feet. "I'm fine, let's go," he said, taking slow steps forward to the door.

JungMin hovered beside him, one arm loosely around his waist to support the older man.

JongWoon watched them go, a strange expression on his face as he looked down at the used medpack on the bed. 

At the doorway, YoungSaeng stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "Thank you," he murmured softly, before stepping out into the hall.

"Um.. can we go now?" HyungJoon whimpered softly, shuffling over to attach himself to JongWoon's side.

Blinking, JongWoon looked over at his friend and nodded, wrapping one arm around the younger man's shoulders. "Bed time for you," he smiled, hugging him close. "You'll feel better after some sleep." 

"I hope so," HyungJoon nodded, leaning against JongWoon as they walked from the room and out into the hall. JungMin and YoungSaeng were still slowly making their way to their room, disappearing inside when they had reached HyungJoon's room. Opening up the door, HyungJoon pulled off his shirt and kicked off his shoes, nearly diving under his covers and curling up. "I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life," he whimpered from under the covers.

Watching him sadly, JongWoon closed the door behind them and kicked off his shoes as well, padding over to the bed and climbing in beside him, burrowing under the covers and pulling the younger man close. Standing up HyungJoon was taller than him, but like this he had no problems tucking the younger man's head under his chin. "You're safe now, it'll be fine," he whispered.

JongWoon was scared out of his wits, knowing that encounter was only the beginning, but he wasn't going to say so now. 

Wrapping his arms tight around JongWoon, HyungJoon buried his nose in the other's shirt. He didn't want to voice the fact that he only felt safe when he was in JongWoon's arms, content to just soak up the comfort. Closing his eyes, he whispered a goodnight as he tried to fall asleep and forget about the incident, even though he knew he wouldn't.

Easing down onto the bed, YoungSaeng kicked off his shoes and slowly laid down onto his back. "Close call today," he said softly, looking up at JungMin.

The redhead nodded with a sigh, sitting down next to the older man. "Very close. But at least we know they can pull their weight in an emergency." For all his freaking out, HyungJoon _had_ taken down two of the soldiers himself.

"Get some sleep." He ran his fingers through YoungSaeng's hair lightly. 

YoungSaeng's lips quirked as he closed his eyes and settled a bit more into a comfortable position. "Sorry I won't be much fun tonight," he said softly.

"That's fine, you can make it up to me another night," JungMin chuckled, easing down beside him and kissing the corner of his lips. 

"If you get too bored, you can go visit the pilot," YoungSaeng mused, cracking an eye open to look over at him. "Burn off some of that energy you get after a fight."

"I might, later," the redhead smirked. "Sleep, you." He poked the older man lightly, making sure to keep away from where he'd been struck with the lance. 

"Okay okay, sleeping," YoungSaeng's lips quirked. "Thank you." He closed his eyes again, slowly drifting off to sleep.

****************************

"I'll be so glad when YoungSaeng's well enough to train again," JongWoon whined, sinking down to sit on the stairs once JungMin had left.

It hadn't come as much of a surprise when the redhead insisted getting back to regular training the day after leaving the station; they all understood the need to get stronger. But with one of their trainers down, it meant they needed to take turns with JungMin.

The redhead was training HyunJoong and KyuJong separately, but he'd decided to work with both HyungJoon and JongWoon at the same time while they worked on a few simple attacks. It quickly became obvious why. Even with the two of them going at him at once, they couldn't land a single hit and ended up hitting each other more often than him, a fact that seemed to both amuse and frustrate JungMin to no end. 

"Nothing will change for me," HyungJoon grumbled, slumping down next to JongWoon and leaning against him. "JungMin will still be mopping the floor with me, and it's just going to keep getting worse."

"He's still hitting only you," JongWoon laughed tiredly, resting his head against HyungJoon's. "He hasn't done more than laugh at me when I trip over my own feet." 

"I think he really hates me," JungMin groaned, closing his eyes. "So what now? You're not on duty for a while right?"

"Nope, not for some more hours. You?" JongWoon played with the edge of HyungJoon's sleeve. 

"I'm free for a while, I think the Captain knows I need a bit of recovery time after training," HyungJoon shook his head. "So, you wanna go watch a movie or something? I don't feel much like moving a whole lot right now."

"Movie sounds good," JongWoon agreed. "Let's try and find something we haven't watched a thousand times yet." Drawing in a breath, he stood up with a groan, wincing at how sore he was after landing on the ground several times in a row. 

"We haven't watched a horror movie in a while," HyungJoon said, standing up beside him and putting his arm around JongWoon's waist to help support them both. "I'm not sure I can watch anything with a lot of fighting in it."

"Horror movies usually have a lot of fighting in them, no?" JongWoon laughed, leaning against HyungJoon a little as they made their way up the stairs. "We'll see what we have. We should have tried to pick up a few more games and stuff the last stop," he pouted a little sadly. Who knew when they'd be able to stop somewhere else. 

"We'll make do," HyungJoon chuckled, getting to the top of the stairs and making their way to the hatch. "If you don't want to watch a horror, what do you want to watch? Comedy? Please no romance movies, I don't think I can take sappy today," he whined.

"Comedy sounds good, and you're always sappy," JongWoon chuckled. Stepping out into the hallway, they headed down to their rooms. "Think any of the others are interested, or are they on duty? Or asleep." 

"I think KyuJong's on duty, same as the Captain," HyungJoon pursed his lips, glaring at his friend for the sappy comment. "And there's no way JungMin's invited. Ever."

"He's probably with YoungSaeng anyways," JongWoon laughed. "He doesn't seem that bad of a person you know, just likes picking on you a lot. He's nice to the rest of us." 

"There's a difference between picking on me, and purposely beating me up at any opportunity," HyungJoon protested. "We watching in your room?"

"Yeah, I have a bigger screen," JongWoon chuckled, amused. They stopped outside his room, opening the door and heading inside. "Let's see what's here." He dropped down onto the edge of his bed with a thankful sigh, picking up the remote and turning on the large screen on his wall, flipping through the movie selection. 

Pulling off his shoes, HyungJoon crawled up onto the bed into his usual spot and curled up. He watched JongWoon go through the movies, not really caring which movie they watched as long as it was distracting. "Nothing sappy," he reminded JongWoon with a mumble.

"Got it," JongWoon nodded, going through the list. After a moment he stopped on a comedy movie he'd heard was good. "How about this one?" He looked back at HyungJoon. 

"Sure, I don't think we've seen that one yet," HyungJoon nodded, pulling a pillow under his head and fussing with the blankets to curl up in.

Hitting the play button, JongWoon kicked off his own shoes and crawled up to join HyungJoon at the top of the bed, dropping down next to him and making himself comfortable after leaning over to dim the lights in the room a little. 

Once JongWoon was settled, HyungJoon scooted closer and draped the blanket over him, cuddling next to him as the movie started. It started out funny enough, and HyungJoon found himself chuckling a little in the first few minutes.

Laughing as the main character got himself into trouble, JongWoon relaxed and rested his head against HyungJoon's shoulder, snickering as situation after situation played out on screen.

The movie was very funny...until about halfway through the movie a romantic plot started to come through. Failed romantic, but still. 

"I thought I said no romantic movies," HyungJoon whined softly, but really wasn't minding it that much. The story was cute, and even if he would protest it, he was kind of a sap when it came to romantic movies. The more the story progressed though, the more uncomfortable HyungJoon got. There were a couple really lovey scenes between the two characters.

Squirming a little, HyungJoon tried not to look at JongWoon, feeling his heart beat a little faster. The couple on screen were kissing and it seemed they were heading to a bedroom. HyungJoon made a little whining noise and had to look away, burying his nose in JongWoon's hair. That really didn't help since the other man smelled really good.

JongWoon tried not to squirm as he felt HyungJoon bury his face in his hair, carefully avoiding looking at the screen even though his attention went back to it every few seconds; the alternative was focus on the person squished up against him, and that wouldn't end very well. What was the rating on this movie again?

"Joon, you okay?" he asked after a moment, very much aware of the fact HyungJoon wasn't watching anymore, and was making small noises every now and then. 

"Um... yeah," HyungJoon nodded, but really he wasn't, because even though he couldn't see the screen, he could still hear and that was almost just as bad. It was making him painfully aware just how long it had been for him, and really he didn't need that kind of reminder. Not when he was so close to JongWoon who could probably smell the desperation on him.

"Is it almost over?" he whined, trying his best to crawl underneath JongWoon to get away from the movie and anything to do with what was going on in it.

"I....think so?" JongWoon answered, nervously because HyungJoon was pressing even closer now, and the combination of that plus what was going on in the movie was really not helping. Any other time he would have teased HyungJoon for freaking out over something he was pretty sure the younger had watched many times before, but he could barely form a thought that wasn't something along the lines of _'Holy crap if he doesn't stop right now I might jump him'_.

Forcing himself to look back up at the screen when the sounds cut off, he breathed in relief when he saw they'd cut to another scene. "Okay, it's over." 

Peeking out from around JongWoon's shoulder, HyungJoon was relieved to see it was back to more comedy. Shifting back out from under his friend, HyungJoon tried to focus back on the movie, but wasn't as into the humor as he was before. There seemed to be a lull in the pace of the movie, so HyungJoon looked over at JongWoon nervously.

"Um... can I ask you a question?" he said, chewing on his bottom lip. "How.. er.. how long has it.. when... I mean it's been _months_ for me." _Oh god what was he doing?_

The older man blinked at HyungJoon for a moment, not understanding. Months since...

Eyes widening comically, JongWoon nearly choked on thin air when he realized just what HyungJoon was asking. _Why_ that of all things?! They'd gone over practically every subject in the years they'd known each other, but he'd been quite happy leaving that one alone.

"U-uh...it's...been a while," he said vaguely, curling up a little more to hide his bright red face. More than a while, actually. But he couldn't tell HyungJoon that he'd never done anything like that, ever. 

"I think the last time anything happened was when... oh.. er... when you and I..." HyungJoon flailed a little bit and coughed, turning back to the movie. "Nevermind. Let's just drop this. I thought you said this was a comedy? _Why_ is there so much kissing in this movie?" HyungJoon whined louder and had to duck down under the covers to avoid another kissing scene. All it did was remind him of his kiss with JongWoon and how he actually kind of liked it and wouldn't mind kissing him again.

Turning more and more red by the second, JongWoon was glad when HyungJoon dropped the subject. His thanks quickly faded though when he saw the kissing scene, and buried his face in his knees. "It _is_ a comedy!" He whined. "Want me to change it?" He'd take horror over this any day. 

"It... it.. it's almost over though right?" HyungJoon whimpered from under the covers. "There can't be that much left. But we need another movie after this. Action, violence, anything, I don't care. Just no more kissing!"

"Agreed," JongWoon nodded, not looking up. The sounds had started again. "Maybe we just need to drink until we pass out, that would work too," he whined, burying himself under the covers too. 

"Seconding that," HyungJoon nodded, attaching himself to JongWoon again once the other was under the covers. "You have anything to drink in here?"

"Why would I, we're not allowed alcohol in our...." JongWoon trailed off. "I might have something in the back of my fridge," he said sheepishly after thinking about that for a moment. 

HyungJoon snorted, crawling out from under the covers and padding over to the fridge. "Just because we're not allowed doesn't mean we don't. I'm pretty sure the Captain has some stashed away in his room." Opening up the little fridge he started to poke around, brightening when he found the soju bottles. Climbing back up on the bed, he handed one to JongWoon. "We're not worrying about glasses I hope."

"Nope," JongWoon smiled, sitting up under the covers and pushing his hair out of his eyes as he watched HyungJoon. Drinking was probably a bad idea, it always was with them, but it would definitely help them forget about that. He made himself comfortable on the bed, opening his bottle and taking a drink. "No spilling it on the sheets, soju's hard to get out." 

"I won't spill," HyungJoon rolled his eyes, leaning against the wall. Getting the top off the bottle, he looked up at the movie, making a face. "Okay, every time they kiss, we take a shot. Anything more... we take longer shots. Sound good?"

"That's a definite way to get drunk fast at the rate they're going," JongWoon shuddered, resting back beside his friend. "Deal."

No sooner had he said it than there was a kiss. He groaned, before taking a quick shot. 

Making a face after the shot, HyungJoon relaxed and leaned against JongWoon. "I'd rather be drunk watching this than not," he grumbled, having to take another shot. "This is almost as bad as porn...not that we should watch that," he said, quickly shaking his head at the idea.

"No, definitely not," JongWoon replied hurriedly. "Though I thought you'd have watched that before?" Oh well, he was blaming anything he said on the alcohol. 

HyungJoon flushed and took another shot, despite there not being a kissing scene. "That's besides the point," he whined, once he'd swallowed the shot. "I wouldn't watch something like that with you, or anyone else for that matter."

"Glad we got that cleared up," the older man shuddered. "That's one thing we can definitely skip out on watching." He chuckled a little at a funny scene on screen, curling up a little more and rolling the bottle between his fingers. 

"Yeah," HyungJoon nodded, swallowing a little. Although that just made more questions pop up in his head that he really didn't need the answers to. But the alcohol was already getting to him. "So, uh... you watch porn too then? I uhh.. I didn't really think you did."

JongWoon turned bright pink. "W-who said I did?" he whined, already regretting bringing it up. He took another swallow of the drink. "I was just saying, I thought you did, so why were you hiding behind me at a kissing scene?" 

"Because!" HyungJoon flailed, taking another shot as well. "It.. it's a little awkward, because they're kissing and it makes me think of when we kissed and then.." HyungJoon's eyes went wide and quickly turned away, taking a very long drink from the bottle.

Choking, JongWoon stared at HyungJoon in horror. He was still thinking about that? After wishing so desperately HyungJoon wouldn't remember that part of the night, it was the one thing HyungJoon seemed able to focus on. "A-and then?" He whined, looking back to the movie which seemed a very good distraction from the conversation right now, taking another shot. The whole idea of taking a shot every kissing scene seemed to be void now, they were almost done their bottles. 

Whimpering, HyungJoon gave JongWoon a pained look as he took another shot. He really didn't want to say it, and now wanted to beat himself over the head with the bottle for even mentioning something about it. "Um.. I... was just... was thinking... about... the kiss.. and kissing you again.." HyungJoon flailed and covered his face with his hand and wished he could just fall into a black hole right about then.

The older man really did choke that time, the alcohol going the wrong way and he doubled over, coughing helplessly. Whatever he had been expecting, it hadn't been that. _Again_?

"I-I think I need another drink," he stuttered, getting up; his bottle was empty. Staggering to the fridge, he pulled it open again and searched through it, hoping the chill would get rid of the flush in his face. HyungJoon was thinking about kissing him again. He was also drunk. This had definitely been a bad idea. 

"Me too," HyungJoon pouted, seeing as his bottle was empty. Hugging his knees to his chest, he continued to watch the movie, finding it even more awkward now even though nothing bad was happening now. How did things get so _weird_ between them? "You... you really don't remember the kiss?" he asked, chewing on his lip and trying not to look at him.

"No," JongWoon lied again, pulled out one bottle each before closing the fridge. He wove slightly on his feet as he headed back to the bed, disorientated by standing so suddenly. Passing HyungJoon his bottle, he curled up on the bed again. If HyungJoon kept asking questions like this, he didn't know what he was going to do. "We were both completely drunk, it's expected not to remember..." 

"That just makes it worse," HyungJoon sighed, taking the bottle and opening it to take another long drink. "I mean, it would be better if I didn't remember it too, but I do, so it's been kind of weird you know?" he said, his words slightly slurred. "I just don't want to remember because it was _nice_ , even though you think it would have been gross, but it wasn't."

JongWoon looked at HyungJoon helplessly. "It _should_ have been gross," he whined, head spinning a little. They should stop talking about this, right now, but the alcohol was making him say funny things, the movie completely forgotten. "We're _friends_ Joon, it's not supposed to be nice." 

"But why does it have to be gross? You're a good looking guy, and friends or not, a good kisser is still a good kisser," HyungJoon said, taking another drink. He was pretty drunk at this point, and flushed more from drink than embarrassment.

"Because if it's gross, then it won't be weird," JongWoon muttered, sinking lower in his seat as he stared at his bottle after taking another long drink. The back of his eyes started to burn. "If it's weird, then we might stop being friends, and I don't want that, I don't want to be attracted to you if that's what happens." 

HyungJoon blinked and looked over at JongWoon. The movie was forgotten at this point. Something didn't sit right with the way he said that. "JongWoon, are you attracted to me?" he asked.

Eyes widening slightly, JongWoon started to shake his head, but the movement didn't help the dizziness sneaking up on him. Maybe he should stop drinking. "No. Yes. I shouldn't be. It's wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong." He shut his eyes tightly, resting the cool bottle against his forehead. 

HyungJoon squirmed a little uncomfortably and looked down at the bottle in his hand. "It _should_ be wrong," he said quietly, picking at the label. "But, I'm attracted to you too." There, he said it, it was out, and maybe JongWoon saying it first helped, but he felt better.

JongWoon's eyes opened and he stared at the younger man, caught off-guard by that. "You...what?" He asked, not sure what to make of that. HyungJoon was attracted to him? 

"Er.. I like you," HyungJoon whimpered, shifting a little bit away from JongWoon. That didn't seem like a good response. "Um.. we should just watch the movie," he said, trying to take the attention off of him and his stupid confession.

Honestly, JongWoon didn't care about the movie, watching HyungJoon with wide eyes. Okay, they were both far too drunk for this, but part of being far too drunk was not realizing they were.

"Did...were you really thinking about...kissing again?" he asked, husky voice softer than usual. 

Turning slowly, HyungJoon swallowed roughly and nodded. "Um... yeah?" He barely remembered the first kiss, but it had been nice. "We.. we don't have to talk about it though, if you really don't want to, I understand."

JongWoon didn't seem to hear the rest of HyungJoon's sentence, scooting a little closer. "Did you...want to?" he asked, swallowing a little. 

Squeaking when JongWoon got closer, HyungJoon looked at him wide eyed, unconsciously licking his lips. "Uh.. do you?"

The slight peek of HyungJoon's tongue was extremely distracting, the older man looking at him helplessly. He couldn't answer verbally, because he had already leaned in without realizing it, and his lips ghosted a little over HyungJoon's hesitantly. 

Far too drunk to really protest, HyungJoon found himself leaning into the kiss, pressing their lips more firmly together. Just as he remembered, JongWoon's lips were very soft. The little voice in the back of his head warning that this was a bad idea was quickly quieted, stuffed in a box and locked away for the time being.

JongWoon was in no condition to say no either, taking in the younger man's taste as he shifted a little closer. He had been lying completely when he said HyungJoon was a gross kisser. Lifting one hand, he cupped HyungJoon's cheek lightly, before his hand slid back to hook one arm loosely around the other man's neck, tilting his head to one side. 

Sighing softly, HyungJoon's eyes slipped close as he continued the kiss. His arm wrapped around the other man's waist, hand pressed against his back. After a few moments of the soft slow kiss, he let it draw to a close and pulled back, to look into JongWoon's eyes, trying to gauge his reaction.

Drawing in a slow breath, JongWoon's eyes opened again, cheeks flushed from something other than alcohol. He couldn't help but lick his lips a little, liking the taste.

"...Not gross at all," he murmured, meeting HyungJoon's eyes. The room was silent; the movie over. 

HyungJoon shook his head. "No, I didn't think so the first time," he whispered, looking over JongWoon's features before moving in for another kiss. The hand at JongWoon's back pulled the man closer, and they were laying down on the bed without him really realizing it. Head tilted, his lips parted to deepen the kiss.

There was no protest to the switch in position, the arm around HyungJoon's neck shifting to twine small fingers into locks of hair. JongWoon parted his lips as well, made bolder by the alcohol he could also taste in HyunJoong's mouth as their tongues met. A low moan slipped out of his throat before he could stop it. 

Emboldened by the sound from JongWoon, HyungJoon rolled them slightly so he was half on top of the other man. The hand that had been on his back had slid slowly down his side to trace at the sliver of skin at his waist.

JongWoon gave a choked gasp at the brush of HyungJoon's fingers against his skin, arching up against the younger man a little. Running one hand down HyungJoon's back, he arched up again and moaned loudly at their bodies rubbing together. 

Whimpering when JongWoon brushed against him, HyungJoon slid his knee in between the man's legs, pressing lightly against him. The kiss was growing more heated, HyungJoon had to break off to duck his head down and nip lightly at JongWoon's neck, to try and catch his breath a little.

"J-Joon," JongWoon choked, unable to stop himself from pushing himself up against the other man's knee. Head tilted back to let HyungJoon have access to his neck, he tried to pull HyungJoon down more, hand sliding under his shirt to press against his bare back. 

A part of him was a little unsure of what they were doing, figuring it was likely the alcohol that had got them to this point in the first place. Breath hitching in his throat at the fingers on his back, HyungJoon had to pull back completely and look down at JongWoon, panting. "This... this is okay? You want this?" he whispered, wanting to make sure he wasn't pressuring JongWoon into anything.

Chest heaving up and down as he tried to breathe, JongWoon opened his eyes and looked up at HyungJoon, a little dazed. It was probably a very bad idea to continue this, but he didn't want to stop. He didn't care if it was only because of the alcohol, he had wanted something like this for too long.

"I want this," he whispered, wrapping his arm around HyungJoon's neck. "You?" 

HyungJoon stared down at him for a long moment before he nodded slowly. "Yeah," he replied a little breathlessly. He hadn't realized just how much he had wanted it until now, but the awkwardness was gone and now he just wanted to feel. Leaning down again, he smashed their lips together a little more forcefully than before, his hand sliding up JongWoon's shirt to splay across his belly.

JongWoon's lips parted in a shaky breath as he arched up against the hand, moaning when he pushed himself against HyungJoon's knee again. The hand under HyungJoon's shirt was pushing the material up, trying to tug it off completely as he sucked on HyungJoon's lower lip and tongue. 

Moaning softly, HyungJoon didn't want to break away from JongWoon's mouth because of what he was doing, but had to, to pull the shirt up and off, tossing it to the floor. Ducking down, he pushed up on JongWoon's shirt, pressing a kiss to the man's belly and then chest as he helped JongWoon relieve himself of his own shirt. Once that was done, he returned to the kiss, gasping at how their chests felt pressed against each other.

The touch of skin was driving JongWoon crazy, pressing up against him and making low noises in the back of his throat. His hands wandered, one pressing down on HyungJoon's back and the other running down over his jeans, pressing into the back of HyungJoon's thigh. Barely able to get the other man's name out into the kiss, JongWoon rolled his hips up against HyungJoon's. 

A low keening noise made it's way out of HyungJoon's throat at the friction of their hips rubbing together. Deepening the kiss further, his hands slid down JongWoon's sides to dip into the waistline of his pants, fingers pressing into the skin of his thighs. After a few more moments of that, it was starting to be too much for HyungJoon, he needed more.

Pulling away from the kiss, he nipped lightly at JongWoon's throat and shoulders as his hands worked their way around to the button of the man's pants. Slowly undoing them, he pushed down on JongWoon's pants until he had to sit back and pull them off completely.

Squirming at the press of fingers against his thighs, JongWoon helped HyungJoon by kicking off his pants. All thoughts of how they shouldn't be doing this were long gone, as was the idea that he'd never done this before. Sitting up, the older man panted a little against HyungJoon's mouth as he fumbled with the other's button and zipper, pressing into the material as he tried to get it off. 

Breath catching in his throat, HyungJoon whimpered when JongWoon's hands pressed into him. His fingers fumbled to help get the pants undone and pushed off. Having to shuffle back and forth on his knees a bit until the were off, his attention returned to JongWoon, hands sliding over his thighs and hooking at his knees to tip them back down onto the bed. "How long has it been?" he whispered in between kisses, wrapping the man's legs around his waist. He didn't want to hurt his friend by going too fast.

Letting his back hit the mattress, JongWoon returned the kisses enthusiastically as he wrapped his legs a little clumsily around HyungJoon's waist, following the younger man's guidance. "It..." He was having trouble forming sentences, the skin-to-skin contact overloading his senses, but he should probably let HyungJoon know. "I've...never..." He got his eyes open again after a moment, looking into HyungJoon's. "This is my first time." 

HyungJoon blinked down at him, almost stopping right there. This probably wasn't how JongWoon had expected his first time to go, and HyungJoon felt a little guilty about that. But JongWoon had said he was sure, and based on how the older man was looking at him, that answer hadn't changed. He considered switching, but JongWoon seemed okay with how they were. Nodding a little dumbly, HyungJoon leaned down to give JongWoon another kiss. "Okay... just relax," he whispered, knowing this was going to hurt.

JongWoon nodded, taking deep breaths. "I trust you, Joon," he murmured, returning the kiss softly. There was nothing that could be done about the pain, he would have to deal with it. He couldn't tell HyungJoon, but he was secretly glad he was doing this with the younger man. Tilting his head to one side, he deepened the kiss, letting that distract him from what was going to happen. 

Continuing the kiss, HyungJoon took it as slow as he could. He took his cues from the older man, waiting to move only when he was sure it would cause the least amount of pain. He knew what it felt like, and looked on in sympathy. Running a hand up and down the man's sides to help distract him, HyungJoon moaned softly into the kiss, the pace increased, and it wasn't long before he had to break away from JongWoon's lips.

Breathing ragged, he stared down into JongWoon's eyes, the man's arms still tight around his neck. He wasn't sure if it was the alcohol, or that he was finally doing this with the older man, but this had never felt as good as it did at that moment. "JongWoon..." he gasped when his limit was reached and body shuddered to an end. It hadn't lasted long, but that probably would be a good thing for the older man. Panting harshly, he continued to stared down at JongWoon before leaning in for a slow, tired kiss.

Dazed, JongWoon returned the kiss after a moment, slowly loosening his grip on HyungJoon's neck. His entire body hurt, but it was an okay hurt, one he could handle, and was nothing compared to what had just happened, his cry of the other man's name echoing in his head.

"Wow," he breathed into the kiss, breaking it after a moment to look up at the younger man. 

"Yeah..." HyungJoon breathed, his lips quirking slightly as he slid over to curl up next to JongWoon. "You okay?" he asked, wrapping his arms around the other man.

"A little sore, but it's fine," JongWoon whispered, shifting a little onto his side and wincing as he snuggled close to HyungJoon. Now that it was over, he wasn't sure what to say or do, opting to just kiss HyungJoon's forehead and hug him close under the blankets. He was tired, starting to nod off. 

"Okay," HyungJoon smiled shakily, burrowing his nose into JongWoon's neck and closing his eyes. Now that he had time to stop and think about it, HyungJoon was panicking slightly. He'd just had sex with his best friend, and enjoyed it. He didn't know how they would act in the morning, or what this really meant for the two of them. Would JongWoon expect some kind of relationship now? Did HyungJoon want a relationship? 

Those were questions he hadn't even thought of since the kiss, but now that they had just been together, he didn't know what to do. Closing his eyes and sighing softly, he wished they could just stay like this, and not have to wake up and face the reality of their situation in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

The hatch to the bridge cracked open silently. JungMin poked his head in, grinning when he saw only KyuJong, the pilot lost staring into space again.

For lack of anything better to do, he snuck up behind the older man, bending over slightly to blow on the back of his ear. 

The hot air on his ear made KyuJong bolt upright, shrieking as he flailed and turned around. Staring wide eyed up at JungMin, panting slightly, he smacked the redhead on the arm. "What the hell was that for?" he snapped. "And what are you doing up here anyway? You're not supposed to be here."

Laughing loudly, JungMin smirked at the pilot, amused despite the hit. "I was bored, and you have the best reactions. Watching Tweedledee and Tweedledum trip all over each other is only amusing for a few hours at a time." He crouched down, resting his folded arms and chin on KyuJong's knee and looking up at him, completely ignoring that he wasn't supposed to be in the bridge. 

Rubbing at his forehead and waiting for his heart to calm, KyuJong scowled down at JungMin. "If the Captain catches you up here, we're both dead," he said with a frown.

"He won't," JungMin smiled innocently up at KyuJong. "He's asleep on his desk, I checked. And like the nice person I am, I decided to come up here and keep you company." 

"Nice?" KyuJong raised an eyebrow at that. He glanced over his shoulder towards the closed hatch, reaching out blindly on the console to the locks and making sure the door was locked. "I'm on duty right now," he said quietly, looking back down at the redhead.

"Mhm. Procedure might have changed since the last time I was on a ship and _not_ in deep sleep, but staring out of a window in a trance isn't a very dutiful activity." JungMin's long fingers idly caressed the inside of KyuJong's leg just above his knee. 

Squirming slightly in the seat, KyuJong pursed his lips. "There isn't anything else to do up here, and I like looking out at the stars," he said, making no real effort to stop JungMin from what he was doing.

"I'm not stopping you from looking out at the stars," JungMin smirked, fingers traveling higher. "I'm just here to offer something else to do at the same time." 

KyuJong's eyes were watching JungMin's fingers as they made their way up. "What did you have in mind? The bridge isn't really the most comfortable place you know," he said, his eyes fluttering when JungMin's hand got a little higher.

"I can see that," the redhead chuckled, watching KyuJong's expression. "You seem comfortable enough in that chair." The hand that wasn't between KyuJong's legs reached up to play with a lock of brown hair. 

"I am," KyuJong said, bringing his gaze to JungMin's, wetting his lips nervously. "But you can't be, on the floor there."

Smirk playing on his lips, JungMin rose to his feet slowly, never moving his hand. "Where do you think I should be, then?" he leaned over to murmur in KyuJong's ear, standing with his legs on either side of KyuJong's knees as he pressed a little harder with his hand. 

KyuJong's breath caught in his throat and couldn't help how his hips arched up into the hand. "You can have my chair if you want," he said softly.

"You'll have to move then," JungMin chuckled, blowing lightly on KyuJong's ear as he backed up a little to allow that. "You'll also need to lose this." His thumb flicked the zipper to KyuJong's pants. 

"Are you giving me orders now?" KyuJong smirked, standing up slowly and stepping out of the way for JungMin to take the chair. That didn't mean he didn't comply, slowly unbuttoning his pants and pushing them down.

"Someone has to give the orders, unless you decide to," JungMin laughed lowly. His own pants had already been undone, taking a seat in the chair and reaching out to bring KyuJong closer. 

KyuJong didn't say anything to that, but took JungMin's hand and crawled into his lap once his pants and boxers were off. Shivering slightly, he wrapped his arms around JungMin's neck and leaned in, pressing his lips against the other man's neck.

Tilting his head to one side, JungMin nipped KyuJong's ear lightly, his hands going down to the older man's hips and fingers pressing lightly into the soft skin as he brought him down.

It was a good thing the bridge was pretty soundproof, low moans and cries escaping the pair. Starting off slow to get used to the different position, the pace quickly increased, JungMin assisting by pushing his hips upwards and holding on to the armrests.

Some time later they both cried out, JungMin biting down on KyuJong's exposed shoulder before relaxing against the back of the chair, KyuJong slumped against him. 

Attempting to catch is breath, KyuJong pushed weakly against JungMin's chest as he tried to sit up. He winced slightly, looking down at JungMin before climbing off his lap. "I hope that cured your boredom for the time being," he said quietly, pulling his pants back on.

"It did," JungMin chuckled, watching the older man for a moment before doing up his own pants. "Did it cure yours?" He stood up after a moment, straightening out his clothes. 

Looking back at him, KyuJong smirked. "I wasn't bored," he said, smoothing down his shirt. Leaning against the console with his arms crossed, he waited for JungMin to move out of the way so he could retake his seat. "I know it seems strange to everyone, but I'm not bored when I look out the window."

"Huh. What do you see out there?" JungMin stepped out of the way, looking out the window at the stars. 

Retaking his seat, KyuJong shrugged as he settled back in. "Just the stars. They're so beautiful, and inviting. I never want to leave this view," he said, smiling softly.

Looking out the window for a while longer, expression unreadable, JungMin shrugged after a moment. "To each their own I guess." He leaned against a console, careful not to hit any buttons. "What now?" 

KyuJong looked up at him slowly, shaking his head. "I don't know. I'm still on duty for the next hour. I'd say you could hang out here, but the Captain might wake up from his nap at any time. Where's YoungSaeng?"

"Asleep," JungMin shrugged again. "There's nothing to do anywhere," he pouted. "And training isn't until later. We're going over some attacks today." He stretched out his arms. "How long before we reach the border?" 

"If we maintain our current speed, another two days," KyuJong said, glancing over at navigation to confirm. Sighing, he leaned back in his chair and rubbed at his forehead. "Honestly, how long you think we'll be able to survive out there?"

JungMin looked down at the older man, head tilted to one side. "Depends on what we do. If we just putt around and live off of the supplies here, on rations, several months? If nothing happens. If we're smart about it, and search around for hospitable planets and other colonies, much longer. It's not that there's no one out there, it's that the majority of them aren't friendly." 

"We don't really know what to expect," KyuJong said, resting his elbows on the armrests. "The government tells us there's nothing out there but pirates and hostile races who would kill you as soon as look at you. Leaving controlled space isn't exactly encouraged. The only people who go across the border are military, or foolish colonists trying to break away from the Federation." He looked up at JungMin, smiling sadly. "We're kind of at your's and YoungSaeng's mercy when it comes to navigating through unclaimed space."

"The government tells you what they want you to hear," JungMin rolled his eyes. Clenching his jaw slightly, he was obviously restraining himself from saying something, before shaking his head. "Just do what we tell you to do, and you'll be fine." He clapped one hand on KyuJong's shoulder. 

Flinching slightly at the hand on his shoulder, KyuJong nodded and looked away. That was little comfort to him, since he was sure they were all going to end up dead a week into unclaimed space anyway. "You should go, before the Captain catches you." He glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "If you're still bored in an hour, I'll be in my quarters."

Frowning slightly at the flinch, JungMin looked down at him for a moment before nodding. "Gotcha, have fun watching the stars." He headed towards the hatch with a wave, disappearing out into the hallway.

Humming to himself, the redhead walked back down to the crew deck, and his room with YoungSaeng. Maybe the older man was awake by now. Opening the door, he poked his head in. 

Still curled up in bed, YoungSaeng cracked one eye open when he heard the door. Seeing it was JungMin he closed his eye again and burrowed down further. "Where did you go?" he asked softly.

"To visit the bridge," JungMin grinned, closing the door behind him and walking over. He crouched beside the bed, pouting at him. "How are you feeling?" 

"Better," YoungSaeng murmured, opening his eyes again to look at JungMin with a wry expression. "Do I need to ask if the pilot appreciated your visit?" he asked, reaching out a hand to tug JungMin up onto the bed.

"He better have," JungMin sniffed, letting YoungSaeng pull him onto the bed. "How's the burn?" He pulled down the covers so he could check, rolling up the older man's shirt. 

Rolling over onto his back, YoungSaeng let JungMin check over where the burn had been. All that was left was a faint scar and bruise, but was otherwise healed. "It doesn't hurt anymore at least," he said, looking up at JungMin with a smile. "I don't think the Captain will be coming to see me any time soon though, he'll think I'm still recovering. Unless he gets really desperate."

Quirking a smile when he saw the burn was just about gone, JungMin kissed YoungSaeng's belly before rolling his shirt back down. "His loss." He flopped down onto the bed beside YoungSaeng. "We're two days away from the border too, it's a good thing you're just about healed." 

"Yes, although I shouldn't have got injured in the first place," YoungSaeng sighed, closing his eyes. "Any thoughts on where we should head first? It's been a while, who knows how alliances have changed."

"Well, we have to start somewhere," JungMin shrugged. "It's a little different considering we're not with the military anymore too, we're going to have to be careful who we meet. Do you think that tiny gossip hole they called an outpost is still running, or would pirates have blown it up by now?" 

"Pirates and mercs used it just as much as the rest of us," YoungSaeng said. "It wasn't faction aligned, so I don't see why they would have. We can try there first, if not, there's the trader station in the next system." He turned his head to look over at him, lips pursed. "There may be some contacts that don't hate us, we can try and get a hold of a few."

JungMin nodded, resting his head in his arms. "That would be a good idea." He gave a wide grin. "I would love to get in contact with some of the wackier ones, just to scare the living daylights out of our sheltered civilian crewmates. But I guess it's more-or-less whoever we happen to run into, communications can't go far out there." 

YoungSaeng chuckled, shaking his head a bit as he scooted a little closer, resting his cheek against JungMin's elbow. "I don't think I'll ever understand the delight you get out of scaring people. You've got the engineer shaking if you so much as breathe on him."

"Yah, it keeps him on his toes, which is what he needs if he's gonna survive out here," JungMin pouted at the older man. "There's a method to my madness. Sometimes. The rest of the times it's just far too fun to watch him run so fast there's a cloud of dust behind him." 

Rolling his eyes, YoungSaeng looked up at the bulkhead above them, lost in thought. "The pilot and Captain seem to be getting along better, or at least are willing to speak to each other now. I'm still curious about what happened there if what you said was true about the pilot having feelings for the Captain."

"It was an educated guess, he was all out-of-sorts after finding out the Captain was sleeping with you," JungMin wrinkled his nose. "I'm curious too, but KyuJong doesn't seem so thrilled to share information with me." 

"He seems more willing to talk than the Captain," YoungSaeng snorted. "I'm sure if you work at it enough, the pilot will open up more to you. Maybe you haven't noticed, but you're the only one who's spending time with him lately. I can't figure out what's going on with the other two, but they seem more attached at the hip than usual."

"Is that even possible? They were practically siamese twins to begin with," JungMin rolled his eyes. "I'm not concerned about them for anything other than practice. Hopefully they'll trip any pirates up as often as they trip each other." 

"Maybe," YoungSaeng smiled to himself and closed his eyes again. "But what happens when you get bored of the pilot? There's only so many people on the ship."

"Not that insatiable," the redhead sniffed, pouting at the older man. "I'm having my fun tormenting the engineer, I'm not about to ruin it by trying to seduce him." 

YoungSaeng had to laugh at that. "Now there's a mental image I didn't need," he said, wincing slightly, the laugh pulling on his injury. "Your idea of seducing leaves much to be desired, JungMin. He would probably think you were trying to kill him."

"Yah, I got you didn't I?" JungMin nudged YoungSaeng's shoulder. "I must be doing something right. And of course he would think I'm trying to kill him, if I've been spending the last couple weeks torturing him." 

"You got me?" YoungSaeng laughed, looking over at him with an incredulous look. "No, Min, I got you. I just let you think it was all you."

"...I'm not talking to you," JungMin sniffed, turning his head the other way. 

"That's fine, maybe now I can get some sleep," YoungSaeng yawned, rolling over onto his good side and cuddling up against JungMin.

JungMin grumbled to himself, but shifted so that they'd be more comfortable anyways, draping one arm around YoungSaeng's shoulders. 

"If you're going out again later, try not to wake me up," YoungSaeng murmured, resting his cheek on JungMin's chest and slowly drifting back to sleep. 

"A little hard if you're on top of me," JungMin muttered, but didn't move the older man at all, propping his head on one hand so he could watch YoungSaeng sleep. 

*************************

"We almost there?" HyungJoon asked nervously for about the eighth time, hovering annoyingly at KyuJong's shoulder.

"No, go away," KyuJong said irritably, trying to focus on the sensors and not on the engineer who was shuffling behind him. "I can't concentrate with you dancing behind me, don't you have anything better to do?"

"No." HyungJoon shook his head, regretting it when KyuJong turned around and started hitting him. Yelping, HyungJoon tried to fend off the attacks and back up. "Captain! Tell him to stop!"

"You earned that one yourself," HyunJoong chuckled, not even looking over from his own terminals. "Relax, whether we get through or not doesn't change with you bouncing around giving everyone a headache. JongWoon, can you bring him somewhere else?"

"But it's fun to watch," JongWoon blinked, grinning. He was just as nervous though, fidgeting in his seat. 

Pouting at his friend, HyungJoon went to sit down next to him, out of range of KyuJong's hits. Taking JongWoon's hand in his own, he squirmed in his seat.

KyuJong threw them both a glare over his shoulder as he returned to watching the sensors. They had been trying to find a hole in the patrols along the border for the past day, but they weren't having much luck. "We may just have to go up to the border and let them check us," he sighed, looking over to HyunJoong. "We've been at this all day but I can't find a place to slip in."

The Captain slowly nodded. Making a run for it would just result in being chased down; they couldn't outrun a patrol ship. "Okay, then we're going to need to figure out a story," he sighed, turning around in his chair to look at the others. "We should say we're bringing supplies to an exploration colony."

"I don't know of any colonies though," JongWoon blinked, chewing on his lip worriedly. 

"Me either," HyungJoon shook his head, eyes wide.

"We may not, but JungMin and YoungSaeng might," KyuJong said, frowning lightly. "They might be our only option right now."

"We should ask them then," HyunJoong nodded. After a moment he sighed. "Guess if we're going to be entering unclaimed space, we're going to have to let them into the bridge from now on." He flicked on the overhead comm. "JungMin, YoungSaeng, please come up to the bridge." 

"That doesn't mean by themselves, or when myself or the Captain aren't here," KyuJong said, glancing over at JongWoon and HyungJoon. The latter withered under the look.

" _We'll be right there_ ," YoungSaeng's voice came over the coms, sounding a little amused.

JongWoon scooted closer to HyungJoon, watching outside the window nervously. "So, where are we going once we're out?" he asked quietly. "There's nothing out there."

"We're going to have to plot out a course with YoungSaeng and JungMin, they hinted they know of a place where we can go," HyunJoong replied, tapping on the terminal lightly. 

"I got the impression after talking to JungMin that there's more out there than the Federation wanted us to know," KyuJong said, back to looking at the sensors to find an appropriate approach.

"Why wouldn't they want people to know?" HyungJoon blinked, looking between the Captain and KyuJong.

"Probably to keep as many people from leaving as possible?" KyuJong shrugged. He didn't understand why either really, he had liked the government for the most part. It just made him wonder, now that they were leaving, how different his perception would be later.

"You ever wonder if there are other governments out there?" JongWoon asked, leaning forward. "I mean, what happened to all those colonists that rebelled and left? Did they all die?"

"Well, guess we're going to find out," HyunJoong murmured. But if there were other people out there, maybe this wasn't so bad as it seemed. He would hold on to that faint hope. 

"Fed can't be the only ones, space is too huge," HyungJoon said, leaning closer to JongWoon. "Doesn't mean it's not going to be different out there."

"I'm sure there will be plenty of new things out there," KyuJong chuckled, starting their approach. It would take a few minutes to get there. Having turned on the external communications before they arrived, he sent out a call to the nearest ship, warning of their approach.

The hatch to the bridge opened, and YoungSaeng peered in before stepping into the room with JungMin behind him. It wasn't that big of a bridge, but they weren't too cramped with all six of them there. "You wanted to see us?" YoungSaeng asked HyunJoong softly.

HyunJoong nodded, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "There's no way for us to slip across the border without a patrol ship seeing. So we're going to have to do a bit of bluffing to get through." He looked at them both. "We're going to say we're bringing supplies to one of the colonies." It was the best excuse, since they were a cargo ship. "The only problem is, none of us have been outside the border before, and we don't know the names of any of the colonies."

JungMin's lips pursed, head tilted to one side. "We know a few. There's....Gemini Eight, that one's far enough away, right?" He looked to YoungSaeng. 

"Yes, there's also a few colonies on Persus," YoungSaeng nodded. "It would be good to say there's a few stops to make. If the colony we say we're heading to has been destroyed, we'll be turned away from the border."

"Are they going to want to see a flight plan?" KyuJong blinked, looking over at them. That was standard when flying in controlled space. The Federation wanted to know where you were going at all times.

"No," YoungSaeng chuckled, shaking his head. "Flight plans are useless out here and they know that. Even if we did have one it would be ignored a week in."

"Can you make me a list of the colonies then?" HyunJoong asked, sliding a paper and pen across to them. JungMin pulled it closer and picked up the pen, tongue peeping out of the corner of his mouth as he wrote down the names of the different colonies. "Three colonies should be good, right?"

HyunJoong nodded, glancing over at the terminal. "We went through the logs before to make sure there's nothing incriminating on them, so we should be clear there...JongWoon, you have the list of supplies, right?"

The negotiator nodded, leaning against HyungJoon. "Will we have to show them?"

"Probably not, but just in case, we should have it ready." 

"We're approaching the border," KyuJong said, a proximity warning going off next to him. "And we're being hailed."

Stiffening sightly, YoungSaeng looked to JungMin. "We shouldn't be seen. We've crossed the border enough times that someone might recognize us. Captain, we're going back to our room in case they want to do an inspection," he said, his tone firm.

"Understood," HyunJoong nodded, and JungMin followed YoungSaeng off the bridge.

Opening communications, HyunJoong looked up at the screen as the Captain of the patrol ship appeared. "Good day," HyunJoong greeted the other man normally.

The other Captain nodded curtly. "You have reached the border of Federation space. What is the reason for going further?"

"We're to make supply stops at three colonies," HyunJoong answered.

"Understood. Please send the names of the colonies through, and slow your engines for a routine inspection."

"Yes sir," HyunJoong nodded. 

The screen went black, the call severed on the patrol ships end. Rolling his eyes, KyuJong turned off the communications feed. Taking the paper with the names of the colonies from HyunJoong, KyuJong entered them into the communications console and sent them over to the other ship. Sliding back over to the controls, he powered down the engines, slowing to a crawl as they approached the patrol ship.

"We'll be docking with them in a moment, you may want to go greet our guests," KyuJong said, glancing at HyunJoong over his shoulder.

"What should we do Captain?" HyungJoon blinked, looking at HyunJoong, still holding on to JongWoon.

HyunJoong stood up, straightening his uniform. "HyungJoon, you should go to your post for now. JongWoon, I'll need you with me, if you think you can keep a good poker face."

"That's not happening," JongWoon whimpered, holding on to HyungJoon nervously.

Standing up and bringing JongWoon with him, HyungJoon mirrored the older man's nervousness, swallowing roughly. "Come on, we can go together," he said, following HyunJoong off the bridge. "Just let the Captain do all the talking. Don't let them get you alone," he warned, patting his friend on the arm.

KyuJong waited until they were off the bridge before finalizing the docking. The ship giving a light jerk as the two ships joined. Letting out a heavy sigh, he scooted over to the security console and brought up the feed near the airlock. This would hopefully go smoother than the last one did.

HyunJoong headed down to the airlock, making sure HyungJoon and JongWoon stayed right behind him. "If you need to leave, excuse yourself to check on the bridge," he told JongWoon quietly, the older man nodding as he drew in shaky breaths to calm down.

They reached the airlock a moment later, HyunJoong listening to make sure the ships were docked before going about procedures to open the door. There was a hiss of air leaving the ship before the door unlocked, HyunJoong opening it carefully to admit three officers. It was just a routine check, thankfully. 

Watching the officers start to comb through their inventory, KyuJong drummed his fingers on the console. Luckily they had gotten rid of the containers with the Federation seals on them at Tablo's, otherwise they would have had some explaining to do about them. He could see one of the officers was climbing up the stairs, likely coming to the bridge to check their logs. When he heard the hatch open, he got up and immediately stood to the side for the officer to sit and start poking through the logs and sensor data.

HyungJoon was trying not to fidget too much, watching the officer touching his equipment in engineering. He hated when anyone touched his engine, especially idiot officers who didn't know what they were doing. Luckily, it seemed the officer found nothing out of the ordinary and left without a word.

The inspection lasted close to an hour when the three officers were heading back towards the airlock. The senior of the three stopped in front of HyunJoong. "Everything looks in order, except we didn't find two of your registered crewmen. Why are they not at their stations?"

HyunJoong didn't miss a beat, thinking up the most likely excuse. "They caught a bug on our last stop, and have undergone quarantine procedures to prevent interaction with the rest of the crew until the sickness has run it's course," he answered calmly.

The officer considered that and nodded. "Very well. Keep in mind to alert the colony that two of your crew have been in quarantine once you arrive." HyunJoong nodded, and the three headed back through the airlock into the other ship. Once they were clear, HyunJoong closed the airlock and sealed it, JongWoon giving a sigh of relief and slumping against the wall a little. 

Once KyuJong saw the officers were through the air lock, he scooted back over to communications and put in the request to leave Federation space. It would take a while for the answer to come through, he disengaged from the military ship, moving them a good distance away. "Clear of the Fed ship," KyuJong said, hitting the shipwide coms. "JungMin, YoungSaeng, one of you needs to come to the bridge to give me coordinates for our next stop."

Relieved, HyungJoon scurried out of engineering to go find JongWoon. Finding him still at the airlock with the Captain. "Everything go okay I take it?" he asked, immediately attaching himself to the older man's arm.

JongWoon nodded, clinging to HyungJoon.

"It went well," HyunJoong nodded, drawing in a breath before smiling at them both. "Why don't you both take a break?" They looked nervous, something he felt as well. From now on, they were on their own.

"Thank you Captain," JongWoon sighed in relief, pulling HyungJoon away towards their rooms. 

Following JongWoon along, HyungJoon glanced over at his friend nervously as they reached the crew deck. "So, that's it then? We're on our own then?" he whimpered.

JongWoon swallowed, nodding. "I think so," he said shakily, drawing in a slow breath. "We'll be all right, Captain said we'd be fine," he whispered, looking back at HyungJoon. "We just have to be careful." 

HyungJoon nodded, but wasn't really comforted by that. They'd just have to see what happened, but they were relying a lot on two people who weren't giving them any clear answers. Stopping at his door, he opened it up and stepped in, pulling JongWoon with him. "Can we just hide out here for a while?"

"Sounds good to me," JongWoon nodded, sighing softly in relief to be out of the hallways. He pulled HyungJoon over to the bed, sitting down and massaging his temple lightly. "Do you think we'll ever be able to go back?" He asked softly, glancing at his best friend. 

"I dunno," HyungJoon shook his head, pulling off his shoes and hugging his knees to his chest. "How long would it take for something like this to blow over? Ever? I mean it's one thing to skip out on a regular shipment, but we kind of "stole" from the government. It could be a long time before they stop looking for us."

"I still don't get that," JongWoon sighed. "Why would they put people in containers and ship them around? Even assassins, this is too close to slave trafficking...why would they do something like that?" He rested his head on HyungJoon's shoulder, closing his eyes. "Something's not right about all this..." 

"I don't know," HyungJoon said, leaning his cheek against the top of JongWoon's, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "Nothing's made sense on this ship since we took that stupid job. They're still hiding something from us, something big."

"Do you think we'll ever find out what?" JongWoon murmured, shifting closer. "They can't keep hiding from us forever, we're putting our lives on the line for this...I don't know about you, but I at least want to know why we're out here." 

"Me too, and I don't think the Captain's going to take being kept in the dark like this forever," HyungJoon said, taking JongWoon's free hand and lacing their fingers together. "At least he seems in a bit better of a mood. I don't think I would have wanted to get through this with him constantly scowling at us."

"Can't really fault him, at least there's no JaeJoong in deep space," JongWoon joked feebly. He looked down at their hands, a slight pink coming to his cheeks. They'd never really talked about when they slept together, and he wasn't really sure what to think. Had it just been because they were drunk, watching people make out on screen, and started up the wrong train of conversation? 

HyungJoon shuddered. "Don't say that name, ever again," he grumbled, poking him lightly in the side. "Gives me the shivers just thinking about him. Chewing on his lip for a moment, he smiled and hugged JongWoon tighter. "I'm glad you didn't go with him."

JongWoon blinked, tilting his head up slightly to see HyungJoon's face. "Just because I used to be friends with him once upon a time doesn't mean I would follow him off a cliff," he chuckled, shifting slightly to hug HyungJoon back. "I wanted to stay here with you." 

Blushing a little at that, HyungJoon smiled, looking down at his friend. "JongWoon..." he started, bring up a hand to run through the man's hair. "I..."

He was cut off when the coms went off. " _We're out of Federation space_ ," KyuJong said, and the coms went silent again. HyungJoon sighed, his hand dropping onto JongWoon's leg. "Well, that's it then."

Blinking, JongWoon sighed softly as well. "We're out," he murmured. Turning his head to the side, he looked out the window at space. "Is it silly that I thought space would look different from this side of the border?" 

"...What did you think it would look like?" HyungJoon blinked at him. "White with black stars or something? Weirdo," he snorted, poking him again in the side.

Yelping, JongWoon sat up straight, pouting at him. "No, I just thought it would look slightly different, that's all!" He poked HyungJoon back. "Not completely inverted." 

"Space is space," HyungJoon said, sticking his tongue out at him and poking him again a little harder. "Only thing that's going to be different is no Fed patrols breathing down our necks and increase in people who want to kill us."

"Yeah," JongWoon deflated a little, before yelping at the poke. "I'm gonna use one of those holds on you if you don't stop that," he pretended to scowl at the younger man, batting at HyungJoon's hands. 

"Yeah just try it," HyungJoon snorted, trying to poke at him again, swatting at the hands that were in the way.

"I will!" JongWoon grabbed at HyungJoon's wrist, trying to pin him down, only it wasn't quite working considering they were sitting on a bed. 

Easily countering the weak hold, HyungJoon snagged both of JongWoon's wrists and rolled him over, pinning the older man down onto the bed. "Ha! Beat you!" he chirped triumphantly, beaming down at JongWoon as he hovered over him, straddling his waist.

Yelping, JongWoon whined in frustration. "No fair! You should stop complaining about training with JungMin, he's obviously doing something right. Lemme go!" He squirmed in an attempt to be free, arching up. 

"That mean you'd switch and let me train with YoungSaeng then?" HyungJoon asked. When JongWoon arched up, his hips rolled up against HyungJoon and he let out a strangled squeak. Panicking, he stared down at the older man with wide-eyes, frozen in place.

A choked noise escaped JongWoon at the same time, and he went still, staring up at HyungJoon with an equally stunned expression. Oops. He hadn't actually registered their position until now, but now that he did, flashes of when they'd slept together kept coming to mind and he felt his face heating up. "U-uh...Joon?" 

Blinking repeatedly, HyungJoon let go of JongWoon and scrambled off to the side, staring at the wall. "Er.. yeah?" he said, trying not to whimper. He was mentally kicking himself for not bringing the subject up earlier, since they really should have talked since that night.

Breathing a little easier once HyungJoon was off him, JongWoon slowly sat up, staring at the back of his head. He should ask, ask him just what this was. But he wasn't so sure if he would like the answer, not wanting to know it had just been the alcohol after all.

"...N-nothing," he muttered, drawing his legs up to his chest and burying his face against them to hide the blush. He wasn't a middle school girl for God's sake. "Uh...you're really good at those holds." 

"Thanks," HyungJoon mumbled sheepishly, squirming a little. "I think it was our extra practice more than JungMin though," he said, glancing back over at JongWoon. "So, what do you want to do now?" he asked, trying to ignore what he really wanted to do, which was crawl back up on top of his best friend and kiss him.

"So at least one of us is getting better," JongWoon muttered, not willing to look up just yet. "Uh....I don't know...anything that doesn't involve going back to work. You?" He peeked up at the younger man, trying to will the red in his face away. 

"Well.. there's really only one thing we can do if we're hiding in here for a while," HyungJoon said, chewing on his lip. Okay, two things, but he wasn't bringing the other one up. "We.. could.. watch a movie? Action movie, no comedy or anything," he quickly put in.

"Action movie sounds good," JongWoon nodded, though he knew he'd be thinking about HyungJoon anyways. Even finding the most bloodiest, goriest movie in the galaxy, there would still be one or two kissing scenes. It was unavoidable. "Where's your remote?" He unwound himself from the ball he'd tucked up into, looking around for it. 

Scooting back, HyungJoon picked up the remote off the side table and turned on the screen. Flicking through the movies, he settled on a movie they'd seen about a dozen times, but didn't remember any overly romantic subplot, but had a high body count. "I hope this is good enough," he mumbled, hitting the play button. Burrowing down into his blankets, he glanced over at JongWoon a few times as the opening credits started.

JongWoon shifted back to sit beside HyungJoon, leaving some space between them just to remove any temptation. "Yeah, I like this one," he murmured, despite the fact that in previous viewings he'd ended up practically crawling on top of HyungJoon to hide from the loud gunshots and sudden pop-ups.

No matter how often he'd seem the movie, the opening scene got him every single time. The _thud_ of a body hitting the ground and the face suddenly staring into the camera made him back up into the wall, hitting his head with a thump. 

Jumping at the thumping noise, HyungJoon looked over at JongWoon with wide eyes. "You okay?" he asked, scooting over closer to see if he was okay. "That sounded like it hurt."

"Yeah, just fine," JongWoon winced, rubbing the back of his head. "I hate the beginning." He drew his knees back up to his chest as he stared at the screen with wide eyes, trying not to pay too much attention to HyungJoon moving closer and failing. 

"Sorry," HyungJoon said sheepishly. He had forgot about the beginning and some of the other scenes that got to JongWoon. Settling back down, it was then he noticed just how close he had got to JongWoon, their arms brushing up against each other. Moving away now would be weird, and it shouldn't be weird because they'd always cuddled during movies before, so why would this be any different? Sighing, he put his arm around JongWoon's shoulder and pulled him closer. Things would only be weird if they let it be weird.

JongWoon knew this was a bad idea once again, but he was determined to act normal, letting HyungJoon pull him close.

**********************************14*********************************************

As the movie progressed, JongWoon gradually forgot about the awkwardness, distracted by the various fighting scenes. It didn't stop him from flinching back whenever something sudden happened, whining a little as he squirmed nervously.

Suddenly the silence in the movie was pierced with a loud shout, and a sudden flash of a knife, and JongWoon yelled as he practically jumped into HyungJoon's lap, startled. 

JongWoon wasn't the only one startled, and HyungJoon shrieked when the older man jumped into him. His arms immediately went about the other man, holding him close and looking at him with wide eyes. "Why you have to scare me like that?" he whined, resting his forehead on the other's shoulder to calm his frantically beating heart down.

"I'm sorry," JongWoon whined, attached to HyungJoon. "I'm never letting you choose the movie again." He said this every time HyungJoon picked this movie, knowing they'd be watching something scary again very soon. He stared at the screen in horror as the fighting scene continued, burrowing himself against the younger man. 

"Yeah, well, your choices in movies leave something to be desired too," HyungJoon grumbled, but held the man tighter. "Unless you want to go back to watching stupid comedies and their stupid romance and stupid kissing..." he trailed off.

"....No, I think I'm fine with this," JongWoon whined, successfully distracted from the violence by a very heated memory, face flushing again.

That lasted all of ten seconds before blood splattered all over the place and he buried his face in HyungJoon's stomach, curled up in a very awkward position against the other man. 

Even HyungJoon had to make a face at the scene, but was quickly distracted by JongWoon's face rubbing against his stomach. Breath hitching slightly, HyungJoon tried not to think about it, or how close JongWoon was to somewhere else that was very sensitive, and whined a little in frustration. Why couldn't he have just picked a boring drama?

JongWoon chose to remain in that position for a good part of the movie, lifting his head just enough to see the screen before hiding again the second the next fighting sequence started. Okay, that and he was actually pretty comfortable where he was, nose buried in HyungJoon's shirt.

"Is it over yet?" He mumbled into HyungJoon's stomach during a particularly long and violent scene. 

Cringing, HyungJoon was idly playing with JongWoon's hair, having found himself a little more relaxed when he started paying attention to the movie again. Looking down at his friend, he had to smile, but shook his head. "No, it's not over yet," he said with a laugh, running his hand through the soft hair. Scooting down a bit, he propped up his head with the pillows, draping his other arm over JongWoon's back as he went back to watching the movie.

A small whine was JongWoon's response, burying his face even more against HyungJoon's shirt and deciding he wasn't going to look up for the rest of the movie. Feeling HyungJoon shift around, he did the same to make himself more comfortable, half on his side on the bed and face smushed against HyungJoon's chest, one arm draped across the younger man's leg. 

So focused on the movie, HyungJoon was paying attention to what he was doing. The hand in JongWoon's hair and slid down to massage along the nape of the older man's neck, thumb gently stroking the skin just under his collar.

Flushing slightly at the hand against the back of his neck, JongWoon, slowly relaxed further, closing his eyes. It felt really good, he wasn't about to ask HyungJoon what he was doing. A soft noise of contentment left him, vibrating in his throat a little as he nuzzled against HyungJoon's shirt. 

Blinking a bit at the noise, HyungJoon looked down at his friend and belatedly realized what he was doing. His fingers paused, caught in hesitancy if he should continue. On the one hand, JongWoon seemed to be enjoying it, but on the other, he was giving him a massage.. but JongWoon was enjoying it. Swallowing a little roughly, he started the massaging back up again, his hand dipping a little lower.

The older man's closed eyelids fluttered slightly when HyungJoon continued, hand half under the back of his collar. There was nothing wrong with this, right? It was much better than watching the movie in his opinion. Burying his nose in HyungJoon's shirt and drawing in a slow breath, the noise of approval came back, a little louder as HyungJoon's fingers found a knot of tension between his shoulders. 

Frowning a little at feeling the knot, HyungJoon focused his fingers on that spot. "You're really tense," he said quietly. "You want a massage or something? Your neck's all stiff."

"You're giving me a massage now, aren't you?" JongWoon murmured happily, groaning a little as HyungJoon focused on that spot. It really wasn't his fault he was so tense, it came from getting in one awkward situation too many. 

"I mean a proper massage," HyungJoon rolled his eyes. "Here, sit up," he said, helping JongWoon to sit up as he scooted back against the wall. Pulling the older man back between his legs so he could massage his neck and back, working the tense spot with his thumbs.

"But you can’t see the movie like this, and I _can_ ," JongWoon protested, covering his eyes even as he leaned a little into the hands on his back. It felt really good. "Since when could you give massages," he murmured. 

"Don't complain," HyungJoon snorted, pinching him slightly on the shoulder. "Would you rather you lie down and I do it that way so you don't have to watch the movie?" he asked.

JongWoon squeaked at the pinch, swatting at his hand. "But will you be able to see the movie like that?" he squirmed a little at the sounds from the screen. 

"Yeah, your big head won't be in the way anymore," HyungJoon said, poking him in the side. "Lay down on your stomach. Um.. you can take off your shirt.. if it would help," he added, flushing a little and glad JongWoon wasn't facing towards him.

Blinking widely, JongWoon turned slightly pink. "U-uh…okay, sure." HyungJoon had seen him without a shirt before (without pants before too, but he wasn’t thinking about that), he shouldn’t be freaking out. He scooted a bit out of HyungJoon’s lap and pulled his shirt off before laying down on his stomach on the bed, burying his burning face in his shirt. Why did he let himself be pulled into these things? 

Now that JongWoon was lying down in front of him without his shirt, it finally hit HyungJoon how dangerous this was. What was he thinking suggesting JongWoon take off his shirt? Resisting the urge to just throw himself out the nearest airlock, he scooted up next to JongWoon's side, hesitantly putting his hands on the man's neck and shoulders. JongWoon had very nice soft skin. No, he wasn't thinking about that, or how warm he was, or the faint mark that was still on his shoulder from HyungJoon. Whining slightly to himself, he began to massage the man's neck.

Quivering a little and yelling at himself mentally, JongWoon gave a strangled noise against his shirt at the hand against his neck. Okay, stop flipping out, he berated himself. It was just a massage. He’d practically _molested_ HyungJoon in the past with how often he had to treat him for bruises, this was nothing.

Doing his best to relax, he slowly did, enjoying the press of fingers against his neck.

After the first few minutes of panicking and hesitancy, HyungJoon was able to relax as well. His fingers and thumbs sought out the worst knots in JongWoon's neck and worked them away with slow deep circles. The longer he did so, the more his hands slid down the man's back, finding more knots and easing them away. Without even really thinking about it, his hands were at the small of JongWoon's back, rubbing at the muscles around his spine just above the waistline of his pants. Seeing as the pants had bunched up a bit too far up, he pushed them down and started to go lower.

Having relaxed by then, JongWoon was enjoying the massage, making soft noises in his throat every now and then. HyungJoon was good at this, it was actually nice. He didn’t even protest as the younger man’s fingers went lower down his back.

But then he realized HyungJoon’s fingers were against the waistline of his pants, pushing his pants down slightly before continuing. Caught off-guard, JongWoon couldn’t suppress the strangled moan that spilled from his lips, breath quickening a little and not quite daring to look back at HyungJoon. What was he doing?

HyungJoon stopped, blinking at JongWoon's back for a moment. "Um.. I'm sorry.. you want me to stop?" he asked quietly, his fingers still pressed against JongWoon.

JongWoon swallowed thickly, mind racing. Should he make HyungJoon stop? Definitely. Did he _want_ HyungJoon to stop? No, not really.

"…N-no, it feels good," he mumbled into his shirt, mouth answering for him before he’d formed a conscious decision. Damn it all. 

"Okay," HyungJoon tried to smile, but it didn't work. "Hey, you know once I'm done with you, you have to give me one." His jaw dropped and if he hadn't started massaging JongWoon again he would have tried to cut out his own tongue.

JongWoon nearly squeaked at that. "U-uh…okay…? I-I’m not that good though," he whimpered, remembering the last time he’d seen HyungJoon without a shirt. The younger man was in very good shape too….no, not thinking about that. 

The more HyungJoon tried not to think about it, the more anxious he got and pulled his hands away, patting JongWoon's back lightly. "There, uh, I hope that was good enough," he said, squirming nervously. "You.. don't.. you don't have to give me a massage, I was just.. you know.."

The older man pushed himself onto his side so he could look back at HyungJoon, cheeks flushed. "Do you…want me to give you a massage?" He asked, sitting up after a moment. "It’s only fair." 

Trying hard to not look down at JongWoon's chest and keep focused on his friend's face, HyungJoon shrugged a little. "No, it's okay, we can just.. go back to watching the movie, I'm not as tense as you were," he said.

"You sure?" JongWoon asked, looking at him, lifting one hand before he could stop himself and rubbing at HyungJoon's shoulder. "You don't feel less tense," he frowned slightly. 

HyungJoon leaned into the hand despite himself, whimpering at how good that felt. Okay, he was tense, but only because JongWoon was sitting here in front of him without his shirt on and he'd just ran his hands all over the man's back. "Er... well, I guess it couldn't hurt," he managed to get out after a moment.

Nodding, JongWoon only realized he'd missed a perfectly good opportunity to stop the awkwardness after he'd pushed himself behind HyungJoon and tugged lightly on HyungJoon's shirt to get him to take it off. "Pay attention to your movie, you picked it," he muttered, bright red. 

Too distracted with protesting about the choice of movie, HyungJoon quickly took his shirt off and threw it to the side. "It was either this, or another movie that we haven't seen that would probably have kissing scenes in it and frankly I'm not sure I could take that right now."

JongWoon wasn't all that sure this was much better, but he bit his tongue on that, placing his hands on HyungJoon's shoulders and starting to massage slowly. Something about HyungJoon's statement struck him the wrong way; had what happened before disgusted HyungJoon, now that he was completely sober? 

HyungJoon couldn't help how he moaned softly at the feel of JongWoon's hands on his shoulder, his chin dropping to his chest. He tried not to concentrate too much on JongWoon's hands, because it only reminded him of when the older man was rubbing those hands over his chest and legs, and nope, not thinking about it. Trying to cover up for the fact that he was thinking of where he'd like those hands to go, he laughed softly. "Liar, you are too good at this."

"I am not," JongWoon pouted, burning red at the moan. "It's just cause I trained as a medic that I'm not breaking your back right now." He continued to work through the knotted muscles, rubbing in circles. 

"Whatever you say, but this feels nice," HyungJoon said, his shoulders slumping and relaxing completely. He'd stopped paying attention to the movie at this point, focused on how he really liked JongWoon's hands on him. Considering he was staring right down at his lap, he noticed how he _really_ enjoyed it.

Humming softly to himself to distract from the sounds of the movie, JongWoon worked his way down HyungJoon's back, doing his best to get rid of any spots of tension. HyungJoon had a really nice body...

No, no, wrong train of thought. JongWoon held back a groan of frustration, resting his forehead against HyungJoon's shoulder as he worked on the middle of the younger man's back. 

Trying not to tense up more when JongWoon leaned against him, HyungJoon took a slow deep breath and tried to think of anything other than the man's hot breath against his skin. It wasn't working, not when he knew JongWoon's lips were so close to touching him and he didn't even realize he was leaning more into him.

JongWoon only noticed HyungJoon was leaning back when his nose was pressed more into the younger man's soft skin, his lips lightly brushing HyungJoon's shoulder. He blinked and flushed all over again, pulling his head back with a stuttered sorry. "U-uh...how's this?" he murmured, hands having reached the small of HyungJoon's back. 

Nearly teetering over when JongWoon pulled back, HyungJoon blinked and nodded. "Uh.. fine.. it's fine," he said, risking a glance over his shoulder at JongWoon. "Would it help if I laid down?"

"Uh, you can if you want," JongWoon bit his lower lip, meeting HyungJoon's eyes for a moment and wetting his lips nervously. 

"Um.. okay," HyungJoon nodded and shifted around until he was laying flat on his belly. The position was a little uncomfortable for him, his hips squirming a little.

Watching him lie down, JongWoon couldn't help the way his eyes went lower at the squirming, and he was so glad the screen wasn't reflective because there was no way he could explain away staring at his best friend's ass. Biting back a whine, he shifted up to sit beside HyungJoon and restart the massage, trying to keep his mind on that only. 

From his new position, HyungJoon couldn't watch the movie, so was left with the sounds of more fighting, and his thoughts. The thoughts quickly won out and he was battling with himself to say something, but didn't know what to say. "So, did you want to watch another movie after this? This one's almost over."

JongWoon swallowed, thinking that another movie at this rate was a very bad idea, not until he'd gotten himself more under control. "I don't know...we should probably be getting back to our shifts, or something," he mumbled, working on the small of HyungJoon's back. 

"What about later?" HyungJoon asked, turning his head to look at him over his shoulder. "I mean, you are.. staying with me tonight, right?" he pouted a little. This whole business about going into unclaimed space was a little much for him to handle without being close to JongWoon.

About to say maybe they should just spend the night in their proper rooms, JongWoon stopped at the look HyungJoon gave him. He felt himself nod, replying "of course" before he could really think it through. "Don't we always stay with each other?" he sniffled, poking HyungJoon's side. 

"Well not always, but close enough," HyungJoon nodded, squeaking a little at the poke. He scowled and reached over to poke the man back. "Don't poke me."

"You poke me all the time," JongWoon huffed, poking him again. "I can do what I want." 

Rolling onto his side, HyungJoon wrinkled his nose and poked him again. "You seem to have forgotten that I can and will pin you if necessary."

"You try it and I'll kick you off the bed," JongWoon pursed his lips, poking HyungJoon on his exposed belly. 

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try," HyungJoon scoffed, sitting up more to poke JongWoon back.

"I will!" JongWoon drew his legs back to his chest, ready to kick as he leaned over to poke HyungJoon harder. 

"Uh huh," HyungJoon snorted, grabbing one of JongWoon's legs and tugging on him to drag him closer. Ignoring the flailing, he managed to get JongWoon by the wrists, pinning them down at his sides and sitting on his legs. "Now what?"

JongWoon shrieked, falling over onto his back as he was dragged closer. Struggling around, he managed to pull himself back up into a sitting position with upper body strength only, hair falling into his face and lips in a sullen pout as he glared at HyungJoon. "You're an evil dongsaeng." 

"Hey, you all but dared me to," HyungJoon grinned at him. The grin faltered slightly when he saw the pout, that bottom lip he had sucked on that tasted so good. Wetting his own lips, he looked at JongWoon, unsure what to do. He had the man pinned under him, and he looked so good. "JongWoon..." he whimpered a little.

JongWoon's eyes widened slightly as he noticed HyungJoon's gaze drop lower, to his mouth. His own gaze ended up doing the same when HyungJoon wet his lips, the older man swallowing thickly, mind panicking. This wasn't good, not at all. They hadn't even talked about what in the world that time had meant, if they were more than just friends now. And they couldn't even get through a movie without JongWoon wanting to tackle HyungJoon over and kiss him senseless.

What had happened to them?

A choked noise escaped JongWoon, seeing how close they were, before his control finally caved. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips against HyungJoon's hard. 

If HyungJoon had been surprised by that, he didn't show it by the way he wrapped both arms around JongWoon's neck. Returning the hard kiss, he twined his fingers into the man's hair with one hand, the other clinging to his shoulder. He groaned softly as their chests rubbed together. Whatever this was, he wasn't complaining right then.

JongWoon wrapped his arms around HyungJoon's waist, unable to move with the younger man sitting on his legs, but he didn't care. He tilted his head to one side, parting his lips to deepen the kiss, craving more. Everything else could wait. 

Taking the invitation, HyungJoon deepened the kiss, letting his tongue slide in to find the other man's. Shifting a bit, he settled his knees in between JongWoon's legs, running a hand down the his thigh as he lay JongWoon down onto his back.

A low moan left JongWoon as their tongues met, not protesting as he was laid down. His fingers pressed into HyungJoon's bare back, pulling him down as he arched up in an attempt to have more skin touching. HyungJoon tasted just like last time, minus the alcohol, and it was even better like this, wrestling with the tongue in his mouth. 

Encouraged by the moan, HyungJoon's hands slid over to start working on unbuttoning JongWoon's pants. Having to break off the heated kiss so he could concentrate, HyungJoon looked down at JongWoon, their faces inches from each other. "We should um.. talk about this.. later," he mumbled, finally getting the button and zipper undone, pushing down on the pants to get them off.

JongWoon panted a little, looking up at the younger man and nodding. "Later," he agreed, not wanting to think anymore. He'd driven himself crazy thinking. Pushing his hips up to help HyungJoon get his pants off, he gave a choked gasp when his hips ground against HyungJoon's. His fingers fell from HyungJoon's back to fumble with the other man's pants. 

Sitting back, HyungJoon tried to help, getting in the way more than anything until they were finally undone and he was pushing them down and off. Both laid bare, he fell back onto the older man with renewed fervor, hands wandering everywhere as he returned to the frantic, heated kiss.

Moaning into the kiss and pressing up into the other man's hands, JongWoon let his own explore his best friend's body. When he arched up again, he cried out at the friction, hips jerking up instinctively against HyungJoon's, repeating the motion again and moaning into HyungJoon's mouth. 

HyungJoon's arms were trembling, the feeling of them rubbing against each other short circuiting his brain. Not able to wait any longer, he slid his hands down to hook under JongWoon's knees and wrap the man's legs around his waist. He had to pull away from the kiss just long enough to look into JongWoon's eyes. "JongWoon..." he murmured softly, kissing him again before lowering down.

Maybe it had been the alcohol that fueled the passion before, but this time as HyungJoon moved, it was the look in JongWoon's eyes. He had worried that it was only because of the alcohol that JongWoon had wanted this. Seeing the look in his eyes now that they were both sober, it made it all the better. As the pace quickened, and JongWoon's legs were tightening around him, HyungJoon held JongWoon's gaze even as they both cried out at the end, bodies shuddering. Gasping for air, HyungJoon had to take a minute before he could move, lowering down onto JongWoon's chest.

Panting, JongWoon gave a soft noise as HyungJoon rested against him, arms wrapped loosely around the younger man's body, fingers lightly brushing over the marks he'd left with his nails on HyungJoon's back. It took a bit for his heart rate to calm down, just resting against the mattress and running his other hand through HyungJoon's short hair.

"That was amazing..." he murmured after a minute of just breathing. He cracked his eyes open, looking down at HyungJoon in his arms. 

HyungJoon nodded, tilting his head up to look up at JongWoon, his arms tightening slightly on the man's sides. "It was..." he said softly, kissing a spot on JongWoon's chest. "Do.. you want to talk about it?" he asked hesitantly.

Looking down at him, JongWoon slowly nodded after a moment. They would have to talk about it now. It wasn't just a drunk kiss, or even drunk sex...they were both completely aware of what they were doing this time. "What does this...make us?" he asked quietly, running his fingers through HyungJoon's hair. 

"I don't know," HyungJoon shook his head as he slowly slid over to curl up on his side against the older man. "I mean, we're best friends, and... and I like you, and that was probably the best sex I've ever had... but I don't know what to do now."

JongWoon scooted onto his side so he could keep his arms wrapped around the other man, burying his nose in HyungJoon's hair. "Neither do I," he whispered. He'd thought often about what it would be like to date HyungJoon, to have a _relationship_ with him, but now that he might actually have that chance, he wasn't sure.

"No matter what, I want to stay your best friend," he said softly against HyungJoon's hair. It was his greatest fear to lose that. 

"Agreed," HyungJoon nodded firmly, hugging him tighter. Losing JongWoon as a friend would crush him, and he never wanted it to get to that point. He didn't know what JongWoon's feelings were, and had never considered the possibility of being with his best friend, not until that kiss. Sure, he loved JongWoon, but enough to try for more? Taking a deep breath, HyungJoon pulled back to look JongWoon's eyes. "Maybe, we should just try and stay friends, not let this get weird between us. I can't help being attracted to you, and well, the sex is fantastic. If... you want, we could just.. you know, when we feel like it."

Chewing on his lower lip, JongWoon considered that. He would be lying if he were to say he didn't enjoy what they had just done, and wanted to do it again without dancing all around the subject first. He liked being with HyungJoon. But at the same time, he didn't want it to get weird, and trying a real relationship would do just that.

"Okay," he murmured, nodding his head a little and looking into HyungJoon's eyes. "We can give that a try." 

"Okay," HyungJoon smiled, hugging JongWoon a little tighter. "So, nothing between us changes except we sometimes sleep together." He blinked at how that sounded. Strangely, he was okay with it, even though it sounded a little harsh. "I think I'm okay with that," he said, nodding a little and leaned in to give JongWoon a light kiss. "And that's okay with you?"

"As long as you don't put it like that, yes," JongWoon pouted before returning the kiss. "And now I don't think I can move." He tucked HyungJoon's head under his chin again, burying his face against the younger man's hair and breathing in deeply. 

HyungJoon chuckled softly, burrowing in against JongWoon's chest, placing a few kisses to the heated skin. "As long as the Captain doesn't call us, we don't have to move for a while," he said softly, closing his eyes.

"Fine by me," JongWoon replied, closing his eyes too. The movie had finished, he noted by the lack of explosions. "Can we skip the movie and hangover next time though?" he mumbled. 

"Yeah, we can do that," HyungJoon nodded, feeling around for the edge of the blankets and pulling them up around them. He settled in more closely, kissing another part of JongWoon's chest and settling in for a nap at least. Who knew when they would be called for their shifts.

****************************

HyunJoong panted quietly against YoungSaeng's bare shoulder, pulling back from the small mark he'd left accidentally. It took a moment for him to recover this time, looking down at the naked man pressed against the mattress below him, taking in his expression.

But then the moment was over and he pulled back completely, pushing away from between YoungSaeng's legs and letting them fall back to the bed as he sat down on the edge, bending over to pick up his boxers from the floor. The rest of their clothes were strewn around the bed. 

Stretching his arms out and making a soft sigh of contentment, YoungSaeng rolled onto his side to watch HyunJoong dress. His lips quirked slightly as he studied the man's back and wide shoulders. After a moment he sat up on his knees and scooted up behind him, resting his chin on the man's shoulder. "Why do you always run away afterwards?" he asked softly, pressing a kiss to the warm skin.

HyunJoong looked back over his shoulder at the younger man, blinking at him. "It's hardly running away, I'm going back to my duties," he told YoungSaeng, voice a little scratchy after that. "There's a lot to be done." Especially now that they were in unclaimed space. 

Running his hands up the Captain's back, YoungSaeng's lips pursed slightly. "You need to relax a little more Captain," he said softly, massaging at HyunJoong's shoulders. "I'm sure your crew understands if you need to take a little more for yourself, and no one's going to bother us here."

Closing his eyes at the soothing massage, HyunJoong shook his head slowly. "I’ve already taken too much time off," he murmured. "I need to do all I can to make sure they all get out of this alive." As Captain, he was charged with his crew’s safety, and it was something he took to heart. He couldn’t let them down, especially when they were in such dangerous territory. 

"You won't be getting very far without mine or JungMin's help," YoungSaeng murmured, continuing the massage. "And you will be of little use to your crew if you're dead on your feet. There is nothing so important right now that can't wait another hour or two."

HyunJoong started to protest, before his shoulders slumped and he gave a soft sigh. He wouldn’t argue that he was too tired right now, he would probably just end up falling asleep on his desk within the hour. "Just a few minutes," he murmured, keeping his eyes closed. 

"Lay down, you'll be more comfortable," YoungSaeng whispered in his ear, his thumbs were making small circles in the back of HyunJoong's neck. He could feel the knots of tension in the man's shoulders and neck. The Captain needed a lot more than a few minutes of relaxing.

Listening, HyunJoong shifted to lie down on his stomach on the bed, head resting in his arms. "You’re good at this," he murmured quietly, feeling himself relax a little, and he had to pinch himself to make sure he didn’t fall asleep right there. 

Crawling up to straddle HyunJoong's back, YoungSaeng continued with the massage, pressing his fingers into the skin. "I've had a lot of experience," he chuckled softly. "We didn't get a lot of rest during missions, so body massages were necessary to keep the muscles from cramping up."

"Makes sense," HyunJoong murmured. "You were partners with JungMin?" He remembered those weeks ago, when the two had first woken up, they’d seemed surprised to see each other briefly. 

"Sometimes," YoungSaeng's lips quirked sadly. "We get paired up depending on our skills needed for the mission. JungMin and I have known each other the longest though, and we get along the best. If it had been anyone else in that other container, I would have killed them by now."

HyunJoong nodded slowly in understanding. They still had many questions for the pair, some things that just didn’t make sense, but he wasn’t sure if now was the best time to voice some of them. "How long did you have to train?" He’d yet to see just how much the two knew, but he got the feeling from the practices that YoungSaeng was holding himself back. A lot. 

"A long time," YoungSaeng sighed, running the heels of his palms up HyunJoong's back. The Captain didn't need to know just how long he and JungMin had been assassins, not at the moment anyway. "I'll be honest Captain, none of you would have got through it."

Nodding, HyunJoong believed him in that statement. They just weren’t made for a life like that; they were all civilians, and only himself and JongWoon had received some form of military training.

"Are you glad you’re out?" HyunJoong asked quietly, opening his eyes to look over his shoulder at the younger man. 

"Yes," YoungSaeng nodded with a small smile. "JungMin and I are very glad to be out," his hands stilled and eyes lowered. "We are sorry that this happened to you and your crew, but thank you, for helping us."

"Don’t apologize for that," HyunJoong shook his head. "We’ll figure something out." Though he doubted they would be able to continue with their lives as normal after this. 

YoungSaeng nodded, but didn't say anything, kneading his fingers into HyunJoong's back. "Why do you always come to my room?" he asked after a few minutes of silence. "Wouldn't it be easier to call me to your room?"

HyunJoong put his head back down on his arms, closing his eyes. "Personal preference," he said quietly. It had been the same with KyuJong before, never approaching him like that while in his own cabin. 

"Fair enough," YoungSaeng smirked, watching him as he considered. "It works out though, with JungMin I mean. If you're here, he'll just go entertain the pilot for a while. Otherwise we'd have to get separate rooms, and we don't want that."

The Captain’s eyes cracked open a little at that. KyuJong was sleeping with JungMin now? He was a little surprised…more than a little actually. It left a bitter taste in his mouth…not that he had any reason to be upset.

"Glad it’s not inconvenient for you," he murmured, closing his eyes again and resting his forehead against his arms.

YoungSaeng frowned slightly, not sure what to make of the reaction He'd felt a slight tightening of the man's shoulders, but it disappeared just as quickly. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to HyunJoong's shoulder, and then another to his neck. "I get the impression that wouldn't have stopped you though, yes?"

"Guess we'll never find out," HyunJoong mused, enjoying the soft kisses, though not as much as he had before. "What about you? You're the one who approached me first. That bored?" 

"More or less," YoungSaeng chuckled, shifting back a bit to work at HyunJoong's lower back. "You looked very stressed, Captain, I thought I would offer to help relieve that stress. Although, after our first conversation I didn't think you would accept."

HyunJoong shrugged his shoulders slightly, not commenting to that. He wasn't about to share with YoungSaeng why he'd accepted the offer. Instead he kept his eyes closed and just enjoyed the massage, feeling the knots of tension leaving him. 

Smirking slightly, YoungSaeng continued to massage the man's back, every so often he'd lean down to press kisses to his spine or shoulders. It did seem the Captain was enjoying the attention, and it was probably the first time in a while he'd actually relaxed, their bed activities excluded. It was a long time before he spoke again, not sure if HyunJoong was awake or not. "If I may be so bold to ask a question Captain, but I couldn't help but notice something when we left that planet after the upgrades. What happened there?"

One of HyunJoong's eyes cracked open a little, the older man silent for a long moment. He didn't want to speak about what happened with anyone, the scars still nowhere close to healing despite the couple months that had passed.

"...Have you ever made a grave mistake, one that changes everything, without ever knowing what that mistake was?" he murmured softly into his arm. 

YoungSaeng's head tilted to the side as he considered what HyunJoong said. He had made many mistakes in his life, but was always aware of them. "I'm not sure I follow," he said softly, shaking his head. "How could you believe you made a mistake if you don't know what it is?"

"Just because I can't figure out what it was, doesn't mean I didn't make one," HyunJoong replied, closing his eyes again. "What happened on that planet was a reminder of that mistake. That's all." 

Lips pursed, YoungSaeng continued, not sure what to make of what HyunJoong was saying. He didn't take the older man for the type to feel sorry for himself, so he truly believed he made a mistake, even if he might not have. "Does this mistake involve the pilot?" he asked, knowing he could be treading dangerous waters.

Almost instantly the stiffness was back in the older man's shoulders, fingers curling into the bedsheets. "It's private information," he said, a little shorter than he had intended. No, the mistake hadn't involved KyuJong, not at first. But the pilot's angry words kept ringing in his head. 

An eyebrow perked at the response, YoungSaeng's hands lifting slightly away from HyunJoong's back. Either he had pushed too far with the subject, or the pilot was involved. He needed more information from JungMin on that, maybe he had got something more out of KyuJong by now. "My apologies," YoungSaeng murmured, running his hands back up to HyunJoong's shoulders to ease away the stiffness yet again. "No more questions," he said, a sad lilt to his words.

HyunJoong relaxed a little after a moment, relieved that the questions had stopped. That was an issue far too close to his heart to be discussed.

"I should be returning to the bridge," he murmured after a moment, after the tension in his shoulders had been massaged away. 

Nodding, YoungSaeng leaned down to give one last kiss to HyunJoong's shoulder before sliding off to the side. Scooting up to the wall, he brought his knees to his chest and watched HyunJoong for a moment before speaking. "Captain, we know that you and the rest of the crew have questions and are curious about us. That goes both ways; we have questions as well. There may be a point in the future in which the things we have been keeping from each other will have to be known, for everyone's safety."

Sitting up, HyunJoong looked at YoungSaeng as the younger man talked. He knew he had a point; there were many things he and the others didn't know about YoungSaeng and JungMin, just as there were things they themselves would want to keep secret.

"We will have to discuss this in the future, but I'm sure you can understand being reluctant to answer personal questions. Though I do suppose some questions will have to be answered eventually." HyunJoong leaned over to pick up his boxers, slipping them on. 

"Eventually, yes, when the time is more appropriate," YoungSaeng nodded, resting his head against the wall. "I do enjoy our time together Captain, I would hate to see it end because of something as simple as curiosity. I won't ask anymore questions unless it's necessary."

"Thank you," HyunJoong nodded at that, continuing to get dressed. "When is our next training session?" Standing, he pulled on his uniform and straightened out the collar. 

"Tomorrow," YoungSaeng said, stretching out his legs and folding his hands behind his head. "Now that you believe I'm fully healed, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

HyunJoong nodded. He was still baffled at how quickly YoungSaeng had recovered, and that he hadn't seen any sign of what had happened on the younger man's body other than a faint, barely noticeable scar. "Take care." Once he'd dressed completely and straightened out his clothes, he left the room.

A minute later, JungMin came in and flopped down onto the bed next to YoungSaeng. "That took forever, how many rounds did you go for?" 

YoungSaeng chuckled, looking down at JungMin, his eyes dancing. "If I tell you, you'll want to try and beat it, and there's only so much my body can take," he said, leaning down to give JungMin a kiss. "I ended up giving him a massage though, his entire body was stiff from stress."

Returning the kiss, JungMin blinked at that. "Well, it is a lot to take in, and he is Captain." He scooted closer, wrapping one arm around YoungSaeng's waist. "So he finally agreed to stick around a little afterwards?" 

"A little, yes," YoungSaeng nodded, easing down to lay down next to him, rolling onto his side and wrapping an arm around his neck. "I was able to get a little more out of him, but not much. Something did happen on that planet, but he was loathe to tell me what it was. Likely something to do with the pilot, but not sure."

"Huh. Even if it isn't, something is definitely up between them, even if they're somewhat talking again." JungMin buried his face in YoungSaeng's hair. "Should I do some fishing? KyuJong's easier to talk to most times." 

"I won't be getting much else from the Captain, so anything else will have to come from the pilot," YoungSaeng nodded, nuzzling his nose into JungMin's neck, nipping lightly at the skin. "The Captain wasn't too pleased to hear about you and him by the way. He didn't say so, but the way his shoulders tensed up was enough."

"Ah, interesting," JungMin murmured, breath hitching slightly at the nips. "Think it was normal 'no relationships between crew members' displeasure? He doesn't seem to respect the rule very well." 

"No, I think there's more to it than that," YoungSaeng shook his head slightly, pressing a kiss to JungMin's collarbone. "He also said something about a mistake he made, but he didn't know what it was. He is a very strange man."

JungMin wrinkled his nose. "Strange is right. They're all strange. Weirdest civilian ship ever. But I suppose that's why we're out here and not in deep sleep, right?" His hand ran along YoungSaeng's back. 

"Yes," YoungSaeng chuckled, settling more comfortably against JungMin. "I think I can handle strange, it's better than boring military." He ran a finger up JungMin's chest, making small circle designs. "So what were you doing while I was entertaining the Captain? The pilot?"

"No, I was in the engine room with the younger twin," JungMin rolled his eyes. "You'll be happy to know I didn't bruise him this time." He watched the path YoungSaeng's finger took. 

"I noticed you said 'didn't bruise him' and not 'didn't hit him'," YoungSaeng mused, tilting his head up to look at JungMin. "Unless you really didn't hit him, and then I can imagine you have some frustrations to get out."

"I didn't get a chance to hit him, he stayed at the other end of the room the whole time," the redhead snorted, finger trailing along YoungSaeng's chest and belly. "And I shouldn't take out my frustrations just yet, so soon after the Captain's visit." 

YoungSaeng's eyes fluttered at the finger, lips curled into a smile. "Oh and why not? Would that bother you?"

"Wouldn't bother me, but you were mentioning there was only so much your body could take." JungMin dropped his head to kiss YoungSaeng's ear. 

"I don't think I'll break so easily," YoungSaeng murmured, pressing himself a little closer to JungMin. The hand that had been leaving trails along his chest was sliding around his waist and up his shirt to settle on his back. "As long as I'm given enough rest time in between of course."

"And, do you think you've had enough rest time?" JungMin bit lightly on YoungSaeng's earlobe. 

"More than enough," YoungSaeng responded, rolling over onto his back, pulling JungMin on top of him. "So don't worry about taking it easy on me," he breathed into the other man's ear, biting down on his neck.

"If you say so," JungMin grinned with a low groan at the bite as his hands started to wander. 

"You're still dressed," YoungSaeng said, pushing JungMin up a little so he could pull the shirt up and off of the man. With that hindrance gone, he leaned up to bite down hard at the top of JungMin's chest.

JungMin drew in a sharp breath. "Yes, thank you for the reminder," he chuckled, one hand going to his pants to undo them. He easily kicked them off his legs and off the bed, before returning to what he'd been doing, catching YoungSaeng's lips in a hard kiss as his hands left marks along YoungSaeng's body.

YoungSaeng moaned loudly into the kiss, his arms winding around JungMin's neck and fingers threading into his hair. He pulled hard on the locks, wrenching JungMin's head to the side as he deepened the kiss. Sliding his legs up to wrap around JungMin's waist and pull him down, YoungSaeng settled his feet against the small of JungMin's back. 

Moaning loudly, JungMin bit down on YoungSaeng's lower lip, making sure that it was going to bruise. There was no attempt to start off slow; _he_ knew YoungSaeng had been completely healed long before the crew suspected. It was another blessing that the walls were pretty thick, or the noise would have echoed through the ship's metal structure.

He stopped only once they were both fully sated, both their bodies littered with bite and nail marks that were surely going to bruise later. Panting against YoungSaeng's collar, JungMin lazily mouthed a red mark left there before flopping over onto his side, keeping his arms wrapped around YoungSaeng's body. 

Waiting for his heart to settle, YoungSaeng ran his hand up and down JungMin's arm, sighing contently. "I take back ever saying I'd stick to the Captain only, he's far too even-handed for that," he murmured, wincing slightly as he rolled over onto his side.

JungMin chuckled, pressing his lips to YoungSaeng's forehead. "Glad I can still keep your interest now that you have a new boy toy," he smiled, pulling YoungSaeng closer. "Tired?" 

"Exhausted," YoungSaeng murmured, yawning sleepily and nuzzling against JungMin. "You should sleep too, we have practice tomorrow remember." His lips quirked slightly. "One of these days we should show them what a real spar looks like."

"One day," JungMin quirked his lips to one side, wrapping the blankets around them both. "After we explain a few things. We're going to have to do that soon, you know. Not much stays secret out here." 

"Especially if we run into some old friends," YoungSaeng sighed, nodding in agreement. "I worry about their reaction, but maybe they won't be as....hostile as others have been."

"Never know," JungMin muttered. "At the very least, they can't exactly toss us out the airlock, we're their guides out here." He kissed YoungSaeng's nose. "We'll think about that later, okay?" 

"Okay," YoungSaeng wrinkled his nose slightly at the kiss, but buried his nose against the younger man's neck. There were so many unknowns with their current situation, but as long as he and JungMin were together, they'd make it through.

********************************15*********************************************

HyunJoong winced slightly as a poorly-conducted attack sent him off-balance, just barely managing to step back in time to avoid being knocked onto his rear. "Again," he panted, breathing unevenly as he took a slight pause to reorient himself. Then he lashed out at YoungSaeng again in more controlled hits. 

Easily blocking the hits, YoungSaeng's eyes narrowed slightly as he crouched down and swept his leg around to catch HyunJoong on the ankles. When the older man started to pitch forward he spun around to jump on HyunJoong's back, arm going about his neck and forcing him hard to the ground, a knee in his back. "It's time for a break," he murmured in the man's ear, slowly relinquishing his hold on the neck.

The older man drew in a sharp breath as he landed hard on his stomach, wincing at the collision with the ground. He panted a little and nodded, waiting for YoungSaeng to get off of him before sitting up. "I thought there was improvement, guess not," he winced, rubbing his neck as he looked back at the former assassin. They'd been practicing for a good part of the afternoon, HyunJoong's training clothes damp with sweat from the exertion. 

"There is improvement, but you reached your limit," YoungSaeng said, sitting down across from, legs stretched out and leaning back on his hands. "Even running on adrenaline the body will fatigue and you won't be able to be as affective. You did well, other than the last ten minutes or so."

Nodding slowly, HyunJoong stretched out his arms a little, sitting in a more comfortable position. "Training more will increase the amount of time I can fight, right?" YoungSaeng looked hardly winded, despite being at it as long as he had been. 

"Yes, you build an endurance to it," YoungSaeng nodded. His focus was on JungMin and KyuJong on the other end, still practicing. The pilot seemed to be doing just as well as HyunJoong in terms of ability, but he was beginning to tire as well. "Don't expect to be able to go for as long as JungMin and I can though."

"I wasn't going to," HyunJoong chuckled, glancing after them as well. JungMin seemed to be more flighty today, dancing just out of KyuJong's reach and teasing him by making him go around in circles, showing him better ways to keep orientated and balanced. "I think JungMin's having a bit too much fun with that." 

"He's bored," YoungSaeng said, suppressing a sigh. "This type of practice is light and not what we're used to. At least the pilot seems to be keeping up, I imagine doing the type of flying he does he doesn't get dizzy easily."

"No, he just makes everyone else dizzy...JungMin would have a field day doing that with HyungJoon if he tires of beating him up. Please tell him I need my engineer a little less black and blue, he keeps calling in sick." HyunJoong's lips quirked. 

"I'll tell him to ease up," YoungSaeng chuckled, brushing the hair out of his eyes. "Or at least switch training partners for a while. The engineer seems a little too skittish when facing JungMin, and the negotiator could stand to take a few lumps. Maybe I've been a little too soft on him."

"You don't seem to like using my crew's actual names," HyunJoong mused. "Maybe switching would be a good change, though I doubt it would improve JongWoon any, he's always been like that." It seemed JongWoon was doomed to be hopeless at everything except his two areas of specialization, and even then, he had an issue with evaluations. 

"He has improved though," YoungSaeng said, glancing over at HyunJoong, his expression unreadable. "I only use someone's name if I'm close to them, or intend to get close to them."

HyunJoong looked back at the younger man, lips pressed together before nodding slightly. "All right." He wondered what that meant, but wasn’t going to press further, instead turning his attention back to the other two just in time to see JungMin sneak up behind KyuJong while the pilot was disorientated and bring him to the ground. 

Toppling over head first, KyuJong laid there on the floor with his cheek pressed to the cold metal. That last spinning around had done him in and he couldn't feel any part of his body. Laying there like a limp noodle, he groaned in pain. "I'm done, dead, a pirate just killed me," he whined.

"Yup, you’re dead," JungMin grinned. "But think of it this way, you only died about five times this session, rather than the usual ten." He let go of the older man’s arms, rubbing his back a little. "Not bad." 

Turning his head a little, KyuJong gave him a wry look over his shoulder before he was able to roll over onto his back. "I don't know how that was supposed to help me feel better, but thanks I guess?" he snorted.

"Because you’re getting closer to not dying at all, now don’t give me that look," JungMin rolled his eyes, swatting at the pilot’s thigh before he’d rolled over completely. 

"I guess I just have a good teacher then," KyuJong chuckled, smiling up at him. "I don't hear anything from the other side, are they done too?"

JungMin glanced over at the other two, seeing them sitting down. "Yeah, they’re done. Probably done for the day, you did pretty well. Any questions?" 

"Just one, you're not going to spin me silly next time are you?" KyuJong asked, holding out his hand to be helped up, not that he could feel his legs at all though.

"Maybe, maybe not, I think you did pretty well when it came to not being disorientated," JungMin chuckled as he took the older man’s hand and pulled him up slowly. "Maybe we’ll work on you spinning _me_ around." 

"I'm a pilot, I would hope I wouldn't get dizzy easily," KyuJong said, easing up to his feet and leaning slightly on JungMin for support. He glanced at the younger man with a smirk. "I doubt that'll happen, but I guess we'll see. You mind helping me to my room? I'm not going to make it up those stairs."

"Yes old man," JungMin chuckled, wrapping one arm around KyuJong’s waist to help him towards the stairs with a wave at the other two. 

"I guess that means they're done too," YoungSaeng laughed softly, getting to his feet. "You did well today."

"Thanks," HyunJoong quirked his lips upwards slightly, not watching KyuJong and JungMin as they headed up the stairs. He stood as well after a moment. "Guess I’ll see you at dinner." 

YoungSaeng nodded, watching until JungMin and KyuJong were through the hatch to the crew decks before turning to HyunJoong. "Is everything okay Captain?"

HyunJoong nodded slightly. "Yes, everything’s fine. I will see you later." He headed towards the stairs and up towards the crew decks, wincing slightly as his body protested the movement. They’d trained hard today. 

Arriving at his room, KyuJong got the door opened with JungMin's help and limped in to flop down face first on his bed. "Thanks," he mumbled into his pillow.

JungMin snorted in amusement, looking down at him with one hand on his hip. "You don’t look like you’re going to move for a week." 

Pulling his head out of his pillow and looking up at him, KyuJong shrugged. "If I could get away with it, I wouldn't leave this bed for a month. I don't think there's a single part of me that doesn't hurt right now."

Highly amused, JungMin gave a long-suffering sigh before heading to the edge of the bed and pressing one knee into the mattress, leaning over to massage at KyuJong’s shoulders. "That’s good, that means you’re actually putting an effort." 

Wincing slightly when JungMin started to rub at his shoulders, KyuJong moaned softly at how good that felt. "And I wasn't putting in effort before?"

"You were, just not enough to deserve a massage," JungMin grinned, working at the tense muscles. He straddled KyuJong’s waist to make himself more comfortable rather than lean over from the side. "We’ll make a fighter out of you yet." 

KyuJong chuckled at that, letting his body relax at JungMin's hands. "I don't think I was ever cut out to be a fighter, I don't like hitting people," he said, moaning softly.

"You do what you have to do, and I think you’ll find out very fast when someone’s coming at you with a knife what you’ll do to survive." JungMin pulled up KyuJong’s sweat-soaked shirt to work better. 

"I guess that's true," KyuJong nodded, closing his eyes and relaxing a little. "I just never saw myself as someone who would need to do so. Thank you for this by the way, you're very good at this."

"Practice," JungMin grinned, before sobering. "Saeng and I are sorry you all got dragged into this, it’s not fair for any of you." 

"Well, we're glad to help," KyuJong said, his eyes cracking open a little. "It wasn't fair for you and YoungSaeng what the military did to you, we couldn't just overlook that."

"Still, we’re at least prepared for this kind of life," JungMin shrugged. "You can’t say any of this was in the job description when you signed up here." 

"No, but I'm okay with it actually," KyuJong said, smiling lightly. "Maybe the others aren't, but I've always been a person who just takes things as they come. I won't lie and say I'm not scared, but I can handle it."

"Good, that’s the kind of attitude we need," JungMin smiled in return. "You’re definitely handling it a lot better than you were before the border though." 

"It's funny, I was more worried about the Fed and getting through the border than what was on the other side of it," KyuJong chuckled, shaking his head a little. "There were other factors as well, but those don't seem so important now."

"Well, the Fed’s still a problem, since they do have patrols out there, but they’re few and far between." The redhead looked down at him. "So it was how we’re getting through the border that had you all worked up and tense after that stop for upgrades?" 

KyuJong's lips pursed and buried his head in the pillow again. "No, that was part of it, but... there were other things as well. I did something wrong and didn't know how to fix it. Still don't, actually."

JungMin tilted his head to one side, thinking about that. It sounded similar to what YoungSaeng had said about HyunJoong making a mistake but not knowing what it was. "Did you talk to anyone about it?" 

KyuJong was silent for a long moment, not sure what to say. He hadn't thought JungMin would be the type to offer help, but the redhead surprised him often enough as it was. "There was an incident on that planet," he started softly, going over how he should word it the best. "The Captain and I ran into one of his former crew. The guy was goading him pretty bad, I just didn't know about what. I said something I shouldn't have to the Captain, and I haven't apologized for it yet."

So that was what had them both on pins and needles? JungMin frowned lightly, moving on to massage further down KyuJong’s back after doing his shoulders, neck and arms. "Why haven’t you?" 

"Because he was avoiding me at first, and now I feel... I don't know, I haven't got the courage to bring it up again," KyuJong said, sighing heavily. "We're finally talking again, but I guess I'm afraid if I mention anything about it he'll get mad again."

Nodding in understanding, JungMin glanced up at the back of KyuJong’s head. "Well, you know him better than I do, but there’s usually only one way to find out." 

"Yeah," KyuJong sighed, turning to look over his shoulder up at JungMin. "You were right you know," he said softly. "About seeing the Captain with YoungSaeng, and it bothering me. It does, bother me. It's why I can't bring myself to apologize."

"Huh." Well, that made a little more sense. JungMin would have a lot to share with YoungSaeng after. "Why did you decide to sleep with me?" JungMin quirked an eyebrow down at him. 

"I wasn't exactly thinking straight at the time," KyuJong managed a light laugh, his eyes dancing before he turned back into the pillow.

"Well, you’re thinking straight after that, and you still do." JungMin leaned down to kiss KyuJong’s shoulder. "You’ve never told me to stop." 

"Never said I didn't enjoy it," KyuJong chuckled, turning his head a little so his cheek was resting on the pillow. "Though you should really stop with the random bridge visits before you get us both in trouble."

"But those are the most fun." JungMin kissed along KyuJong’s spine softly, his hands continuing the massage. "But am I correct in saying you’re sleeping with me because HyunJoong’s sleeping with YoungSaeng?" 

"Does that bother you?" KyuJong murmured, eyes fluttering at the kisses. "Maybe that's how it started, but it's not why I continued," he said.

"Why would it bother me, I get awesome sex out of it," JungMin grinned up at him. "I’m just curious." 

"Glad to know we're on the same page then," KyuJong mused, rolling over onto his back and looking up at JungMin. "Thank you for the massage, I feel much better now."

"You’re welcome," JungMin chuckled. "Doesn’t mean I’m gonna let you slack off next training session," he pinched the inside of KyuJong’s thigh lightly before climbing off of him, straightening his clothes. 

Squeaking slightly at the pinch, KyuJong glowered up at him. "Didn't think you would, but thank you for the warning I guess," he said, folding his hands behind his head. "Leaving?"

"Yeah, I’ll be very insulted if you fall asleep on me so I’m leaving before that happens," JungMin grinned. "See you later." He headed to the door with a wave. 

"Later," KyuJong rolled his eyes and rolled over onto his side, facing the wall. He was asleep before JungMin even left the room, the practice having exhausted him more than he realized.

JungMin looked back as he was closing the door and chuckled, shaking his head. He headed down the hallway back to his own room, humming to himself. Well, that had been a very educational conversation.

He stopped outside the door and listened to make sure YoungSaeng wasn’t occupied with their Captain before opening the door, poking his head in.

Curled up on the ledge next to the window, YoungSaeng looked over when the door opened, a brow perked when he saw it was JungMin. "I didn't expect you back for a little while at least. The pilot get too beat up today?" he asked, resting his cheek on his knees.

"I didn’t beat him up," JungMin sniffed, closing the door behind him and flouncing over to sit on the edge of the bed next to the ledge. "He was tired. So I took a leaf out of your book and gave him a massage while starting a lovely detailed conversation," he grinned at the older man. 

Swiveling around, YoungSaeng unfolded his legs and leaned forward, his hands resting on the edge of the ledge and leaning forward a little. "Oh? And what did our dear pilot have to say?"

"Quite a lot, first being what happened on that planet a while back," JungMin smirked, before starting to relay to YoungSaeng everything KyuJong had told him, going word-for-word as much as he could since YoungSaeng was better at picking these things apart than he was, and might spot something he’d missed. 

Listening intently, YoungSaeng's brow furrowed at what the pilot had said. "So, either he and the Captain were together before the incident on the planet, or he wanted them to be. Why would a former crew member bother the Captain though?"

"No idea, though isn't it curious why there's so few crew on this ship in the first place?" JungMin rested back on his hands. "Four people are not enough to run a ship." 

"No it's not, and it was my understanding the pilot was new to the ship as well," YoungSaeng nodded, chewing on his lip as he thought. "I wonder if that has something to do with the mistake the Captain said he made. I also wonder what it is the pilot said to the Captain then. Very interesting."

"Should I pry more?" JungMin tilted his head to one side. "I'm trying not to annoy the pilot with too many questions, though he's a lot easier to talk to than the Captain seems to be." 

"If you see an opportunity, take it," YoungSaeng nodded, sliding off the ledge and beginning to pace around the room. "You're the only one on the ship he really spends any time with, so he might just need a shoulder to lean on, and someone to talk to. You can handle that, especially if you get sex out of it."

"Read my mind," JungMin laughed, falling onto his side and watching YoungSaeng pace. "You're pretty curious about these people." 

"Habit," YoungSaeng chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Finding out everything you can about a target was the part of the job I liked."

"Snoop," JungMin snickered. "You're rubbing off on me." He held out his arms to the older man. 

"Complaining?" YoungSaeng asked, coming over to the bed to take JungMin's hands and crawling up into his lap. "Besides, we can only have sex so much. Need to keep busy the rest of the time."

"It's definitely keeping me from being bored," JungMin grinned widely, placing his hands on YoungSaeng's hips. "Did I do a good job?" 

"You did a very good job, and I think you're learning a bit about subtlety as well," YoungSaeng mused, winding his arms around JungMin's neck.

"Wouldn't want all your lessons to go to waste," the redhead chuckled, leaning up to brush his lips against YoungSaeng's. 

"Yes, that would be a shame," YoungSaeng smiled, pressing their lips more firmly together. "Ready for another lesson?"

"More than ready," JungMin murmured against YoungSaeng's mouth, pulling him into a deeper kiss as he fell back onto the bed. 

******************

HyungJoon's eyes snapped open when the blaring alarm started going off over his head. Flailing, he nearly rolled right off the bed as he tried to get up, his feet tangled up in the sheets. The ship shuddered as if they'd been hit, and HyungJoon tumbled off the edge of the bed. "What the hell was that?" he said, scrambling to get to his feet and looking wide-eyed at JongWoon.

The overhead comes crackled on. " _Captain to the bridge!_ " KyuJong's shout came over the speakers and the coms went dead again.

"That didn't sound good," HyungJoon whimpered, hurriedly picking up his clothes and trying to get them on.

Sitting up and blinking back at the younger man, JongWoon leaned over to get his own clothes and nearly pitching off the bed as the ship shuddered, and there was an echoing grating in the hull. "What's going on?"

Getting on his clothes as fast as he could, he went to the door and leaned out to see JungMin doing the same a few doors down, eyes narrowed as he listened to the grating noise. "It's coming from outside the ship," the redhead murmured behind him, presumably to YoungSaeng. 

Finding his com device in his pocket, HyungJoon turned it on and called for the bridge. "Kyu? What's going on?"

" _Pirates, be ready._ " The line went dead again. HyungJoon's eyes widened and he looked at JongWoon, trembling.

Pushing past JungMin and out into the hall, YoungSaeng was heading down towards the cargo bay. "You two, hide," he snapped as he passed.

" _Pirates?_ " JongWoon stared back at HyungJoon in shock. They weren't ready for this, none of them were. "W-we should do as he said." There was no way he could go up against a pirate, and he didn't want HyungJoon in danger. But would the other four be able to hold back an unknown number of pirates on their own?

JungMin ran after YoungSaeng towards the cargo bay, not even glancing at them. 

HyungJoon swallowed nervously as the ship was rocked with another thump. "Come on," he whimpered, taking JongWoon's hand and staring down where YoungSaeng and JungMin had disappeared through the hatch before leading him the other way. "We can hide in one of the storage closets near the mess hall."

Nodding, JongWoon hurried along beside him, heart pounding in his ears.

"They're already secured to the ship," HyunJoong swore, already on the bridge with KyuJong. "And trying to get the codes to the airlock." His fingers flew over the controls in an attempt to thwart the pirates' entry, or at least gain them enough time to come up with a plan. Once the airlock was opened, they wouldn't be able to detach the pirate ship without being sucked out of the ship into space. 

There were warning alarms and lights going off everywhere, KyuJong was trying to assess the damage. He had nodded off for just a moment in the chair when he'd woken up to the proximity sensor going crazy just before a tow line had slammed into the hull. Trying to remain calm, he was trying to get the ship detached, but they had the outer locks jammed. "Captain, if they can't get through by opening the door, they'll just blow through it," he said, glancing worriedly at HyunJoong. "If they blow through it, even if we manage to get apart..." If the airlock doors were blown, there would be no way to seal the ship again. "We may.. have to just let them in."

Wincing, HyunJoong considered that. While they _could_ seal off the cargo bay if that happened, they would be losing a good portion of the ship, and everything in the cargo bay. Would they be able to force the pirates back if they were let in though?

Reaching for his comm device, he flicked it on. "YoungSaeng, JungMin, where are you?" He flipped through cameras to find out where they were.

 _"Just about at the airlock,"_ JungMin replied.

Finding them and setting up one of the displays to show the airlock, HyunJoong took in a breath. "We're going to have to open the airlock before they blow a hole in the ship, are you both able to get into a position to fight them off?" 

Taking the com device from JungMin, YoungSaeng spoke into it. "Easily. No guarantees one or two might not slip through. You said you had weapons? I would suggest you get them," he said, glancing at JungMin with a coy smile.

 _"Understood. Let me know when you're in position and I'll open the airlock."_ The line went dead.

"Finally, something more interesting than spinning civilians in circles." JungMin quickened his pace. "How many do you think there are?" 

"Based on the size of the ship, this far out from an outpost, and taking on a ship this size? I'd say at least a dozen," YoungSaeng said, his smile widening. "Should be easy enough. Want to try for a Trojan Horse?"

"Sounds like fun," JungMin chuckled. "What do you have in mind?" He pulled the hatch for the cargo bay open, sliding down the stair railing. 

"If the Captain could seal off the cargo bay, we can just wait until they're all in," YoungSaeng said, following him down the stairs, taking two at a time. "Take two out, then easy pickings?"

"Got it," JungMin nodded, going to hide behind some containers after plucking his comm device out of YoungSaeng's hands. "Captain, can the cargo bay be sealed off?"

_"Yes, you're both in?"_

"Yup."

 _"Okay, sealing off the cargo bay and opening the airlock in ten seconds."_

YoungSaeng slid in next to JungMin, grinning up at him with a vicious smile. "This is going to be fun."

Watching the security camera feed, KyuJong blinked when the airlock doors opened and a half-dozen men came through, weapons drawn. "Captain, did you get the cargo doors sealed?" he asked, frowning as more men came through. They were splitting up, four coming up the stairs to the catwalk. JungMin and YoungSaeng hadn't moved yet.

HyunJoong worked at the controls, eyes narrowing. "It's just about...something's stuck, it's not sealing properly." He was working to get the door shut completely, error messages popping up, when suddenly the security feed went down.

"..." The Captain drew in a breath. "It's not closing. I'm going to get the weapons in storage, stay here and seal off the door after me, only open it for one of us," he ordered as he got to his feet, hurrying out of the bridge. 

Watching him go, KyuJong scooted over to the controls to lock the door. It wasn't working though, the same problem that was keeping the other doors from sealing was affecting the bridge door as well. Frowning, KyuJong's fingers moved over the terminal, scanning line by line. The pirates had got into their security system and were shutting down systems. He was locked out. "Well shit..."

From his vantage point, YoungSaeng's brow furrowed in concern when four on the catwalk had opened the hatch and disappeared inside. He looked sharply at JungMin. Something must have gone wrong on the bridge.

JungMin frowned back at YoungSaeng, before looking around the containers to see just two pirates left in the cargo bay, the rest gone. These two must be standing guard, and were exactly what they needed.

"Game on, Saeng."

HyunJoong got to the storage room with the weapons quickly, pulling out a few daggers and guns. Just simple things, but they would do the job.

Footsteps down the hallways caught his attention and he eased into the doorway, eyes narrowed as he flicked off the safety on the gun and aimed.

The second the pirate took the corner, HyunJoong fired, the man dropping with a hole in his head. A second pirate came into view and started firing back, HyunJoong ducking back into the doorway to avoid being hit. 

At the sound of gunfire, KyuJong flinched involuntarily, looking over his shoulder at the closed door. Each shot was torture, not knowing if one of his friends were being killed out there. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to the terminal, determined to get around the lock they had put on his station and get free of the other ship.

So focused on what he was doing, he didn't hear the door open behind him, or the footsteps on the flooring. Not until it was too late and he was being grabbed by the hair and thrown to the floor. Letting out a startled shriek, KyuJong attempted to counter, but found himself staring at the wrong end of a gun.

It was a tense moment as HyunJoong listened to the pirate walk closer, not doubting if he so much as peeked around the corner he'd get a bullet between his eyes. Drawing in a slow breath, he focused on the shadow on the floor, watching it come closer and counting in his head as he put the gun aside in favor of a knife.

The second the pirate was in range, HyunJoong swept his foot out and knocked the other man's gun arm aside, a bullet blasting a hole in a wall before HyunJoong got the man in a hold, forcing him down to the ground and slitting his throat.

Panting as he looked down at the red staining his fingers, HyunJoong snapped himself out of it and picked up the pirate's gun, better quality than the one he had in storage and got a few other weapons together, standing and hurrying back to the bridge. 

Clinging to JongWoon, HyungJoon was trembling all over. He was mentally kicking himself ten times over for hiding, but as long as he was with JongWoon, then he could protect him. Leaning forward a little he could just barely peek out the crack in the storage door. The sounds of gunfire had stopped, and HyungJoon wondered when it would be safe to come out; if ever.

JongWoon swallowed nervously, arms wrapped tightly around HyungJoon's waist as he tried to peek out as well, but was unable to. Not that he wanted to see what was going on out there. He'd found a pipe for something in the storage closet (nearly broke his neck stepping on it), and was holding it tightly in one hand. For all the good it would do, he'd probably knock himself off the head with it.

"Is it over?" He whispered, then shut up as he heard footsteps again, burying his face against HyungJoon's shoulder. 

Tightening his grip on JongWoon's shoulder, HyungJoon swallowed nervously as he saw one of the pirates coming down the corridor towards them. He was opening up doors and looking in. If he couldn't open a door, he shot the handle and wrenched open the doors. They weren't safe here, but running now would just get them killed quicker. Whimpering a little, HyungJoon couldn't even bring himself to move, watching the pirate get closer and closer to their hiding spot.

It didn't seem luck was on their side either, since another pirate had turned the corner and was looking to join the first one in the search. Glancing down at JongWoon, HyungJoon's lip trembled a little.

JongWoon peeked up at HyungJoon, eyes wide and scared as he heard more footsteps. That wasn't good. How long could they last? His grip on the pipe tightened, shifting a little to see if he could get HyungJoon behind him at least.

That was until he heard a cut-off gasp, then a dull snap and a thud from out in the hallway, both steps of feet stopped. Blinking, JongWoon reached out and nudged the door open just a crack wider, looking out into the hallway.

The first pirate was crumbled on the floor, head twisted at an impossible angle, the second pirate standing over him and dusting his hands. 

HyungJoon's eyes widened as well, his jaw dropped and he looked over at JongWoon before looking back out. One of the pirates had just killed another pirate? Why?

If that hadn't been enough, another one was coming down the hallway towards them, not seeming to be bothered by the body at the other's feet as he stopped and looked over at the other, a smirk on his ugly face.

Suddenly they heard a crackle in the hallway, static.

 _"I need help by the bridge, quickly,"_ HyunJoong's voice came out of nowhere, making JongWoon scramble to look at their comm devices. He and HyungJoon had both turned theirs off upon the first pirate entering the hallway, so that it wouldn't give them away. The devices were still off, so it wasn't coming from them...

Looking back out into the hallway, his eyes widened in shock as he saw the pirate who'd killed the first one pull out of his pocket...one of their comm devices.

But that was nothing compared to what happened next.

The pirates body _changed_ , thinning out as the beard disappeared and scars seamed back together perfectly, hair lengthening and changing color. Becoming taller, skin losing it's tan, facial structure shifting in the space of a second.

Fussing with the collar of the shirt that was now far too large for him, JungMin flicked on the comm device in his hand. "We'll be right there." 

If HyungJoon hadn't believed what he had seen the first time, there was no way he could dismiss it when the second pirate started shrink. The hair lengthened, jaw squared off and nose pushed up a little higher. "There's only two left," YoungSaeng said, pulling the tattered leather jacket he was drowning in off and throwing it to the floor. "I took care of the three in engineering. Made a quick round on their ship. Their pilot is dead."

"And I got rid of the rest up here...think the other two are at the bridge?" JungMin pulled off the pirate's clothes as well, his own underneath. He twirled a knife that must have belonged to one of the pirates between his fingers before starting off towards the bridge quickly. 

"Probably," YoungSaeng nodded, glancing around the hallway before following after JungMin.

Waiting until the two had disappeared, HyungJoon slowly opened the door of the storage closet, looking back at JongWoon warily. "What the hell was that?" he whispered.

JongWoon looked back at HyungJoon with wide eyes, completely baffled by what they had just seen. "I-is that...did they just change shape?" He stuttered, looking down at the clothing left on the ground and the dead pirate. 

HyungJoon nodded dumbly, taking JongWoon's hand as he slowly stepped around the dead pirate. "Um, so, what the hell was that? What did the Fed _do_ to them?"

"I have no clue....but I'm pretty sure shapeshifting isn't something they cover in any kind of training," JongWoon murmured, holding on to HyungJoon tighter than before. "We have to tell the others." 

"Yeah, definitely," HyungJoon nodded, tugging HyungJoon along. "Should we go to the bridge then, or just wait somewhere until it's over?"

"I don't think the bridge is the place to be right now, if the other two pirates are there," JongWoon shook his head. 

"Okay, let's go back to my room and wait there then," HyungJoon said, leading him back that way, avoiding any of the bodies he saw on the ground.

Easing up to the corner nearest the bridge, YoungSaeng glanced back at JungMin before peeking around the corner. His eyes narrowed at not seeing anyone, and there was only the sounds of low talking coming from the bridge. Pulling back he frowned. "I don't see the Captain," he murmured.

"Drop the knife, and hands out where we can see them."

HyunJoong eyed the gun pointed towards him, doing as he was told. The two pirates on the bridge had noticed him the second he tried to slip in, one standing over where KyuJong was sitting away from the controls and the other fiddling with the terminals. They were obviously using KyuJong as a hostage, since he had no weapons on him and with a gun each, they wouldn't have to worry about him attempting anything.

Having taken off the pins that marked him as Captain, they had no idea who HyunJoong was either. "Get over there with him," the pirate ordered, motioning with his gun towards KyuJong. 

Not even looking up, KyuJong was curled up on the floor against the wall, his wrists and ankles bound with wire. He was a little surprised they hadn't killed him right at first, but the more the one over him was leering down at him with a smile, the more he understood. They planned to take him with them. 

There was a bright puffy bruise on his cheek from where he had tried to intervene in getting the coms disabled when the others were communicating, and now the pirates were aware not only of the Captain, but JungMin and YoungSaeng on their way.

"Call the others, tell them to come out where we can see them," the one standing over KyuJong said, pointing the gun at HyunJoong.

HyunJoong nodded slowly, hands still out where they could be seen as he moved a little closer to KyuJong as he'd been told. No one saw how he carefully shifted the knife on the floor with his boot, bringing it along with him; the table in the middle of the bridge blocked their view of his feet.

"Do it!" The first pirate snapped when he thought HyunJoong was taking too long, the Captain jumping in pretend surprise and pulling out his comm device.

Flicking it on, the static covered up the slight skid of metal on metal as he kicked the knife at his feet across the floor, behind KyuJong where his hands were bound.

"Can you both come into the bridge?" He asked into the device carefully, watching the two pirates and the gun pointed at him. 

KyuJong's eyes had flickered between the pirates and HyunJoong as he came over, watching the blade move closer. He flinched slightly when the blade sliced across his palm as he tried to grab it, but fumbled around with it anyway, managing to get the hilt and slowly work at the wires around his wrist.

YoungSaeng narrowed his eyes at the com device then up at JungMin. "They're caught. How should we go in? Like this?"

JungMin pursed his lips, looking down at the blade he was twisting between his fingers before tucking it into his back pocket and hiding the hilt with his shirt. "Guess so...play along for now First chance I get, that blade's finding a new home." He looked back to YoungSaeng before heading towards the bridge entrance. 

YoungSaeng rolled his eyes but followed the redhead along towards and into the bridge. He feigned surprise at the two pirates, the one pointing a gun towards JungMin. 

"You two, over there with the others," the man said, waving the gun around. Even from this vantage point YoungSaeng could see the man not well-trained in how to use a weapon. "Who else is on board?"

YoungSaeng stayed silent, shifting slightly behind JungMin's back, his fingers closing around the handle of the dagger.

"Answer me!" the man snapped, reaching down to pick up KyuJong by his hair again. KyuJong yelped, letting go of the dagger quickly before it dropped, his hands still partially bound. He tried to stay still, the gun pointed at his temple.

"Two others, in quarantine," HyunJoong replied quickly, using the same excuse he had used for JungMin and YoungSaeng. "They're highly contagious, I wouldn't—"

"Shut up," snapped the other man, getting out a comm device to presumably communicate with the other pirates and track down the remaining crew. JungMin glanced over at HyunJoong, noticing then a slight bulge in the man's back pocket that he kept hidden from the two pirates. 

"I said, you two over there," the one who had KyuJong said, pointing with the gun towards HyunJoong then back at KyuJong's head. YoungSaeng could see the whites of the pilot's eyes, but didn't make any move to go where instructed.

"Yah! Why aren't you guys answering?" the other was yelling into the com device. YoungSaeng was watching the one who had the pilot, a moment of inattention, the man looking over at the other. Fingers tightening around the hilt of the dagger, YoungSaeng slid it free from JungMin's back pocket, spinning around his back and letting it fly. The dagger hit its mark, burying itself in the man's forehead. 

Yelping, KyuJong wrenched himself away when he saw YoungSaeng moving, dropping to the floor as soon he saw YoungSaeng's arm come down and rolling out of the way.

The second he saw the flash of the dagger, HyunJoong pulled out the gun in his back pocket and fired, the second pirate stumbling backwards. A second bullet had him crashing to the bridge floor, red pooling under him.

HyunJoong stared at the two dead pirates for a moment before hurrying to KyuJong's side, crouching beside him. "You okay?" he murmured, wincing as he saw the slice across KyuJong's hand before picking up the dagger and finishing off the wires binding his hands. 

KyuJong looked up, nodding as he breathed shakily. Once the wires around his wrists were cut and off, he looked down at the cut and frowned. "Yeah, I'm okay... the locks... they weren't... I'm sorry Captain," he whispered, trembling slightly as he pressed his palms together.

"We should get these bodies out of here, and back on their ship," YoungSaeng said softly to JungMin, looking up at him. "See what we can salvage from them as well."

JungMin nodded, glancing at the other two before going to pick up the one HyunJoong had shot, slinging the dead man over one shoulder and leaving the bridge.

"It's fine, it was stupid of me to leave if they could have gotten into the security system," HyunJoong replied softly, working on the wires around his ankles. "It's over now." 

Pulling the blade out from the other's head, YoungSaeng wiped it off on the dead man's shirt before sticking it in his pocket. Lifting the body up onto his shoulder, he followed JungMin off of the bridge.

Leaning against the wall, KyuJong tried to calm down. "HyunJoong," he said softly, watching the other man work. "I never meant what I said. I wouldn't leave you. I mean... I wouldn't leave the ship."

The motion of HyunJoong's hand paused slightly, the Captain not looking up from his task. It wasn't clear what he was thinking from his expression. "...Then I suppose I should thank you," he replied quietly, continuing to saw at the wires. "Though with the state of things now, it isn't as if you'd have a chance to leave for a long time." 

"I could have left at that last stop, but I wasn't going to, I had never intended to," KyuJong said, relaxing a little when the wires finally dropped away from his ankles. "This is my home now," he said with a nod.

Looking up at him, HyunJoong wasn't sure what to make of that, trying to read KyuJong's expression. After a moment his expression eased into a gentler smile, before he placed the knife and wires to one side. "Then you'll always have a place on this ship." He shifted over to the wall beside KyuJong with a sigh, looking at the gun in his hands before clicking the safety back on and placing it aside as well.

Resting back against the wall, he looked at the pool of blood he could see on the other side of the bridge. "I apologize for refusing to explain everything to you," he murmured after a moment. 

"It was never my place to ask, and I'm sorry I pressed it like that," KyuJong said, glancing down at his hands. "Um.. could you get me the first aid kit?" he asked, seeing the blood seep out from between his hands.

Blinking, HyunJoong nodded and stood, going to find one of the kits they kept in cubbyholes in the walls. "I can get that wrapped up for now, but JongWoon should look at it as soon as possible," he said, coming back over and crouching next to him, pulling out gauze and antiseptic wipes. "Whenever they get out of hiding." He held out his hand for KyuJong's. 

"They'll probably be hiding for a while," KyuJong chuckled, pulling his hand away and hissing slightly as more blood poured out. "Um, don't be mad at him, but JongWoon told me, about what happened with... the former pilot," KyuJong said softly, not looking away from his hand.

HyunJoong flinched slightly at that, caught off-guard. He hadn't wanted KyuJong to know, it was still so painful. "...Loose lips," he grumbled, making a mental note to have a discussion with JongWoon about what 'privacy' meant. So the cat was out of the bag. Reaching out, he took KyuJong's hand and pulled it closer, wiping away the blood to see the cut, frowning. "You got yourself good, this might need stitches." He bound it up tightly for now with the gauze. 

"I'll make sure JongWoon fixes me up," KyuJong said with a smile. "As long as you don't kill him first that is." He took HyunJoong's hand with his good one, holding it loosely. "Thank you."

"I haven't done anything worth thanking." HyunJoong looked down at their hands, paused in his motions of securing the end of the gauze with a pin. 

"I meant for fixing up my hand," KyuJong chuckled, pulling his hand away to let him finish.

"No need to thank me for that," HyunJoong quirked a small smile, finishing up and placing things away before standing. "You okay to stand? I need to get our security system back up and running, you should go to the infirmary. JongWoon will be there as soon as I get the comms lines open." 

"I'm okay, I can still help," KyuJong said, slowly getting his feet under him. "Once JungMin and YoungSaeng give the okay, I'll go over to the other ship, it'll be the easiest way to get the lockdown off the system. We're not going anywhere for a while with that tow line in the hull either." He rubbed at his forehead, it was probably going to be a while before any of them got some well deserved rest.

"If there's no way to take it out from the pirate's ship, I can take the shuttle out and remove it manually." HyunJoong tried flicking on his personal comm, in case the missing two had their own on. "HyungJoon, JongWoon?"

 _"Y-yes sir?"_ JongWoon replied after a moment.

"The pirates are dead, we're going to need some help cleaning up." 

"Um.. okay, we'll be there in a second," HyungJoon said into the device, wringing his hands a little. While he was glad the pirates were dead, that meant leaving the room and possibly running into JungMin and YoungSaeng. "We should tell the Captain," he whispered to JongWoon.

JongWoon nodded, eyes still wide. "Right now?" He winced, before drawing in a shaky breath. "We should probably…at least get away from the pirate ship first. We're gonna sound crazy..." 

"Well it is crazy," HyungJoon said, going to the door and opening it slowly. Peeking out into the hall, he didn't see anyone. "Come on, let's go," he said, holding out his hand for JongWoon to take.

Nodding, JongWoon took HyungJoon's hand and squeezed it lightly before stepping out into the hallway after him. The first thing he saw was a pool of blood around a corner. "This is going to be…not fun," he swallowed thickly, heading down towards the bridge and trying not to look around too much. 

"No, it's not," HyungJoon agreed, trying not to look at the blood spatters on the walls and floor. "I guess they did a thorough job, I mean how long were we in that closet for? Half hour at most?"

"It wasn't that long," JongWoon shook his head, biting his lower lip. "The other two are okay, right? If the pirates were in the bridge…" 

"Well the Captain's okay, at least he sounded okay," HyungJoon nodded, but glanced over at JongWoon with a worried look. "Guess we'll find out if Kyu's okay," he swallowed thickly, reaching the ladder and starting to climb up to the bridge.

"I really hope he is," JongWoon bit his lower lip, following after him. They reached the bridge a moment later, and he gagged at the two pools of blood on the floor.

"You both all right?" HyunJoong looked at them, leaning over a terminal.

"Y-yeah," JongWoon nodded, and his eyes widened at the bandage on KyuJong's hand. "Kyu? You okay?" 

Looking over at them, KyuJong nodded, a small smile. "Yeah I'm fine, it's just a cut," he said, turning back to the terminal, trying to get some of their systems back online. "I'll probably need some stitches later though JongWoon, once we're through with this mess."

"Where are JungMin and YoungSaeng?" HyungJoon asked hesitantly, keeping his eyes away from the blood on the floor before he passed out.

"On the pirate ship making another run through to make sure there's no one left," KyuJong said. "You and I are going to have to go over there when we're done, they've got their computer patched to ours and we can't get through from over here."

JongWoon looked at HyungJoon hesitantly before looking at their Captain. "Anything I can do to help?"

HyunJoong straightened from the terminals, giving up getting anything other than life support systems functional until they could get into the pirate's ship. "We're going to see what we can get from the pirate's ship for supplies before disconnecting them from the ship, but we need to wait for KyuJong and HyungJoon to fix the computers first. Think you'll be able to help me get the ship cleaned?"

JongWoon swallowed thickly and glanced at the blood, skin pale before nodding. "O-okay." He had trained as a medic, he should be fine with blood, right?

Squeezing HyungJoon's hand tightly, he followed the Captain off the bridge. 

***************************************16******************************************

Pushing the last of the bodies into a storage hold on the pirate's ship, YoungSaeng shut the door and stretched out his back as he made a face. "Clean up is not one of the parts of the job I enjoy," he grumbled, looking down at his blood soaked hands in disgust. "I think a long shower is in order after this." He turned to look at JungMin. "We done here?"

"Yeah, we should let the others know it's safe to come down here," JungMin said, poking at one of the rust marks on the wall with a wrinkled nose. "Definitely not one of the best pirate ships ever. Though their computers are pretty well-maintained to get into the security systems so quickly." 

"Probably nicked them off a nicer ship," YoungSaeng said, moving past him towards the corridor to the airlock. "These were not smart pirates. If they were, they wouldn't have left their airlock open while their entire crew was over ransacking. Brute force can only get you so far."

"Good thing we got the idiots first then, maybe this'll be a good learning experience," JungMin sighed. "If this had been a higher-ranking ship, it would have been a little harder to get them out of that situation in the bridge." Shaking his head, he lifted his comm device to his mouth to let KyuJong and HyungJoon know it was safe to come down. 

Waiting until JungMin had finished his conversation with the pilot, YoungSaeng stepped through the airlock onto the other ship. "I'm going to guess that the pilot was distracted or asleep while on the bridge. We may have to discuss with the Captain about letting me take a shift on the bridge. The crew is already starting to wear down with having to take shifts for the pilot on top of their other duties, and the pilot needs more rest."

"Yeah, someone has to stay awake at all times now. And they're going to have to let us on the bridge eventually anyways, we're the only ones who know where we're going out here." JungMin followed YoungSaeng, looking at the blood on his hands. "Well, let's continue cleanup." 

*****************

It took the better part of two hours before KyuJong and HyungJoon were able to get past the lockdown safely. Apparently the system only had a kill switch that fried the other computer, and nothing to separate them safely. At the very least they were able to salvage some parts from the computer system that they could use to help them in case of another similar incident.

"You're bleeding all over the console," HyungJoon grumbled, pulling KyuJong away from the wiring. "Go get that stitched up, I'll get the rest of this stuff packed up. Tell the Captain he can come over now and we can go through the rest of the ship."

"But-" KyuJong started but HyungJoon had draped himself over the console and glared. "Fine," he grumbled, turning around and leaving the bridge, fishing out his communicator. "JongWoon? You free to stitch me up?" 

_"Yeah, I'll meet you at the infirmary?"_ JongWoon said, a little shaky. He had been busy cleaning up all the blood left from the bodies along with the others, and he needed a break before he was ill. 

Watching JongWoon go while continuing to scrub the last bit of blood off the wall, YoungSaeng looked toward where HyunJoong was. "How is it that your medic gets sick at the sight of blood?" he asked, clearly amused.

"He's fine most of the time, I think it's just the idea getting to him," HyunJoong shook his head, continuing with what he was doing. The big pool of blood they'd just finished cleaning probably hadn't helped.

Finishing up his spot, JungMin straightened and wrinkled his nose at YoungSaeng. The hallways were going to smell of cleaner for a long time. 

There was a crackling noise as one of the coms went off. " _Captain? The ship is clear, you're free to go over now_ ," KyuJong called over.

"Did you want our help with the salvaging?" YoungSaeng asked, stretching out his back.

"Maybe just for a bit, I'm sure you have more of an idea what would come in handy out here than we do," HyunJoong nodded. 

When he turned to head towards the cargo bay, JungMin followed after him, sticking close to YoungSaeng. "I can join you with that shower, right?" he asked, looking at the older man. 

"You have to ask?" YoungSaeng mused, glancing up at him with a smirk. "Unless you'd rather go see if the pilot was planning on a shower soon."

"But you're more fun," JungMin grinned, nudging his shoulder. "Especially when it comes to showers." 

YoungSaeng snorted and rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything, following HyunJoong over to the other ship. When they stepped in, HyungJoon dropped the box of parts he had been carrying, squeaking slightly at the two of them. YoungSaeng raised a brow and watched the younger man scurry around them back over to the _Proteus_. Looking up at JungMin, he blinked. What had that been about?

Looking just as confused, JungMin shrugged at the look YoungSaeng gave him. Someone was a little worked-up still from the pirate's visit.

HyunJoong started going through one of the storage rooms, frowning. Ship parts, food and medical equipment he knew they would need, but that still left a lot of stuff he wasn't sure what to do with. "What should we take with us?" Thankfully they had a lot of room on board. 

"Weapons," YoungSaeng said, finding the weapons locker and opening it up. There were a lot of good weapons, many looked new with enough ammunition. "They must have hijacked an arms dealer," he mused, lifting up a shotgun and testing the weight. "Most of these are military issue."

"Should we take them all?" HyunJoong asked, watching him.

"Of course, the more the better," JungMin replied, going to help YoungSaeng get them out of the locker. "There's a bunch of metal scraps in the corner, if people keep shooting holes in the wall you might need them." 

"The next training will be on weapons for you and the pilot," YoungSaeng said, finding a bag and starting to load up weapons into it. "Although it seems you know your way around a handgun at least." His eyes lit up when he opened a drawer. "Oh, this is pretty," he murmured, lifting out the sniper rifle. "Haven't used one of these in a while."

"Not much room for it in the hallways, but never know," JungMin grinned, poking around beside him. He preferred knives and close-quarters weapons himself, a fact that quickly became obvious as he found a drawer full of them and started fishing out the good ones. 

"Never know," YoungSaeng nodded in agreement, placing the rifle in the bag. Opening another drawer, he made a face at the grenades and plastics, but they could be useful. Once he had everything loaded into a couple bags, he zipped them up and slung the lighter one over his shoulder. "You have a weapons locker for these?" he asked HyunJoong.

"Not an official one, but we can convert one of the lockers into one," HyunJoong replied, going over a pile of supplies and finding things that might be useful, placing them in a bag. "Seems we're going to need it from now on."

"Got that right," JungMin twirled a knife around his fingers experimentally, liking the grip, before sheathing it and placing it in the bag left on the floor before shouldering it as well. 

"Most likely," YoungSaeng nodded. "You won't want to go onto any planet without at least two weapons on you. As it is, you and your crew need to ditch the uniforms. Federation civilians are easy marks out here."

Nodding in understanding, HyunJoong filled up the bag and stood, picking it up. "We'll do that then. Perhaps later we should all sit down and go over other things we need to know, if some things are easily fixed." 

"Perhaps we should," YoungSaeng nodded, turning to back to the other ship. "I think we could all use some rest though." He looked over his shoulder, smirking slightly at HyunJoong. "Your crew did okay though. No one got seriously hurt. That's important."

"Yes," HyunJoong nodded with a small smile. "That is definitely a relief. Thank you for keeping us safe."

JungMin grinned a little before leaving the room, heading back to the cargo bay. 

"It was fun," YoungSaeng chuckled, following after JungMin. HyungJoon was still in the cargo bay when they came in, sorting through boxes. He still had that timid rabbit look to him and wouldn't look at either of the two assassins. "Is there something wrong HyungJoon?" YoungSaeng asked softly, seeing the flinch when he spoke.

"No, nope, nothing's wrong, where's the Captain?" HyungJoon squeaked, edging away from them. YoungSaeng pointed towards the airlock and watched him scamper away.

JungMin frowned, watching him go. "I swear I didn't beat him up," he said, confused. The engineer hadn't been like that since they'd first come on the ship. 

"Odd," YoungSaeng shook his head as he deposited the bags to be taken care of later. Ignoring the engineer's odd behavior, he turned to JungMin with a smile. "Shower time?"

Completely forgetting whatever was up with HyungJoon, JungMin grinned as he put down his share of the bags. "Shower time~" he chuckled, wrapping one arm around YoungSaeng's waist and heading back to the stairs.

HyunJoong continued to sort through things they could take with them, finding spare ship parts just as HyungJoon ran in. "Can you come help me with these, Joon?" he asked, waving the younger man over. 

"Sure Captain," HyungJoon nodded, glancing over his shoulder nervously in case JungMin and YoungSaeng came back. Starting to sort through them, looking for things in the best condition, he frowned slightly. "There isn't much here worth taking. Most of it's too damaged from being ripped out of machinery."

"Well, it was worth a look," HyunJoong sighed softly. "Want to put anything that we _can_ use in one of these bags while I go through the rest of the supplies?" He pulled a few bags over before going to a different locker. 

HyungJoon nodded, picking over what was there. "We were able to get the tow rope out of the hull, sir," he said, inspecting a part carefully. "Luckily there wasn't too much damage to the hull, but next stop we make it's going to have to be patched up."

HyunJoong nodded. "We'll go over the course again with JungMin and YoungSaeng." He stood up. "I'm going to see if I can hunt down any star charts or navigation logs...might come in handy." Looking around, he left the storage room for the pirate ship's bridge. 

After going through all the parts that were in the lockers, HyungJoon lifted up the bag of stuff he'd accumulated. He popped his head into the bridge on his way out. "Finished Captain, I'm going to drop these off in the cargo bay and let KyuJong know we'll be ready to go soon. You almost done here?"

"Yes," HyunJoong nodded, rolling up a few charts and planet maps he'd found. "Done now, actually. We can check up on them in the infirmary, JongWoon should be done fixing KyuJong's hand by now." 

Leaving the ship, HyungJoon waited for HyunJoong to through before closing the pirate ships airlock behind them, and then closing their own airlock. "I'm ready for a very long nap after this," HyungJoon sighed, setting the bag down in the pile with the other stuff.

"Sounds about right," HyunJoong chuckled tiredly, placing the charts down to bring to the bridge later. "Let's see how the other two are fairing." He climbed up the stairs onto the main deck, heading towards the infirmary. 

Following behind, HyungJoon noticed how the pools of blood were now gone and there was very little evidence of the attack other than a couple bullet holes here and there. At the infirmary, he slid in behind the Captain. "Hey, we're ready to get out of here, you almost done?"

KyuJong was watching JongWoon bind up his hand again. "Yeah, just about done." Glancing up at the two, he smiled. "Get a lot of good stuff?"

"Lots of weapons and some food, and some charts we can look over after," HyunJoong said, leaning against the wall. "How's his hand, JongWoon?"

"Stitches for sure, and I'm making it so he can't break them open, it'll take a while to heal," JongWoon replied, securing the end of the gauze and sitting back with a sigh before going to clean off his hands. 

"I'll have to take it easy on the crazy flying for a while," KyuJong chuckled getting to his feet. "Thank you JongWoon," he said, starting for the door.

Chewing on his lip, HyungJoon looked over at JongWoon. "We should tell them. Now, while they aren't here."

"Tell us what?" HyunJoong frowned, looking between HyungJoon and the panicked expression on JongWoon's face as he held out one hand to stop KyuJong from leaving.

JongWoon wring his hands, before nodding. "O-okay. You're going to think we're absolutely crazy, but we swear we're telling the truth." 

KyuJong raised an eyebrow at that, leaning against the wall to wait and hear what it was. HyungJoon was shifting from one foot to the other nervously. "So, we were hiding in one of the storage closets you know? Near the mess hall? And this pirate was coming towards us, and he was like two doors away from finding us. Then this other pirate came by and _killed_ him."

"One pirate killed another," KyuJong blinked. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"No, it was JungMin," HyungJoon shook his head violently.

"JungMin was what," KyuJong shook his head.

"JungMin was the pirate," HyungJoon said, looking to HyunJoong.

"...Wait, you're not making any sense," HyunJoong frowned. "JungMin isn't a pirate."

"He _was_ ," JongWoon shuffled, eyes wide. "We saw the second pirate kill the first one, and then the second pirate changed _into_ JungMin. A-and then another pirate appeared, and changed into YoungSaeng. We saw JungMin take out his comm device and speak with you before leaving!" 

"What do you mean changed?" KyuJong asked, just as confused as HyunJoong. "Like were they dressed as pirates?"

"Yes," HyungJoon nodded. "But, they _looked_ like pirates too. Like, they were completely different people, and then the..the second pirate like his whole body moved weirdly and his hair grew out and his face changed into JungMin."

"What?" KyuJong wasn't following at all.

"They _shapeshifted_ ," HyungJoon said, his eyes still wide.

HyunJoong stared at them both, and it was clear he didn't believe them. "I'm pretty sure shapeshifting isn't something that's covered in assassin training."

"We know that," JongWoon whined. "What if the Feds did something to them? Or they're not _human_? There's other races, right?"

"Not in the Federation," HyunJoong frowned.

"But they've been out _here_ before...what if they're _not_ from the Federation?" 

"So, what, they're aliens?" KyuJong scoffed, shaking his head. "They don't look like aliens to me."

"If they can change from their normal form to another human, who's to say they can't change from an alien to human?" HyungJoon said, shifting closer to JongWoon.

KyuJong pursed his lips, looking at HyunJoong. "It could explain the collars."

HyunJoong frowned. "With the security feeds down during that time, there's no way to check this for ourselves."

"Captain, HyungJoon and I have never lied to you," JongWoon said, eyes wide. "We know what we saw."

The Captain was silent for a moment before sighing. "No, I trust you both. But that leaves us with another problem."

What were they going to do about this? 

"I think it's time we got some more answers out of them," KyuJong said softly, his arms crossed over his chest. "We know they've been hiding something...if this is true, we deserve to know."

HyunJoong nodded, looking at the wall across from him as he thought. "I think the first thing we should do is move away from the pirate ship, and get some rest. We can't be objective about this if we're weaving on our feet. I'll keep an eye on the security feeds and sensors." 

"I'll get us back on course," KyuJong nodded, pushing away from the wall and heading out of the infirmary.

HyungJoon shuffled over closer to JongWoon. "Let's go get some sleep," he said, swallowing roughly. Not that they would be able to sleep really, he was still a little wound up over what had happened.

Nodding, JongWoon placed everything away before taking HyungJoon's arm. "Please tell me we're staying in the same room," he said, nervous about the new discovery. JungMin and YoungSaeng were aliens. 

"You should just move in to my room," HyungJoon whimpered, tightening his hold on the other's arm. It would probably be a long while before either of them slept in separate beds.

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea at all." JongWoon drew in a shaky breath before pulling the younger man out of the infirmary. "Can we just lock ourselves in there until this whole mess is over?" 

"I like that idea," HyungJoon nodded enthusiastically. When they passed by JungMin and YoungSaeng's door, he pushed JongWoon over to give it a wide berth. "I don't think the Captain will agree though."

"No, don't think he will," JongWoon sighed softly, not relaxing at all until they were in HyungJoon's room and the door was closed behind them.

Feeling tears prick the back of his eyes, he wrapped his arms around his best friend and pulled him close, burying his nose in HyungJoon's collar. "That was close," he whispered. 

Encircling his arms around JongWoon, HyungJoon rested his cheek against the side of the man's head. "It was, very close," he whispered. "But we got through it, and we're okay."

"Yeah," JongWoon murmured, giving a shaky sigh. "We're okay." He ran a small hand through HyungJoon's hair. "Can we get some sleep now?" 

"Yeah, try to at least," HyungJoon smiled, pulling back a little to smile as best he could before pulling them both over to the bed. Kicking off his shoes, he waited until JongWoon did the same before dragging him under the covers. "I knew it was going to be rough out here, I just didn't know how rough," he murmured, coiling up around his best friend.

"We need to practice more," JongWoon replied, burying his face in HyungJoon's hair. "A lot more." He was so glad that HyungJoon was all right though, rubbing his hand slowly over the younger man's back. 

"Definitely," HyungJoon nodded, squeezing JongWoon tightly. "Get some sleep," he whispered, tilting his head up to press a kiss to JongWoon's lips, needing that bit of comfort from his best friend.

Kissing HyungJoon back, JongWoon whispered "you too" when he pulled back, resting against HyungJoon and closing his eyes. They would have a lot to do when they woke up...starting with getting some answers. 

**************

Drumming his fingers on the table, YoungSaeng glanced over at JungMin a little irritably. They'd been called to the mess hall first thing, it seemed the Captain wanted to discuss something with them. "I hope this doesn't take too long," he mumbled. He wanted to get to sorting out those weapons and check of how good condition they were in.

"Who knows," JungMin pouted, resting his head in one hand while they waited for the others to arrive. "They probably want to go over pointers on pirate attacks, that could take a while. Can I help out with the weapons after?" 

"I'm surprised you bothered to ask," YoungSaeng chuckled, rolling his shoulder a little. "I saw the way you were eyeing those knives. I wouldn't let anyone else go through those."

"Some of them were really nice, I might have to sneak one or two out of the weapons locker." JungMin's eyes danced. "The blades need to be sharpened a little, stupid pirates wouldn't know a proper dagger from a butter knife, but they're really, really nice." 

"Pirates don't know what to do with a gun let alone a knife," YoungSaeng rolled his eyes. He heard the door open and looked over to see KyuJong. The pilot was looking at them nervously but came over to sit down across from them. "What's this about?" YoungSaeng asked him softly, his head tilted to the side.

"I'll...let the Captain explain," KyuJong responded, looking down at the table.

JungMin blinked at the pilot, raising an eyebrow. Okay, something was up. "How's your hand?" he asked, as JongWoon and HyungJoon came into the room. The former shuffled backwards slightly before pulling HyungJoon to the farthest spot on the table they could get. 

"It's fine, thank you," KyuJong said, looking down at the injured hand on top of the table. YoungSaeng's eyes narrowed at the other two sitting down farther away than usual. Something was definitely up now, and he straightened slightly in his seat.

"Where is the Captain then?" YoungSaeng asked, sliding his hand under the table to take JungMin's. He was a little nervous now.

"On the bridge, h-he'll be here soon," JongWoon mumbled, staying attached to HyungJoon's side and not looking at them. While it wasn't unusual for the two to be nervous around YoungSaeng and JungMin, this was rather extreme.

A minute later, HyunJoong stepped through the door and went to sit down next to KyuJong. Seeing the apprehensive looks on everyone's faces, he looked to YoungSaeng and JungMin. "I think it's time to have some of our questions answered." 

YoungSaeng exchanged a glance with JungMin. Something must have happened for them to want to know now. "Alright, questions like what?" YoungSaeng said softly, looking to the Captain, his expression unreadable.

"What are you?" HyungJoon blurted out, immediately regretting saying anything when YoungSaeng's eyes shifted to him.

JongWoon wrapped his arms tighter around HyungJoon, not missing how JungMin stiffened slightly.

"JongWoon and HyungJoon told us about something they saw during the pirate attack last night," HyunJoong clarified, tone serious. "They saw two pirates change into the both of you. Shapeshift. HyungJoon's question is a little crude, but it is what we want to know. You aren't human, are you?" 

KyuJong watched the two exchange another glance. He could see the worry in their eyes even if they both tried to cover it. After a moment, YoungSaeng sighed heavily, folding his hands together on top of the table as he looked at HyunJoong. "No, we are not human," he replied. "You have to forgive us for keeping that from you, but from our experience, it's better not to say."

The confirmation of what they'd suspected took a moment to take in, HyunJoong looking at the man across the table for a long moment before nodding slowly. "What are you, then?" he asked quietly.

JungMin frowned down at the table, tapping his fingers against it and glancing at YoungSaeng beside him before looking up at the others through his bangs. "Have you ever heard of the Shinbi?" 

Looking at the others, then back, HyungJoon shook his head slowly. "Knowledge of other races wasn't exactly encouraged," KyuJong said quietly, chewing on his lip. "It's not that we didn't know there were other races, it's just we're never told."

"Expected," YoungSaeng's lip twitched slightly. "Our people are from a system very, very far from Federation territories. Our government and territory is larger than the Federation, and frankly, more advanced."

"So how did you end up here then?" KyuJong asked.

JungMin scowled down at the table. "Kidnapping, from a colony that strayed too far from the others. A patrol snuck in and grabbed a handful of children, bringing us back to Federation space."

"You were kids?" JongWoon asked softly. JungMin glanced at him.

"Comparable to human preteens, I suppose." 

"We were the oldest," YoungSaeng said, looking at JungMin with an unreadable expression before looking at HyunJoong. "They trained us from then on to be their assassins."

"Do you want to go back to your people?" KyuJong asked. "Your family?"

"It may not be possible," YoungSaeng shook his head, looking down at the table. "Our people didn't believe in...associating with other races. If they knew we had been living and working for the Federation all this time, we might be turned away."

"Even though you had no choice in the matter?" HyunJoong asked.

"That doesn't matter," JungMin's jaw clenched slightly. "We've spent over half our lives as Federation property, we're as good as human to them now."

HyunJoong glanced over at the others. This explained somewhat why they'd been collared and placed in deep sleep rather than being allowed to travel around normally. "So you're a race of...shapeshifters?" 'Shinbi' meant mystery.

"Yeah," JungMin nodded. 

"If you can't go back, then what?" KyuJong asked quietly, his expression thoughtful.

"We haven't figured that out yet," YoungSaeng smiled sadly. "We're no better off than you are at this point. No home to go back to, and nowhere that's exactly accepting of us."

"If it helps," KyuJong said, looking around at the others before turning back with a soft smile. "We accept you. I mean, it's going to take a bit to get used to, but we're not going to throw you back in containers and put collars on you or anything."

"No way, you're not animals, and even animals deserve better treatment than that," HyungJoon huffed. He'd started to relax a little now that they knew for sure. Didn't make him any less scared, but he'd been scared of the two to begin with.

JungMin eyed both HyungJoon and KyuJong, not seeming entirely sure what to make of that, before nodding. "Thank you for that then." He had been bracing himself for a fight, shoulders slowly relaxing as he saw nothing was going to happen to him or YoungSaeng because of this.

"So if you're...shapeshifters, then is this how you really look?" JongWoon asked hesitantly. His imagination had been running images of the stereotypical stick-thin, green-skinned, buggy-eyed aliens around his head.

Glancing at the negotiator, JungMin shook his head. "This is just our usual human forms." 

"Can we see what you really look like?" HyungJoon asked, yelping when KyuJong reached over to him over the head.

YoungSaeng frowned, glancing over at JungMin. He worried if they would be able to handle it right then. That was a lot of information to take in. "Maybe another time," he said softly.

JungMin nodded, looking a little uncomfortable. "Another time."

HyunJoong nodded slowly, and sighed, leaning back a little with a small smile. "Thank you for answering our questions. It's understandable why you never said anything before." The attitude towards other races in the Federation was that they were all hostile, barbaric and ready to kill as soon as blink...and while JungMin and YoungSaeng were definitely killers, it wasn't who they had been. It was what the Federation trained them to be. 

"I hope now we can trust each other a little more," YoungSaeng said, looking to HyunJoong. "We won't make it far out here if you don't trust us." Smoothing his hands over the table, his eyes narrowed a little. "Now that we have answered your questions, I think it only fair you answer some of ours."

Meeting his gaze, HyunJoong was silent for a moment before nodding, glancing at his crew then back to the two across from them. He was glad to see out of the corner of his eyes JongWoon loosen his grip around HyungJoon's waist, less fearful for their lives. "What questions do you want answered?" the Captain asked, watching YoungSaeng. 

"What happened to the rest of the crew?" YoungSaeng asked, his head tilted to the side. "This is a good sized ship, and needs more than four people to run it." HyungJoon made a strangled noise, but slinked down in his seat, glancing over at the Captain.

HyunJoong's shoulders tensed at the question, but he should have expected it. There wasn't much that had been kept from YoungSaeng and JungMin...apart from that. Looking down at the table, he toyed with the idea of not answering, but what had just been revealed to them would have been far more difficult to say than this. KyuJong already knew as well.

"They were offered better jobs on a different ship," he said after a moment, picking his words carefully. "The man offering them was...extremely convincing."

JungMin narrowed his eyes at that; there seemed more behind what HyunJoong was saying, both JongWoon and HyungJoon looking very apprehensive. 

Nodding a little, YoungSaeng looked around at the others. KyuJong's head was bowed with shoulders up, while HyungJoon's eyes kept glancing towards the Captain. There was more to it, but obviously that was all they were going to get for the time being. "Alright," he said after a moment. "Was there anything else, or can we go?"

"That is all," HyunJoong nodded, glancing up at them both. "Thank you."

JungMin pursed his lips before standing, hands in his pockets. "Let's go then," he murmured to YoungSaeng, glancing at the others before heading towards the mess hall door.

Once they were both gone, JongWoon gave a soft sigh of relief, slumping a little against HyungJoon. "So...they're both aliens," he said, trying to move the subject away from YoungSaeng's question. 

"Aliens," HyungJoon repeated, still watching the door. "That.. was not expecting that at all," he said, shaking his head.

"I think we have a lot to learn about what's out here," KyuJong said quietly.

"At least we have good guides," HyunJoong said, shaking his head a little before standing. "Which reminds me, there were some star charts and planet maps on the pirate ship. Could you come take a look at them with me, KyuJong?" 

KyuJong nodded, getting to his feet. He was going to have trouble focusing on charts and maps after that. 

Watching the Captain and pilot leave, HyungJoon looked to JongWoon, much calmer than when they had come in. "No wonder they can move so fast," he said with a pout.

Nodding, JongWoon winced. "And why they seemed like they were always holding themselves back. What do you suppose they look like...you know, really look like?" He rested his cheek against HyungJoon's shoulder. 

"I have no idea," HyungJoon shook his head before leaning it against JongWoon's. "I'm betting it's not little green guys with big eyes though."

"...That was the first thing that came to mind okay," JongWoon sniffed. "I can't help it, that's the only image of aliens we've got other than scary, slimy, eight-headed things with razor-sharp teeth, and I'd take the little green hobgoblins over those any day." 

HyungJoon snorted, nudging JongWoon with his shoulder. "Silly. You watch too many horror movies."

"I can't help it," JongWoon whined. "And so many of the horror movies are on aliens now." He didn't lift his head from HyungJoon's shoulder. "What now?" 

"I dunno, you have work to do today?" HyungJoon asked, pulling back a little to look down at him.

JongWoon nodded. "Should probably help sort through the stuff we got from the pirate ship and add it to the supply lists." They needed to know exactly what was on board since they were running on limited supplies now. 

"Yeah, we got some parts I want to look over and see what we can use," HyungJoon nodded, sighing morosely. "Well, let's get to it then," he said, getting to his feet. "I don't think we're going to be bored as much anymore."

"Probably not," JongWoon stood as well, one hand still lightly on HyungJoon's arm. "I'm going to miss the peace and quiet." 

"You and me both," HyungJoon mumbled, taking JongWoon's hand and heading towards the door. "I would kind of just like to settle on a planet somewhere where there's no pirates and people trying to kill us. You think the Captain would go for that?"

"I have no idea, we'd have to find a planet like that first," JongWoon sighed as he followed after the younger man. "Which might take a long, long time..." 

*************

KyuJong stared up at the bulkhead, sighing heavily. No matter which way he lay, or how he wrapped up in the blankets, he couldn't get comfortable. It had been close to two hours since he'd got off duty, and had tossed and turned the whole time. Pulling the tangled sheets off of him, he got his feet on the ground. Maybe he just needed...something. Frowning, he pulled on his clothes and stuffed his feet into his boots before slipping out of his room.

No one else was around. HyungJoon was on the bridge, and JongWoon was supposedly keeping him company. Padding down the hallway, he stopped at a door, knocking lightly. Maybe he'd be awake.

There was a dull thump from the other side of the door, like a pillow hitting the metal. A minute passed before the door opened and JungMin blinked at the older man, his hair tousled and shirt missing, with some very recent nail marks on his shoulder. "Hey Kyu." 

"Um.. hey," KyuJong blinked at JungMin in disarray, then over his shoulder at YoungSaeng who was sprawled out on the bed, watching them. "I'm sorry, you're busy, I'll talk to you another time," he said, turning to go back to his room.

"Wait," YoungSaeng said softly, sliding off the bed and padding over the door. KyuJong stopped and looked back at them. YoungSaeng's arms were around JungMin's waist, the man's eyes peeking out from around his shoulder. "You don't have to leave in such a rush."

"No, it's okay, I'm sorry for interrupting," KyuJong shook his head. YoungSaeng looked up at JungMin with a pout.

JungMin chuckled before opening the door wider. "Well, we're already interrupted, so why don't you come in? What did you want to talk about? Unless it wasn't really talking you had in mind," he quirked an eyebrow up, stepping out of the way and nudging YoungSaeng back as well so that KyuJong could come in. 

Looking between them, KyuJong frowned and shook his head. "No, it's okay, I just... had a question," he said, shuffling a little in the hallway.

"Ask away," YoungSaeng smiled softly, not moving from behind JungMin.

"You said that a few of you were taken as children, does that mean there are other uh.. shapeshifters being used as assassins?" KyuJong asked.

"A couple yes, some of the children didn't survive," YoungSaeng said with a sad smile, looking away.

Quirking an eyebrow at the question, JungMin leaned against the door beside him, glancing over his shoulder at YoungSaeng before returning his gaze to KyuJong. "The training was very hard, and as you've noticed, we're not exactly treated on the same level as you humans. Some of the ones they took were way too young, and died of injuries, malnutrition and sickness." He shrugged a little, lips pressed together. 

"We don't think about that time much, it was very difficult to get through," YoungSaeng murmured, his arms tightening around JungMin.

"I can't even imagine," KyuJong said, looking at YoungSaeng, sadly. The older had closed his eyes, cheek pressed to JungMin's shoulder. "So, there others still alive then?"

"Yes, we don't like them much," YoungSaeng's nose wrinkled. "Let's not talk about them."

"Oh, okay, I'm sorry," KyuJong nodded, taking a step back. "Well, that was it, I'll just be going. Sorry for interrupting."

"You sure you don't want to come in?" JungMin pouted, watching him. "Neither of us will mind, especially YoungSaeng." There was a mischievous spark in the redhead's eyes. "He's been really lonely lately." 

Blinking at that, KyuJong shook his head, backing up another step. "Uh, no, that's okay. I'll just go."

"Too bad," YoungSaeng pouted, looking up at JungMin. "I don't think anyone likes me anymore JungMin. First the Captain stops coming by, and now the pilot rejects me."

KyuJong looked sharply at YoungSaeng, lips pursed. HyunJoong wasn't sleeping with YoungSaeng anymore? "I'm sorry for bothering you two, night," KyuJong nodded his head and turned to head back down the hall.

JungMin watched him go, lips quirked in amusement before he pouted back down at YoungSaeng. "It's okay, I'll keep you company," he chuckled, closing the door. Once it was closed, he leaned against it, drawing YoungSaeng close. "Looks like our game's drawing to a close." 

"So it would seem, I guess we'll just have to find something else to keep us amused," YoungSaeng chuckled, pulling JungMin back towards the bed.

KyuJong's steps slowed the closer he got back to his room. HyunJoong had stopped going to see YoungSaeng. It wasn't because of YoungSaeng, the older seemed to be put out that he only had JungMin now. So what was the reason? There was a brief flutter of hope that KyuJong's words on the bridge the day before, after the attack, had had an affect. Stopping just short of his door, his eyes moved to the end of the hall, towards HyunJoong's door.

Taking a deep breath, KyuJong continued on, past his quarters and on to knock on the Captain's door. He doubted the older man would be asleep.

Working on his desk, HyunJoong looked up at the knock on his door. He placed his pen down and got up, wondering who it was. If HyungJoon or JongWoon had needed anything, they would have called down with the comm line.

He stepped over to the door and unlocked it, opening it to see KyuJong standing in the hallway. He blinked at that, not expecting to see KyuJong. "Hey. Weren't you going to sleep?" 

"Tried, didn't work so well," KyuJong said sheepishly, scrubbing a hand through his hair. "Um, can we talk for a minute? If you're not too busy I mean.."

"Of course," HyunJoong replied, stepping aside so KyuJong could come in if he wanted to. "Is there something bothering you?" He went to sit down on the edge of his bed. 

Now that he was there in the Captain's quarters, KyuJong wasn't sure what to say. He tried not to pace, so he leaned against the door with his arms crossed. Chewing on his lip, he avoided looking at HyunJoong. "You think I'd do the same thing as JaeJoong did, that's why you went to YoungSaeng, isn't it?" he asked quietly.

HyunJoong's eyes widened slightly in shock at the unexpected question, hands clasped tightly in his lap as he watched KyuJong lean against the door. He wasn't sure what to say, where KyuJong was going with this. "...Perhaps," he replied vaguely, looking up at him for a moment longer before looking down at his clasped hands. "Why are you asking me this?" 

"Because maybe it feels a little better knowing that," KyuJong shrugged. "And since I don't think that's the same reason you stopped going to YoungSaeng as well, I didn't want to torture myself thinking something that wasn't true."

Hands curling tighter together, HyunJoong didn't look up at the younger man. They had never talked about the visits he used to make, and he'd been fine not talking about it. "And what would that be?" 

"That I was just another warm body to you," KyuJong said quietly. That had been his fear since the beginning, that HyunJoong didn't care about him.

It hurt to hear that, partly because for the first few weeks, it had been true. HyunJoong closed his eyes, not sure what to say. It was a moment before he replied. "If you were, I wouldn't have stopped." With KyuJong, nor with YoungSaeng. 

KyuJong nodded shortly, but had to look away, feeling the backs of his eyes burn. "I'm not him, HyunJoong. I meant it, about not leaving, and I hope one day you can believe me." Pushing away from the door, he turned and put his hand on the handle. "I'm sorry for bothering you this late, Captain. I'll see you in the morning."

Opening his eyes, HyunJoong looked down at KyuJong's feet, turned towards the door. He wasn't sure why he said what he did next. "You can stay...if you want," he murmured, hands clasped tightly as he slowly looked up at KyuJong. He wasn't sure what KyuJong wanted...he didn't even know what he himself wanted.

No, he did know, but that wasn't something he was ready for. 

The door cracked open, KyuJong stopped and blinked a few times. HyunJoong had never offered his room before, always coming to KyuJong's room. Swallowing roughly, KyuJong slowly closed the door. "Do you want me to stay?" he asked, not turning around.

HyunJoong looked up at him, watching him close the door again.

"I would like for you to," he replied quietly. "But whether you do or not is up to you." KyuJong had to know that he wasn't ready for anything beyond what they had before; it wasn't a mentality he could get over just like that. So he offered the younger man the choice, seeing if he would come to him this time. 

KyuJong closed his eyes, warring with himself about what to do. Wasn't this what he wanted? Why he'd come here? Slowly turning around, KyuJong made his way over to stand in front of HyunJoong, pausing for a moment before he pulled HyunJoong's hands out of the way to ease down into his lap. Resting his hands on the man's shoulders, he looked into his eyes. "I want to stay," he whispered. He didn't know what this meant, but he was going to take what he could get, just to feel HyunJoong again.

Hands resting lightly against KyuJong's hips, HyunJoong gave a small smile, looking up at the younger man. He'd missed this, even if he wouldn't admit it to himself. "Then stay." He brought his lips to KyuJong's jaw in a soft kiss; he'd never kissed KyuJong's lips while they were like this. One hand ran along KyuJong's back, pressing against the material of his shirt. 

Eyes fluttering closed, KyuJong's hand slid up into HyunJoong's hair, enjoying the older man's touch. It's what he had missed the most, how gentle HyunJoong was with him. JungMin had been rough, almost demanding, and although he enjoyed it at the time, he preferred this.

Pressing another kiss into the soft skin when KyuJong's reaction was positive, HyunJoong dropped his head to the younger man's neck, nudging his collar to one side. After a moment the hand running along his back slipped under KyuJong's shirt, moving the material up as he traced fingers along the pilot's spine, then around to his belly, tracing the line of his ribs. 

Sighing softly, KyuJong arched into the hand on his stomach, craving more of that soft touch. The hand on HyunJoong's shoulder curled lightly into the fabric, bunching it up beneath his fingers. The more HyunJoong touched him, the heavier his breathing got, panting lightly into HyunJoong's ear.

A small smile curled HyunJoong's lips before he shifted back on the bed, bringing KyuJong around to lay him down slowly against the mattress. "You can always choose if you want this or not," he murmured against KyuJong's neck, fingers moving up to KyuJong's chest as he eased his shirt off. 

KyuJong's eyes slowly opened when he heard HyunJoong speak, blinking up at him as he helped pull his shirt off and toss it to the floor. Wrapping both arms around HyunJoong's neck, he leaned up to press his lips to the man's neck and shoulders. "I want this," he whispered back. "Always want this."

*********************************17***********************************************

JongWoon released an indignant yelp as an attempt to lock YoungSaeng in a hold (that actually looked like it was going to work this time) ended up in being shoved over the assassin's hip to sprawl out on his stomach on the ground.

Leaning over the catwalk railing to see how training was going, HyunJoong quirked an eyebrow at his negotiator. "Still having no luck, JongWoon?"

"I thought I had it," the older man protested, wincing as he pushed himself up to his feet again. He was going to have bruises later. 

"You almost did," YoungSaeng sighed, shaking his head at JongWoon. "Next time, secure your grip before you try to flip me," he said, stretching his back a little. He tilted his head up to look at the Captain and pilot who were hanging out on the catwalk. "It's not your day, why are you two here?"

"Watching," KyuJong grinned. "JongWoon, are we going to have to hire you a personal body guard, cause there's no way you're ready to take on anyone except for maybe HyungJoon." The engineer heard that and shouted something over at him before he was quieted with a yelp.

"You focus on your own training, not his," JungMin informed HyungJoon with hands propped on his hips after knocking the younger man over. 'That attack was horrible."

"There's a reason why I never made it into the military," JongWoon grumbled with a pout, dusting off his knees before getting ready to try again.

HyunJoong shook his head at them both. "We're going to have to keep shoving them into closets I think." 

"I think you're right," KyuJong chuckled, watching YoungSaeng easily get out of another hold and the negotiator faceplanting again. "As entertaining as this is, it's also a little depressing. We're not much better than that if YoungSaeng and JungMin still wipe the floor with us."

"We at least get a few holds and attacks right," HyunJoong shook his head. "I doubt we'll ever be as good as them even if we did nothing but train." 

"They have a few years on us I think," KyuJong nodded. "I wonder just how good they are," he said, leaning against the railing. "They always look so bored during training."

YoungSaeng glanced up at the two again a their conversation, holding up his hand for JongWoon to stop. "Break time," he said, before turning to call over to JungMin. "Min?"

"Yeah?" JungMin looked up from where he had one knee pressed into HyungJoon's back, keeping him down and berating him for another lousy attempt to get one up on him. JongWoon flopped down to the floor the second YoungSaeng called break, panting and brushing his messy hair out of his eyes. 

"Break time for the wonder twins," YoungSaeng said, rolling his shoulders a little as he meandered over to where JungMin was. "I think it's time we showed them what a real spar looks like."

Blinking, JungMin grinned widely and let HyungJoon go, standing up and stretching out his arms. "About time, I was wondering if it was possible to fall asleep training."

"We're doing our best," JongWoon protested, waving his hands for HyungJoon to get over to where he was.

Interest caught, HyunJoong sat down on the edge of the catwalk, wondering how this would go. 

"You two might want to get up on the catwalk," YoungSaeng said as HyungJoon limped past. The younger nodded.

KyuJong sat down next to HyunJoong, arms on the railing as he leaned over. The other two came up shortly and sat down.

"No holding back?" YoungSaeng mused to JungMin, pulling his overshirt off and tossing it to the side before stretching his back out a bit.

"What would the fun be in that," JungMin smirked, doing the same and brushing his bangs out of his eyes as he slowly started to circle around. "Short of damaging the ship sound good to you?" His eyes had lightened into a pale grey. 

"I think the Captain would prefer that," YoungSaeng nodded, standing still and watching JungMin, his eyes matching JungMin's pale grey. "Well? Are you going to hit me or not?"

"So impatient."

JungMin suddenly lashed out without warning, moving faster than he ever had in practice to strike at YoungSaeng's side. But it was a bluff, dropping low at the last second and swiping out with his feet. 

KyuJong couldn't even keep up with how quickly YoungSaeng jumped over the feet, using JungMin's shoulder as a pivot point to swing around and drop behind him. "Predictable," YoungSaeng snorted, "I said hit me," he gave a light shove to JungMin's shoulders as he dropped back a few steps.

Going forward when his shoulder was pushed, JungMin swung one leg back around quick enough to catch YoungSaeng's ankle with his foot. "The more you talk, the easier this is," the redhead grinned, leaping up from a crouch to lash out properly with both hands. 

Eyes narrowed, YoungSaeng dropped to the ground and twisted to roll out of the way before JungMin could land on him. Ankles still hooked together, he yanked up on JungMin's leg to get him off balance and give YoungSaeng enough time to roll back over onto his feet. "You're the one who talks to much," YoungSaeng smirked at JungMin, before starting on the offensive, jumping up, he aimed a double footed kick at JungMin's midsection.

Eyes flashing, JungMin grabbed YoungSaeng's feet as he was kicked and brought them both to the ground, rolling to get on top. "Oh really!"

JongWoon stared down at the two, barely able to follow the movements that had happened in the blink of an eye. "Who's winning, any idea?" 

"No idea," HyungJoon shook his head slowly. He hadn't closed his mouth since the beginning of the session, completely flabbergasted at how people could move that fast.

"Yes, really," YoungSaeng growled, letting JungMin roll on top, then sliding down out from underneath him. Spinning around into a crouch, YoungSaeng sprang up, leaping at JungMin's back. Using him as a vault, he flipped over the redhead, landing in front of him as he brought down his fist, aiming for JungMin's jaw.

Grabbing the offending fist, JungMin pulled YoungSaeng through the motion and assisted the older man with a solid kick to flip them over again.

"That looked like it hu—" JongWoon choked back a gasp as JungMin's form was suddenly swallowed up by a large cat, a black spotted jaguar pinning YoungSaeng to the ground with a snarl and bright silver eyes. 

"Oh now you're just cheating," YoungSaeng scowled, eyes flashing as he brought both knees up hard into the cat's belly to roll him off. Back in a crouch, YoungSaeng leaped towards the cat who was starting to get back up.

"Holy..." KyuJong gasped, watching with wide eyes as YoungSaeng's form melted, arms lengthening, back straightening, and face pushing out. The black wolf slammed into the jaguar's side, jaws snapping to get at it's neck.

The jaguar rolled away and dug it's claws in to propel itself back towards the wolf, slamming back into it. HyunJoong watched, stunned at the transformation as the two animals fought. "That's amazing," he murmured. Some part of him hadn't believed they were actually shapeshifters, before seeing it for himself. 

HyungJoon shifted a little closer to JongWoon, taking his friend's hand. The wolf was dancing around the cargo bay, nipping at the cat's heels in an attempt to hamstring it. Smaller and nimbler than the cat, the wolf easily bounced out of the way of swinging paws and sharp teeth, only to lunge from the side.

"You think they could kill each other like this?" KyuJong whispered to HyunJoong, not taking his eyes off the animals.

HyunJoong watched them both, frowning at the question. "I think they could...but they won't." For all the deadly snapping of fangs and slashing with sharp claws, there was an almost playful, teasing air to the way the two ran each other around in circles and were pinned down in turns. "They're enjoying this." 

"I really hope they don't expect us to fight like this," KyuJong said, watching the wolf pace around. The black fur was matted with sweat and saliva, and the cat didn't look much better. They were starting to tire, and it showed in how the wolf sprang after the cat, slamming into its side.

The jaguar barrel-rolled over when hit, taking the wolf with him as he did a complete turn, pinning the wolf back under him.

JongWoon, staring with wide eyes, gave a surprised laugh when the cat promptly flopped down onto the wolf, squishing the smaller animal against the ground and stopping them both from moving. 

The wolf yelped, flailing it's paws and trying to squirm out from underneath. After the useless struggle, the wolf huffed, snapping at the cat's neck and whining.

"I think that counts as a draw," KyuJong chuckled, slowly getting up to his feet.

The jaguar gave a wide, lazy yawn, as if he had no qualms about falling asleep right there on top of the other animal. After a moment the cat's form shifted again, shrinking as the fur disappeared and was replaced by clothes, JungMin sprawled out happily on top of the wolf.

"That was pretty intense," HyunJoong chuckled. JongWoon nodded quickly. 

"You're a cheater Park JungMin," YoungSaeng cuffed the younger on the side of the head when he'd shifted back. "Get off of me," he pushed the redhead's shoulders tiredly.

"You had fun though," JungMin grinned cheekily, rolling off of the older man obediently to sprawl over the ground. They were both completely winded, the fight having lasted a long time. There also wasn't a single scratch on them, apart from a few bruises that would probably appear later. 

"Next time, no shifting," YoungSaeng grumbled, sitting up and kicking JungMin lightly in the side.

"You two alright down there?" KyuJong called down, leaning over the railing with a grin.

"We're fine, horseface is a cheater," YoungSaeng said, getting up and dusting off his pants.

"Horseface?" HyungJoon blinked, trying not to smile.

"Yah, I am not a horseface," JungMin huffed as he sat up, kicking YoungSaeng back before standing as well, fixing his hair. "And you said 'no holding back', never said anything about not shifting, so I did not cheat." 

"We were demonstrating sparring, they can't attack each other as animals," YoungSaeng shot back before turning up to the rest. "The first time he tried to shift into a horse, his head got stuck when he went back to normal. So he had a horse head on top of his skinny little body. That's why he's a horseface."

KyuJong had to cover his mouth with a hand to keep from laughing at that mental image.

JungMin scowled, kicking YoungSaeng again. "Should I tell them about when you tried changing into an otter, and were missing a tail and had giant monster teeth?"

"Oh no," JongWoon ducked his head, shoulders shaking. 

"No, we do not need to tell them about that," YoungSaeng scowled, punching JungMin in the arm. "Horseface," he stuck his tongue out at the younger before taking off. KyuJong gave a startled shriek when YoungSaeng leapt into the air, his body shrinking down into a large black bird that winged its way up to land on the catwalk behind them. YoungSaeng winked at HyunJoong before turning tail and running through the open hatch.

"Yah!" JungMin yelled, running up the stairs three at a time and past them into the rest of the ship.

JongWoon blinked owlishly. "Weren't they just completely exhausted? That was a fast recovery." 

"They have some high endurance," KyuJong shook his head, watching them go for a moment before turning to look over at JongWoon. "You know it's your turn to watch the bridge. I'm off duty now."

"Already?" JongWoon gave a sigh and stood up, still wincing after practice. "Okay, I'm off to do that then before we run into an asteroid field." He limped out of the room. 

"I'll keep you company," HyungJoon scurried off after him. When they had gone, KyuJong looked to HyunJoong, smiling a bit.

"Well that was... interesting to say the least," the pilot said with a chuckle, pushing away from the railing. "I'll be in my quarters if you need me," he gave the man a nod and turned to back through the hatch, hands in his pockets.

HyunJoong paused for a moment, before following along after him. "We'll need to have a meeting before we reach the next planet, we need to be more prepared for what could happen on the surface. It's quite possible we'll run into more races." 

Slowing so HyunJoong could catch up, KyuJong looked over at him and nodded. "I'm sure JungMin and YoungSaeng will be able to tell us more of what to expect. I think it would be prudent to leave more than just me aboard this time, just in case."

"HyungJoon and JongWoon can stay here with you, it's best that JungMin and YoungSaeng come down to the planet with me," HyunJoong nodded. "From what they've explained to me so far, it'll just be a short stop for supplies and information." 

"Information would be good," KyuJong smiled, turning the corner towards his room. "We'll have to figure out our next stop after that. They don't know where they want to go yet, do they?"

"I don't think so...I have a feeling it depends on what we find out at this stop. But it's good to know we're not the only people out here." HyunJoong shook his head. "I just hope the next people we meet are not pirates...or Federation." 

"Chances of running into any Fed ships out here will be small though, luckily," KyuJong said. "Have you given more thought to YoungSaeng's proposal of taking over some shifts on the bridge? I know it's not ideal, but it could really help."

"Yeah," HyunJoong sighed. "I think we'll have no choice but to let them on the bridge for a few shifts. Everyone's going to burn out otherwise...and if they had meant us harm, they would have done something long before now." 

"They could have easily taken over the ship that first day," KyuJong nodded, stopping in front of his door. "I think we can trust them," he said with a smile, opening up the door and stepping into his quarters.

"I think so too," HyunJoong nodded, pausing for a moment before following KyuJong into his room. 

**************************

It was another five days before they reached their next stop, a small planet outpost in a system HyunJoong had given up trying to pronounce properly because it just made JungMin and YoungSaeng laugh at him. Upon seeing it in the window, JongWoon had asked if it was really a planet or just a really large asteroid, something HyunJoong had mentally agreed with.

But there was a station there, and once they opened up external communications again, they could see there were several ships already docked on the surface. 

"Just find a slip to dock in," YoungSaeng said softly, standing behind KyuJong's chair. "You could try the dockmaster, but it's almost always a waste of time."

"Why?" KyuJong blinked, looking up at him over his shoulder.

"Because they try to extort as much as they can off you, especially those who haven't docked here before," YoungSaeng smirked, glancing at JungMin.

"Understood," KyuJong nodded, turning back to the controls. Not having to jump through hoops to do the simplest of things like dock was just another thing they'd have to get used to out here. "Everyone should sit, and buckle up, I don't know how well this is going to go," KyuJong said, eyeing the sensors. There were at least four other ships heading for the station.

HyunJoong sat down at his station, buckling in and watching as JungMin did the same.

"The outpost has a lot of spots to dock from, it's pretty big," JungMin said, leaning over so he could still see. "You still might get into a little tussle with another ship though."

"JongWoon, sit," HyunJoong ordered as he and HyungJoon came into the bridge. "We don't need you flying into the window."

"Yes sir," JongWoon said sheepishly, pulling HyungJoon over to their seats. 

"I'm not worried about other ships," KyuJong smirked, turning off the autopilot and taking the controls. "Hold on though."

Swallowing, HyungJoon made sure JongWoon was buckled in properly and took his hand, holding it tightly. YoungSaeng moved to sit next to JungMin, glancing at the redhead with a smirk. He was curious to see how well the pilot would do with these other ships that were much larger and more intimidating.

KyuJong spotted an open slip as they approached. It seemed another ship wanted that spot though as what looked like a freighter suddenly veered out in front of them. Swearing, KyuJong had to slam down on the controls, ducking underneath the other ship to avoid rear ending them. The whole ship pitched forward at the sudden nose dive and he hit the accelerator, shooting out first in front of the freighter.

Proximity warnings went off as he brought the ship up, eeking out a space between the freighter and the station to slide into the slip first. Hitting the brakes, he craned his head up to look out the top window and smirked. The freighter had banked sharply at the last minute, overshooting the station and nearly crashed into a control tower.

YoungSaeng was able to breathe again, chuckling softly as he leaned back into the seat and covered his eyes with a hand. "Well, I think you'll do just fine out here, pilot," he laughed.

"How are we not dead yet?" JongWoon whined, holding on to HyungJoon for his life. HyunJoong chuckled, clapping KyuJong's shoulder lightly as he stood.

"You both are staying on the ship with KyuJong, remember," HyunJoong told JongWoon and HyungJoon. "Keep an eye on things and radio out if anything happens." He looked to YoungSaeng and JungMin.

The redhead smirked as he unbuckled himself from the seat and stood. "Let's get going then." 

Power doing the systems, KyuJong looked up at HyunJoong. "Be careful," he said, frowning a little. While he trusted that JungMin and YoungSaeng would keep him safe, he couldn't help but worry about the Captain going out there.

Standing up next to JungMin, YoungSaeng nodded and started towards the hatch. "Let's make this quick as possible."

HyunJoong followed him and JungMin out the hatch, and down the hallways towards the cargo bay. "I'm guessing this outpost isn't the friendliest," he said quietly. They each had weapons on them.

"No outpost out here is completely friendly, the jockeying for a docking spot is mild compared to the rest of the station," JungMin rolled his eyes.

"We're here to meet someone?"

"Yeah, we have a contact that comes here often." 

"He's a slippery little devil, but he should be here," YoungSaeng said, his lips pursed. At the airlock hatch, YoungSaeng turned to HyunJoong. "This is your first time, so I will warn you once and once only. Do not stare. It will likely get you killed."

HyunJoong pressed his lips together and nodded, keeping that in mind. It was a good thing he had a good poker face. "Understood."

"This is going to be fun," JungMin rolled his eyes, stepping aside so HyunJoong could open the airlock. It opened with a hiss, leading out into a long corridor. 

Going out first, YoungSaeng kept his eyes open and looked everywhere as they headed down the corridor. It was obvious the station wasn't regularly serviced. Dirt and garbage piled up in corners, and puddles of coolant dripping from the ceiling.

The corridor emptied out into a small courtyard that was dimly lit and noisy. There were close to two dozen bodies milling about, of all different sizes, shapes and colors. Only a couple gave the three a passing glance, and a couple who recognized YoungSaeng and JungMin scurried out of the way. Scowling as they moved through, YoungSaeng looked back over his shoulder to make sure HyunJoong was behind him.

Doing his best not to stare, HyunJoong found it easiest to just keep his gaze focused on the back of YoungSaeng's head. The majority of those walking around were humanoid at least, but very, very few actually looked completely human. Some were more creatures standing on two legs than anything. He was very glad HyungJoon and JongWoon weren't out here with them, they would have never been able to stop staring and freaking out if they accidentally bumped shoulders with someone.

"Where do you think he'll be?" he heard JungMin ask YoungSaeng. "There's some of his crew here, so he's got to be somewhere." 

"My guess, the gambling hole," YoungSaeng frowned. Which meant tight quarters and little room to get out. He did not like HyunJoong being with them, but that hadn't been up for debate. He leaned in close to JungMin, keeping his eyes forward. "You keep an eye on the Captain while we're in there. He wouldn't pass up the chance to snag a human who walks right up to him, whether that human is with us or not."

JungMin nodded. "Anyone tries to grab him and I'll bash heads in." He straightened, dropping back to walk behind HyunJoong to better keep an eye on him. HyunJoong glanced in his direction, but didn't say anything, turning back to follow YoungSaeng.

They headed along the courtyard to the other side, and into another corridor with even more people in it, HyunJoong moving out of the way to avoid jostling an alien with rather broad shoulders. JungMin glanced around to see a few people watching them, a sharp glare from the assassin turning a few away. 

Taking a flight of stairs down into a lower tier, YoungSaeng's eyes narrowed as two bodies scurried away when they turned a corner, disappearing into a guarded door. Motioning for the other two to stay, YoungSaeng approached the guard that was easily three times the size of the shapeshifter. Speaking in a low tone to the guard until he was given a nod and YoungSaeng beckoned JungMin and HyunJoong forward. Waiting until they were in, he gave the guard a sly wink and stepped into the dimly lit room.

Everyone in the room seemed gathered around four different tables, placing bets and watching the gamblers, many calling out insults or challenges in languages HyunJoong knew he wouldn't even begin to understand. A few of them spoke the main language in the Federation, but that was a small comfort.

JungMin glanced around, and nudged YoungSaeng slightly, nodding towards the table that seemed to have the most people around it. "He's over there," he murmured. Some people were staring at HyunJoong, the shapeshifter moving a little closer to the Captain. 

Smirking, YoungSaeng shouldered his way through, ignoring the sneering looks he was getting. Some were smart enough to get out of his way. Finally getting through to the table, he rested his hands on the top and leaned in to look straight across the table. "HeeChul," he said simply, staring at the other.

The man across the table from him looked up from his cards, slitted eyes meeting YoungSaeng's before he smirked. "Well well, look who was let out of the cage. For the moment?" 

"Not your concern," YoungSaeng said firmly. Anything they said with other people around could put them in danger. "Can we speak to you in private? We have some questions we'd like to ask."

HeeChul tilted his head to one side, observing him. "What's in it for me?" 

YoungSaeng resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of course this wouldn't be that simple. "We'll pay you for your time of course," YoungSaeng said, his voice still firm.

The other man smirked. "Then you have my attention." He waved at someone else to take his spot at the table before standing with his winnings. After a murmured word with someone standing beside him, he slipped through the crowd and headed towards doors at the other end of the room. JungMin nudged HyunJoong to follow. 

They were led into a small room that YoungSaeng was pretty sure wasn't for sleeping despite the bed being there. At least there was a small table that he and HeeChul sat down at. "We haven't been out of Fed space in a while," YoungSaeng started, leaning back in the chair with his arms crossed. "So we need to know what systems are safe, and which factions are in control."

"Your Fed masters don't keep up with the newest trends?" HeeChul chuckled, playing with a poker chip and flipping it between his fingers, seemingly uninterested in the conversation. Until he glanced over at JungMin and HyunJoong and smirked. "Pretty human." 

YoungSaeng's eyes narrowed and flashed darkly at that but continued on. "You know as well as I do that the Fed wouldn't know their own foot if was kicking them. Are you going to give us the information, or are we going to take our money elsewhere?"

"Keep your panties on, I'll give you your information." HeeChul glanced over at the two standing to one side before returning his gaze to YoungSaeng. "I'd stay out of the Radon system, and every single system around it. The whole area's in the middle of a war and your ship will be gutted the second it passes the first ring of planets."

JungMin blinked in surprise at that. That had been a particularly peaceful system to travel through. 

"Good to know. Civil war or are the factions making a play at governments now?" YoungSaeng asked, a little concerned at that. There were very few stable governments nearby, and that had been one of them.

"Factions," HeeChul yawned. "Old news. Radon is worth a wealth in resources, it was only a matter of time. You remember our friends in the Sylar Faction? They've doubled in numbers, and have eaten up whole systems. Please tell me you've got a map or something on you, this will be so much easier." 

YoungSaeng's nose wrinkled at hearing that. They'd crossed paths with that particular beast before and he would not look forward to dealing them again. He looked over at HyunJoong. "Maps?"

HyunJoong pulled out a small one he'd brought with them just in case, walking over to the table. HeeChul tapped his nails against the wood, watching the human with far too much interest. "Not bad, where'd you find this one?" he mused to YoungSaeng, a glint in his eyes as HyunJoong ignored him and unrolled the map, pinning down the edges. 

"He's mine," YoungSaeng said testily. "Focus on the matter at hand please."

"So rude when I could send you straight into a pirate hidehole, you're lucky I like that tongue of yours," HeeChul sniffed before looking back down at the map. "Here are the Sylar-controlled systems." He placed a handful of red poker chips on the map, marking off different systems. "Be careful if you go through any of them, they don't like trespassers, especially Fed trespassers if you remember."

JungMin's eyes narrowed. So many...it was well more than double what Sylar had last time they'd been out here. 

" _Do not_ go into these spots...not even your pretty face would be able to get out of it alive." HeeChul marked a few spots with two stacked poker chips. "They're Sylar bases, they've taken whole planets." 

Looking at the map, YoungSaeng frowned at how big of territory the faction had now. It was worrying that so many systems that had been full of good honest people were now in the hands of thugs. "What of the other factions? They can't be too happy with what's going on. If I remember correctly, these systems here," he pointed to three systems in a row, one with a red chip, "were Darven controlled."

"Yup, and my little birdies tell me they're about to launch a full-out assault to take this one back." HeeChul tapped the red chip. "Which is going to get them completely wiped off the map. And there's the idea that the Valis and Merin Factions are going to merge, which _might_ give them enough firepower to take on Sylar, but you never know. Things have been interesting around here to say the least." 

"Interesting indeed," YoungSaeng nodded, looking up at JungMin and then back down at the map. "What systems are still safe then? Is the Arcadan government still in power here?" he asked, motioning to a few systems at the far edge of the map.

"Yeah, they're still safe." HeeChul placed blue chips on those systems. "And the Purian systems made a deal with Valis for their protection while remaining a free government...who knows what they're doing in return, but for now that area's safe." He placed four more blue chips on the map. 

YoungSaeng studied the map, his lips pressed in a thin line. The amount of safe or unclaimed systems was less than half of what had been previously. That didn't account for the pirates or the smaller factions trying to muscle in either. "Thank you HeeChul," he said softly before looking up at JungMin. "It's a start at least. We should go." He got to his feet, pushing the chips off the map and folded it back up, handing it to HyunJoong.

HyunJoong took the map, slipping it back under his jacket with a small frown. That hadn't looked good at all.

"And my payment for keeping you all from getting yourselves killed?" HeeChul quirked an eyebrow, standing as well. 

"We have money, and some light arms, military grade on the ship," YoungSaeng said, crossing his arms. "You can have your pick."

"Boring, boring," HeeChul yawned, stepping around the table leisurely. "I have more than enough of both." He tapped a finger against his lips. "I want...him." He crooked a finger at HyunJoong, stepping closer. "Humans are so hard to find out here, especially cute ones." 

"No," YoungSaeng said, glaring at HeeChul. "I already told you he's mine. If you don't want weapons, we have other things we can offer, just not the human."

"Saengie yah, I already have anything that you could possibly offer. I want something I don't have, and a human would be a perfect addition to my collection, don't you think?"

JungMin stepped in front of HyunJoong to stop HeeChul from advancing anymore. "No, I don't," his eyes flashed silver. "He came in here with us, and he'll leave with us." 

"Take our offer of the weapons, or don't, that doesn't matter to us," YoungSaeng said, stepping to HyunJoong's side and taking his arm. "You know you should take the offer."

"And you know you should always negotiate payment before asking for favors, Saengie yah," HeeChul tutted, walking over to sit on the table, watching them with a smirk. "My men are waiting right outside that door, if you think you can get past them with your human pet, go right ahead." 

YoungSaeng smirked, shaking his head. "HeeChul, you should know better," he sighed then turned to JungMin. "Gag him."

HeeChul's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed. "You wouldn't dare."

"We've really been away too long," JungMin grinned dangerously, a piece of fabric from the bed already in his hands. HyunJoong glanced at YoungSaeng uncertainly as the redhead stepped forward, HeeChul sliding back off the table and backing up. 

"HeeChul, you know what we are," YoungSaeng mused, looking down at his nails. "You're right, we walk out of there and your men will be on us. If you walk out there though, they won't bat an eye."

"I'll make sure your ship never comes in here again," HeeChul threatened, backing away from JungMin who looked all too happy to be doing this.

"I think we'll take our chances," JungMin grinned. "And thanks for the information." He lashed out and swept HeeChul's feet out from under him, pinning the man to the ground and covering his mouth as the older man started to curse loudly. 

"Yes HeeChul, thank you for the information," YoungSaeng said. His form slowly shrank, hair shortening, jaw slimming and body thinning. His clothes were a little big for him, but considering how dark it was out in the other room, no one would notice. "Min, you're going to have make yourself a little less conspicuous," he said.

Busy gagging and tying HeeChul up, JungMin looked back at YoungSaeng. "...Oh fine," he sighed, standing up and pulling HeeChul to sit up properly. "You had your chance hyung," he patted HeeChul's head before heading back to YoungSaeng and HyunJoong.

Before he reached them, he all but disappeared as his form shrank down to the floor, changing completely. The tiny squirrel climbed up YoungSaeng's pant leg and disappeared into the back of his shirt. HyunJoong looked vaguely amused. 

YoungSaeng squeaked and squirmed as JungMin crawled up his pants, scowling slightly once the squirrel was settled. "You bite me and I'll squish you," he said. Taking HyunJoong's arm, he headed for the door. "Look down, try and struggle a bit," YoungSaeng said, looking up at HyunJoong. "Remember, I'm taking you against your will."

Nodding, HyunJoong ducked his head down and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Okay, let's go," he said, ignoring the muffled noises from HeeChul in the corner of the room. 

***********************************18*********************************************

Opening up the door, YoungSaeng pulled HyunJoong roughly out and made his way through the room. Some of HeeChul's men looked at him strangely but were making to follow after. "Stay, guard that door," he snapped, pointing behind him. The men nodded dumbly and fell back to beside the door. Hopefully they wouldn't actually look inside, but HeeChul's men were always idiots and did as ordered.

Or, that's what he hoped at least. They were closing in on the door at the other end of the room when the shout went up. YoungSaeng looked over his shoulder and weapons were being drawn. "Dammit," he snarled, running towards the open door. Shoving HyunJoong out before him, he reached into the back of his shirt to pull out the squirrel, sending him bowling down the corridor once he was out.

As the men inside started to give chase, the giant guard outside blinked at YoungSaeng, then at the men inside before pulling the door closed and blocking it from the outside. YoungSaeng was shifting back as he started to laugh. "Thank you," he chuckled, turning to HyunJoong and to see where JungMin landed.

JungMin popped back into his usual form with a shriek as he flipped ass over teakettle, landing on his stomach sprawled out in the middle of the hallway a little further down. "Giving me enough time to move by myself would have been nice," he yelled back at them, climbing back to his feet and tottering a little dizzily from the spinning around. "Did you have to pull my tail?"

HyunJoong managed not to laugh at how the redhead stumbled into the wall before righting himself again. "I guess we hurry? Are we going to be able to get supplies here?" 

"You tickled me!" YoungSaeng shot back at JungMin before turning to HyunJoong. "Uh, yes, let's hurry. Hav'ka here can only hold them so long, and he doesn't want to lose his job," YoungSaeng chuckled, waving over his shoulder at the guard before trotting down to where JungMin was. "Doesn't look like we'll be able to get supplies this stop, but we'll be okay for a little while right?"

"Yeah, we're good for a while," HyunJoong jogged to catch up. "Should I radio the ship and let them know to get ready?"

"I'd say so, HeeChul's gonna be pissed, and I did _not_ tickle you," JungMin scowled at YoungSaeng as they headed back. 

"You couldn't have picked something with a less fluffy tail?" YoungSaeng said, scowling back. "Yes, Captain, let them know we'll be there in five."

Nodding, HyunJoong brought his comm device up, flicking it on. "KyuJong, we'll be back at the ship in five minutes, get everything running to leave." 

YoungSaeng walked beside HyunJoong as they hurried back through the courtyard again. More people were taking an interest in them this time and his lip curled into a snarl at one that was eyeing HyunJoong with a hand on a gun. It was a very good thing they had a reputation here, otherwise they would have been easy marks to begin with.

It didn't take long and they were back at the airlock to the ship, YoungSaeng feeling a little better once they were off the station.

HyunJoong locked the airlock after them, sighing softly. "Well, that was...interesting. Will we run into this HeeChul character again?"

"For sure," JungMin rolled his eyes, stretching out his back. "He's got his fingers in everything, it's impossible not to run into him. We should go now."

Nodding, HyunJoong turned to head up to the bridge. "Where are we heading next?" 

"We'll have to discuss that later, for now just away from the station would be good. Tell the pilot to take off," YoungSaeng said following HyunJoong towards the stairs. As they climbed, he looked down into the cargo hold, eyes narrowed.

Nodding again, HyunJoong headed up the stairs, speaking into his comm device. JungMin stretched his arms as he followed, then blinked at YoungSaeng. "You okay?" 

"...Yeah," YoungSaeng nodded, turning to look at him with a smile before following HyunJoong through the hatch. "Why do you like that squirrel form so much? It's so ridiculous looking."

"I just like it, it's easy to move around," JungMin huffed, kicking the back of his shin lightly. "When you're not flinging me around by my tail, that hurts you know." 

YoungSaeng shrugged, smiling at him. "It's a good handle," he said, skipping out of the way of any more kicks.

"I hope your next animal form has a tail with it because I'm going to hang you from the ceiling and leave you there," JungMin grumped, following after him. 

By the time they reached the bridge, they were already far from the station, KyuJong still piloting manually since they didn't have a course. "So, I take it you ran into trouble?" he asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Yes, their contact wasn't too willing to let us go after giving the information," HyunJoong replied, sitting down and pulling out one of the pirate's star charts.

"He was fine letting _us_ go, it was you he wanted to keep," JungMin rolled his eyes, dropping down into a chair and tapping his fingers against his knees. 

"Oh?" KyuJong was able to get out, trying to hold in the laugh. "Was he pretty at least?"

YoungSaeng snorted as he sat down next to JungMin, draping himself across the redhead's lap. "We need to figure out where we're going now," he said, looking up at JungMin.

HyunJoong turned to face them after lightly cuffing KyuJong off the back of the head. "Where's our next stop?"

JungMin played with YoungSaeng's hair. "We're not going to be able to make a clear shot to one of the safe spots without stopping somewhere, are we?" 

"No, we'll need to stop for fuel and supplies," YoungSaeng said, closing his eyes and sighing. "There aren't that many places we'll be able to stop at, so we need to figure out where we are going instead of flying around aimlessly."

JungMin looked over at the map HyunJoong was spreading out. "Why don't we head for the Zena system? It's on the edge of Darven territory, they're probably too busy getting ready to start a war to watch everyone who goes in and out." 

Sitting up, YoungSaeng crawled into JungMin's lap to get a better look at the map. "If I remember correctly, there's a couple small colonies on the fourth planet of that system," he said, nodding slowly. "If nothing else, it will be a good place to stop and hide for a while."

HyunJoong nodded, looking at the planets JungMin pointed out for him. "Then that's where we'll go. Can you put that into the computer, KyuJong?" He turned to their pilot. The bridge hatch opened behind them and JongWoon and HyungJoon came in.

"How did it go?" JongWoon asked. 

"They wanted to keep the Captain," KyuJong chuckled, sliding out of the way and towards the navigational computer to enter in the coordinates.

"Why? He's kind of grumpy," HyungJoon blinked.

JongWoon burst out laughing as HyunJoong shot the tube that the map had been in at his engineer.

"Can we sleep now?" JungMin murmured to YoungSaeng, resting his head on the older man's shoulder and yawning. 

YoungSaeng chuckled at the shriek that came from HyungJoon as he dove out of the way of the projectile. Leaning back, he tilted his head to look at JungMin and nodded. "Sleep sounds good," he said, slowly getting to his feet.

JungMin got up as well, yawning again as he waved before leaving the bridge, pulling YoungSaeng out with him.

"What now?" JongWoon asked, chuckling at his best friend.

"KyuJong and I are on duty for the next few hours, I suggest you both get some sleep," HyunJoong said with a small smile as he marked off their destination on the map before rolling it up again. 

"Gladly," HyungJoon grumbled, getting up off the floor. Taking JongWoon's hand as he scurried out the door with the older man.

Waiting until everyone else was off the bridge, KyuJong looked up from the navigation to HyunJoong, an amused smile. "You didn't answer my question," he chuckled.

"Which question is that?" HyunJoong went to pick up the tube from where it had hit the hatch door, slipping the map back inside and placing it away. 

"I asked if he was pretty," KyuJong chuckled, hitting the autopilot and leaning back in the chair. "Did YoungSaeng and JungMin even take your feelings into consideration when they turned him down?"

"Attractive, but not my type, and I was quite happy to be out of there," HyunJoong shook his head in amusement, going to sit down and check the different terminals. "Manage to keep the wonder twins out of trouble?" He found the new nickname for HyungJoon and JongWoon ridiculously amusing. 

"I didn't hear a peep out of them the whole time," KyuJong said, turning to the sensors. "Is it just me, or are they spending even more time together lately?"

"I'm not sure how that would work, considering they already spend every waking second together. And sleeping second." But HyunJoong had noticed they were clinging to each other a lot more than they used to, he had just assumed it was because of their current situation outside Federation space. 

"You sure they aren't together?" KyuJong asked lightly, glancing over at him. "You were wrong about JungMin and YoungSaeng too... not that they're together. I'm not even sure what to classify their relationship."

"I'm positive they're not together," HyunJoong nodded, head in one hand. "They're too similar to each other, it would be like dating an actual twin." 

"If you say so," KyuJong smiled, focusing on the sensors again. "So, tell me Captain, just what is your type?"

"I'm not able to say for certain. It's not really definable...I just know if someone's my type or not." HyunJoong raised an eyebrow at the questions, turning back to his own monitor. "And he definitely was not." 

"That's an evasion if I've ever heard one," KyuJong snorted. "I know my type. Tall, muscular, and a really nice ass. Friendly too, and has to be funny. I don't go for the whole brooding silent type," he said, smirking over the terminal.

"And you're telling me this why?" HyunJoong chuckled, flipping through the different screens. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered if he was what KyuJong would call the 'brooding silent type'. 

"Just making conversation," KyuJong shrugged. "Would you rather I don't talk at all?"

"Did I say that?" HyunJoong glanced over at KyuJong. "It just seemed like a strange topic to pick. Though from all that, it would sound like JungMin fits your type pretty well...not that I would know about the ass part. He's friendlier now that we're out of Federation space." 

"It does seem like he'd be me type, but he's not," KyuJong shook his head, leaning back in his chair and staring out the window. "Was YoungSaeng your type?"

"Close, but no," HyunJoong looked away, tapping his fingers lightly against the sides of the monitor as he pursed his lips together. 

KyuJong nodded, frowning a little. "He's not my type either," he said with a halfhearted chuckle. "But he does have a nice ass."

"YoungSaeng, or are we still talking about JungMin? I'd have to take your word for it in that case." 

"YoungSaeng," KyuJong said. "Not that I was looking closely or anything."

"Mhm." HyunJoong fell silent after that, not willing to continue on this topic of conversation with the younger man. It was doing nothing other than worsening his mood bit by bit. 

After a few minutes of silence, KyuJong glanced over at the Captain, frowning a little. He hadn't meant to upset the older man with his banter. "Sorry, I probably should be saying such things while on duty," he said, turning back to the window.

"It's fine," HyunJoong shook his head. "It doesn't matter if you're on duty or not, I'm not that strict. Though can I ask we find something else to talk about?" He gave a slightly pained smile. 

"I guess," KyuJong smiled softly. "How did you guys get out of there then? I'm guessing the contact wasn't pleased about not being able to keep you."

"Not exactly," HyunJoong chuckled, relaxing a little. "JungMin tied him up, and YoungSaeng shapeshifted to look like him, pretending to pull me out as a captive." His lips quivered. "JungMin turned into a squirrel and hid inside his shirt, it worked until he tickled YoungSaeng with his tail." 

"A squirrel?" KyuJong blinked and turned to look at him. "I would have liked to see that. I bet YoungSaeng wasn't pleased about being tickled then?"

"No, he pulled JungMin out by his tail and tossed him down the corridor like a bowling ball," HyunJoong snorted. 

KyuJong burst out laughing leaning over to rest his head on the console. "You think they'd reenact it for us?" he managed to get out once he was able to speak again.

"YoungSaeng would probably be happy to, but I don't think JungMin would agree, he was dizzy after all the spinning," HyunJoong chuckled, watching KyuJong in amusement. 

"Too bad, we could all use a laugh like that about now," KyuJong mused, propping his head up with his hand. "What was it like on the station? I mean, other than the incident. Were there other races there?"

"Many," HyunJoong nodded. "They were mostly humanoid, but that was where the similarities ended. There were only a few that looked completely human in appearance. I've never seen anything like it." 

"I guess that's something we're going to have to get used to out here," KyuJong said. "I wonder how HyungJoon and JongWoon are going to be able to handle it. They're freaked out enough by JungMin and YoungSaeng."

"We're going to have to make sure they don't stare," HyunJoong sighed. "The last thing we need is an annoyed alien cornering them. That's another thing...we'll need to familiarize ourselves with the different races, before we insult someone. The majority of them weren't speaking any language we would know either." 

"I guess YoungSaeng and JungMin will have to prepare us for more than just pirate attacks now," KyuJong said, drumming his fingers on the console. "We're really out of our element out here."

HyunJoong nodded. "Nothing we can do about that other than prepare." He was silent for a moment. "Why do you suppose the Federation never told anyone about everything out here? To protect us? To keep them out?" 

"I don't know," KyuJong shook his head, looking over at him. "Maybe it was to keep people from leaving? We all believed so much in the Federation keeping us safe from the evil alien races, but are they really all that evil? JungMin and YoungSaeng are nice enough, despite what they went through with the military."

"Maybe they aren't all that different from us," HyunJoong murmured, then sighed. "We'll find out eventually. Have you wondered what they really look like?" 

"I have, and I'll admit I'm more than a little curious," KyuJong nodded, fussing with a button on the console. "I'd feel a little rude asking. It'd be like asking them to strip naked or something."

HyunJoong nodded in understanding. "You know HyungJoon and JongWoon are probably going to ask again soon though, once they've gotten over having two aliens on the ship," he chuckled. 

"I don't think any amount of discouraging words will keep them from doing it either," KyuJong rolled his eyes. "I hope they at least have half a brain to ask YoungSaeng, alone, and not JungMin."

"Probably not, but it isn't as if JungMin hasn't nearly dented HyungJoon's head in before." HyunJoong shook his head. "Can't help but wonder, though..." 

"You know, you can use your Captain status to ask them politely," KyuJong mused, glancing mischievously at HyunJoong. "I mean, you should kind of know right? As Captain?"

HyunJoong looked at KyuJong with hidden amusement. "If you want to know, you can ask yourself," he chuckled, stretching out. "I don't use my status as Captain unless it's a serious situation, and finding out if they have one eye or two isn't exactly serious." 

"You're no fun," KyuJong rolled his eyes. "Besides, I know you want to know too, I was just giving you a perfectly valid reason to ask."

"While getting me into trouble for pulling rank on them, thank you," HyunJoong laughed quietly, shaking his head. 

"Better you than me," KyuJong snickered. "They seem to respect you a little as captain, which is good."

"We'll see," HyunJoong chuckled. "I haven't reached that level of impatience yet, and I really would rather they trusted us enough to show us on their own." 

"Fair enough," KyuJong conceded, leaning back in his chair and looking out the window again. "I bet they have two eyes."

"I'd hope so, but you never know," The Captain laughed. "The only stories I remember with shapeshifters had them as tiny balls of light. Maybe they don't even have a body." 

"Maybe," KyuJong pursed his lips in thought. "That would be really weird. I wonder though, now that they don't have to be in human form all the time, if they'll go back to their normal form once they think we'll be comfortable with it."

"Who knows," HyunJoong shrugged. "Do you think the Federation let them be in their normal forms often? They seem pretty comfortable as they are now." 

"Probably not," KyuJong shook his head. "And I'm not going to ask either, they don't like talking about anything to do with the Fed or being assassins."

"Don't blame them," The Captain sighed. "There's a lot we don't know about our own government..." 

"True, I don't blame them either really," KyuJong nodded. He sighed heavily and stared out the window. After everything that had happened, he no longer believed the Federation to be worth living under, even if being out here meant a shorter life.

********************************************

"Ready yet?" JungMin sighed, stretching out his arms and legs as he waited for HyungJoon to gather up enough nerves to try hitting him. "Practice started already and you haven't done anything, do I have to go first?" 

"You know, you don't make this any easier on me by taunting," HyungJoon whined. Even after the couple weeks of doing this, he still wasn't confident enough to hit JungMin. Steeling himself up, he moved, trying the backhanded swing with a left hook combination that he'd been shown.

Rolling his eyes, JungMin grabbed HyungJoon's arms easily and twisted him around. "You're not putting enough force. Hold your arms steadier, they're not noodles." He repositioned the younger man's arms properly. "And I'll keep on taunting until you're actually able to land a hit." He spun HyungJoon around to face him again. "Again." 

Shaking his head to clear the bit of dizziness from being spun around, HyungJoon scowled at the other man. "You're kind of a jerk, you know that?" he said, before trying the move again, this time putting a little more strength into the attack, his annoyance level up enough that he did actually want to hit JungMin.

"Fix your stance, all I have to do is this—" JungMin stepped to one side to avoid the attack, tugging HyungJoon on through the motion "—And you're on your face on the floor. Keep your balance centered." Another spin to get HyungJoon facing him again. "Got a problem with me being a jerk, then stop trying to hit me and hit me!" 

"If you'd stop moving I could!" HyungJoon snapped, clasping both hands together and aiming to hit JungMin in the stomach since he was so close.

JungMin jumped back, HyungJoon's hands just skimming against his shirt. "Oops, so close! You think pirates are gonna stand still like good little targets? Hate to tell you, but this is real life!"

JongWoon had gotten distracted from his own practice at the other end of the cargo hold, watching JungMin continue to spin HyungJoon around in circles and make him angrier and angrier. 

"You're not so good that you can turn your back to me," YoungSaeng remarked, tripping up the negotiator while he was distracted. He looked over at the other two when HyungJoon started to scream, running full tilt at the redhead and leaping to tackle him.

The short distance between them didn't give JungMin enough time to get out of the way, startled at the kamikaze move, and the redhead went down with a shriek, HyungJoon on top of him.

Groaning as he pushed himself back up onto his hands and knees, JongWoon looked over to them and burst out laughing. 

YoungSaeng chuckled when HyungJoon sat up and punched JungMin solidly in the side before rolling off and getting out of the way. "Well it's about time," he said, looking down at JongWoon on the floor. He was about to start berating the engineer again when his eyes narrowed and his head turned to the side. "JungMin, I think it's time for a break," he said after a moment.

About to get HyungJoon back for the stunt he pulled, JungMin blinked as he stood out of the crouch he'd been in. "Already? We just started."

JongWoon staggered back to his feet, not complaining about the sudden break; that last fall had hurt. 

YoungSaeng wasn't paying attention to JungMin, his eyes slowly circling the room. He made his way across the room towards JungMin, head swiveling around as he went.

"What's going on?" HyungJoon blinked at YoungSaeng, taking a seat on one of the containers. YoungSaeng's eyes snapped towards him. Before HyungJoon could blink again the man was running toward him, and then the black wolf was leaping right at him. HyungJoon shrieked and toppled off the container. The wolf sailed over him, crashing into the containers behind him.

Amidst the growling and snapping noises, a high pitched whine came from where the wolf had disappeared. Scrambling to his feet, HyungJoon scurried over to hide behind JungMin.

Eyes narrowed and silver, JungMin tugged JongWoon behind him as well, watching the containers before glancing around the room. His head snapped to the side as something seemed to catch his attention, jaw clenching.

"W-what's going on?" JongWoon stammered, holding on to HyungJoon and staring at where YoungSaeng had gone. 

"I don't know," HyungJoon gulped, clinging tightly to JongWoon and peeking over JungMin's shoulder.

"Yah! Stop struggling!" YoungSaeng's voice snapped and the man stood up. "JungMin! We've got geckos."

"Geckos?" HyungJoon blinked, glancing at JongWoon. "The lizard? What's so bad about a lizard?"

"Not _those_ geckos," JungMin growled in annoyance, eyes on YoungSaeng again. Suddenly he darted to one side and slammed one hand against the wall before yanking hard. " _These_ geckos!"

It looked like part of the wall came away with him with a shriek, until JungMin was holding a metal-colored person upside-down by what looked like a long tail. The alien struggled to be free with loud curses and protests until JungMin purposely dropped him onto his head before pulling him back up, the person clutching his head in pain. 

HyungJoon's eyes were wide as dinner plates, staring at the creature until movement grabbed his attention. Looking over, YoungSaeng was dragging a similar shaped form from behind the containers. This one was curled up into a little ball, YoungSaeng dragging it by one of it's feet. Unlike the other one, this one was blue. 

YoungSaeng pulled it over next to the other, dropping its foot. "There any more of you crawling around the ship?" he asked, hands on hips as he stared down at them.

"Wouldn't you like to know," drawled the one still colored like the wall. JungMin dropped him so his head hit the floor again, the alien yelping in pain. "No! No, it's just us, will you put me down now?!"

"What are they?" JongWoon whispered, unable to stop staring. JungMin wasn't relinquishing his grip on the alien's tail. 

"They're lowly bottom feeders who hitch rides on ships," YoungSaeng said, scowling at them.

"How long have they been on board?" HyungJoon asked, still attached to JongWoon.

"Probably crawled on at the station," YoungSaeng said, glancing over at them. "There's something about their anatomy that makes them invisible to sensors. Someone want to call the Captain? He'd like to know about this."

"Uh, yeah," HyungJoon fumbled in his pockets for his comm device, flipping it open. "Uh Captain? We've got... stowaways."

_"...I'll be right there."_

The alien JungMin was holding upside-down started shrieking as the redhead shook him up and down. "Ditch the color, you," the shapeshifter ordered.

"Alright, alright!" The color of the ship's wall seemed to melt off the alien's form, leaving him the same blue as the other one with slight golden highlights that were hidden by his clothes, dangling by a blue, monkey-like tail. 

YoungSaeng sighed, rubbing at his forehead. The one he had dragged out was still curled up into a ball. "Let him go Min," YoungSaeng said, nudging the one at his feet. "You, stand up." The form whimpered and curled up more.

"We didn't know there were shifters on board," the one in a ball whined, peeking one eye out from behind his arms. HyungJoon leaned over to see him a little better. Other than the blue color, and the tail, they looked humanoid.

"And if you would have known you wouldn't have snuck on? Right," YoungSaeng snorted. "If you'd have known you would have just hidden better."

JungMin dropped his captive on his head again, letting go properly this time as he dusted off his hands. The alien yelped and clutched his head before glaring at JungMin, crawling to where the other alien was to check on him.

The hatch above opened and HyunJoong ran out onto the catwalk, then blinked in surprise, eyes narrowing as he came down the stairs. "What are they?" 

"Geckos," YoungSaeng said, looking over at the Captain as he approached.

"Stop saying that!" the one curled up whined. HyungJoon was having trouble understanding him, his words heavily accented.

"It's what you are," YoungSaeng rolled his eyes. "They hitch rides on ships, eat their supplies, steal what they can, and are a general pain in the ass."

"Hey, we have to get around somehow," the other Gecko scowled. "And if you're going to call us something, then pronouncing our name properly would be appreciated."

"No one can pronounce that gibberish, and don't go asking us to be polite when you're the ones who snuck on," JungMin scowled, kicking him again.

HyunJoong stopped beside YoungSaeng and gave a sigh, one hand on his hip as he rubbed his temple a little. "...Okay. What do you suggest we do with them?" 

"Lock them up until we get to another station and dump them there," YoungSaeng said. "Trouble always follows them around, and they're generally useless."

"We are not useless," the curled up Gecko's head shot up and he glared at YoungSaeng.

"I haven't met a Gecko yet who was actually worth having around," YoungSaeng shrugged. "Don't think that's about to change."

"There's empty rooms on the crew deck we can put them in," HyunJoong said. "Separate rooms?"

"They should be fine in one room," JungMin rolled his eyes. "Apart from changing colors for camouflage, they can't do much." 

"Let's go then," YoungSaeng leaned down and lifted the one up off the floor. HyungJoon was surprised at how tall he was, all long limbs and looked kind of gangly. "Do you two have names or should we continue to call you Geckos?"

HyungJoon could tell the one bristled at that, his lips set in a thin line. "Zhou Mi, and this is Kui Xian."

HyungJoon tried to form the words, but if felt like his tongue was twisting in knots. "How do you pronounce that?" he leaned over to whisper to JongWoon.

JongWoon blinked owlishly. "Um...Zhou...Mi?" He tried, managing to get the pronunciation pretty close.

"KyuHyun," corrected the second Gecko. "It's KyuHyun, Mi." He yelped as JungMin hauled him to his feet as well.

"Lets bring them to the room then," HyunJoong sighed, heading back to the stairs.

"Follow him," JungMin scowled, prodding the one called KyuHyun towards the stairs.

"Why is a human Captain?" grumbled KyuHyun as he stumbled along.

"Because it's a human ship," YoungSaeng said simply, leading Zhou Mi towards the stairs.

"A human ship?" Zhou Mi's eyes went wide and he started flailing, tugging on YoungSaeng's arm. "We're going to die! Kui Xian, why'd you pick this ship?"

"Calm down!" YoungSaeng snapped, pinning the Gecko's arms behind his back and pushing him forward. "No one's going to die."

JongWoon stared as the two aliens were escorted out of the cargo bay amongst loud protests. "That was..." It was their first time seeing an alien up-close; JungMin and YoungSaeng didn't look like aliens, they looked human. Or animal.

"Why would they freak out at it being a human ship?" He asked, looking back at HyungJoon as they started to follow. "We're the ones with reason to freak out." 

"I kind of think human's are a rarity out here," HyungJoon said, swallowing roughly. He still hadn't got over the shock of seeing the aliens. Definitely not little green men. "Come on, we should go tell KyuJong what happened."

"Y-yeah. He's up on the bridge, right?" JongWoon took HyungJoon's hand, heading to the stairs. As they walked up, they could still hear yelling from the two Geckos further down the hallway. 

"Should be," HyungJoon nodded, heading through the corridors. He glanced down as the reached the ladder up to the bridge, waiting for JongWoon to climb up. YoungSaeng was manhandling the one, trying to push him into the room. It took JungMin's help to finally get the Gecko in and the door closed. "If they've been here this long, why they freaking out now about being on a ship with humans?"

"No idea...though they probably weren't expecting to be caught," JongWoon winced. He hoped they'd stayed in the cargo bay since leaving the station; they could go anywhere without being seen if they could camouflage against the walls. He climbed up the ladder with HyungJoon, heading towards the bridge.

"Kyu, there's aliens on the ship," he said the second they'd stepped through the hatch. 

"Did you just now figure that out or something?" KyuJong blinked, turning around to look at the negotiator with skeptical look.

"No, no, not JungMin and YoungSaeng," HyungJoon squeaked, shaking his head. "Two _more_ aliens. They're blue. Well, sometimes they're blue. They're called.. Geckos? They've got really long tails."

KyuJong stared at the two, his expression blank before his eyes narrowed. "Blue... geckos.." he snorted and turned around, shaking his head.

"Not a joke!" JongWoon whined. "Look at the security logs for the cargo bay and you'll see!" He leaned over KyuJong to switch his monitor to the cameras, insistent that he see what they'd seen. "They were camouflaged into the walls!" 

Clearly humoring them, KyuJong watched the security log, chuckling a little at how the practice went. He cracked up when HyungJoon tackled JungMin, almost missing how YoungSaeng started to look around. His eyes widened as soon as YoungSaeng shifted into the wolf and tackled something to the ground. "Woah..." he murmured when JungMin pulled the alien off the wall and repeatedly dropped it on it's head. 

"See!" HyungJoon huffed. "We weren't making it up. They're called Geckos. Or something. They're being confined to a cabin. YoungSaeng says they're pretty harmless other than being thieves."

"What are we going to do with them then?" KyuJong asked, turning around from the monitor and looking between the two.

"Dropping them off at the next station, I think," JongWoon said. "I think they'll be quite happy to be gone honestly, the second they found out this is a human ship, one of them started freaking out." 

KyuJong frowned at that, but nodded. "I guess humans really aren't welcome out here. It's so weird to think about, but I guess it's something we'll have to get used to," he said. "We're at least a week away from the next stop though, I hope we have enough food to last us till then."

"Who says we have to feed them," HyungJoon mumbled, withering under the look he got from KyuJong.

"I don't think we want to start with that sort of thing," JongWoon sighed, leaning back against the table. "But...they can't get out of that room, right? JungMin and YoungSaeng could get out any time when we were locking them up," he said, looking nervous. 

"It.. it's possible," HyungJoon chewed on his lip nervously. "But if JungMin and YoungSaeng thought it was okay to lock them up and not worry about them, then it should be fine. I hope."

"We'll have to trust their judgment when it comes to dealing with other races," KyuJong said. "And we're all going to have to get used to the idea of seeing other races as well. Think you two can handle that?"

HyungJoon looked at JongWoon nervously, but he nodded slowly. They were going to have to if they wanted to survive, and not get eaten alive by the first alien they looked at funny.

"Y-yeah...we'll do our best," JongWoon nodded as well, biting on his lower lip. "It's just a little overwhelming." He looked to HyungJoon, unsure. "What do we do now?" It was safe to assume practice was over. 

"No idea, we should see if the Captain needs us for anything first," HyungJoon said. "If not, let's just hide in our room."

"Did you two finally move in together?" KyuJong chuckled, going over the security feed again. Now that he knew what to look for, he could just barely make out the outline of a figure moving at the edge of the room before YoungSaeng had tackled it.

JongWoon turned pink. "W-well, we always go to each other's rooms anyways...let's go find the Captain." He grabbed HyungJoon's hand and hurried from the bridge. 

HyungJoon could hear KyuJong laughing at them as they left the bridge, heading to the ladder. "What'd he mean by finally?" he grumbled. "Acts like we're together or something."

"I have no idea," JongWoon shrugged, looking down at the floor before glancing back at HyungJoon. "This doesn't count as together, right?" 

Looking back at him, HyungJoon chewed on the inside of his cheek. "Um.. I don't think so? We just.. we're best friends, and we're in a bad situation and we want to be close to each other." And occasionally sleep together. Although, "occasionally" was turning into an everyday thing now, but that still didn't mean they were together.

Thinking about that, JongWoon nodded, not sure if he should feel relieved or not. "Right," he smiled at the younger man, squeezing his hand lightly as they headed down the ladder. "Do you think the Captain's back in his quarters by now? Or talking with JungMin and YoungSaeng?" 

"I don't know, we could just call him," HyungJoon said. Once he was down off the ladder he pulled out his com device and opened it up. "Captain? Where are you?"

 _"In my quarters,"_ came the reply after a moment.

"This way then," JongWoon tugged HyungJoon in that direction, heading down the corridor towards the Captain's room. 

Reaching the door, HyungJoon knocked on it lightly before opening it up to peer. "Hey Captain," he said with a smile, opening up the door a little wider for JongWoon. "We were just wondering if you're going to need us for anything else. I think our practice got canceled for the day."

Thinking about that, HyunJoong shook his head. "Not for the moment, no," he smiled at them.

JongWoon smiled widely. "Okay, let us know if there's anything." When HyunJoong nodded, he pulled HyungJoon back out and closed the door. "We're free!" 

"Let's go before JungMin and YoungSaeng see us and remember we were supposed to be training," HyungJoon said, pulling JongWoon along quickly towards their room. "Did you want to watch a movie or something?" he asked, though he really wasn't in the mood to watch a movie; he was a little distracted still from the excitement.

"No, I think I've had enough of movies," JongWoon shook his head, eyeing the room they'd passed where the two Geckos had been shoved into. "Can we just...relax for a while?" 

"Sounds good to me," HyungJoon nodded, opening up the door to their room and pulling JongWoon inside. Sitting down on the bed, he kicked off his boots and flopped over. "Just when I thought things couldn't get any weirder around here."

JongWoon slipped out of his own shoes and closed the door behind them before going over to drop onto the bed next to HyungJoon. "At least they seemed...human enough? Besides the blue skin. And the tail." 

"Yeah, kind of makes it easier to take I guess," HyungJoon nodded. "This is going to be really hard to get used to," he said, turning his head to the side to frown a little at his friend.

"It is," JongWoon sighed. "Maybe we should ask JungMin and YoungSaeng to show us pictures of different races or something, before we stare the first time we're off the ship." He shuffled over to curl up against HyungJoon. 

"That could help," HyungJoon agreed, wrapping an arm around JongWoon's shoulder. "I'm sure they'd help us out with that, less chance of us getting killed and having to be rescued," he said with a pout.

"I really hope that doesn't happen," JongWoon shivered, his own arm finding it's way around HyungJoon's waist as he buried his nose against his best friend's neck. "But what they were saying about the different factions, it didn't sound that good." 

"No, it didn't, but I trust the Captain, and if he thinks we can get through this, then we can," HyungJoon nodded firmly, running a hand through JongWoon's hair. "I'll start to really worry when JungMin and YoungSaeng seem worried."

"Same," JongWoon smiled, closing his eyes. "But since they're not worrying yet, we're fine, right?" 

"Yup, perfectly fine," HyungJoon smiled, kissing the side of JongWoon's head. "Let's just try not to think about it. We'll worry our selves sick over nothing."

"Yeah," JongWoon chuckled quietly, kissing HyungJoon's neck a little in return. "And we have the best crew ever." 

"Damn straight," HyungJoon smiled, ducking his head down a little to brush his lips against JongWoon's.

Tilting his head up, JongWoon returned the soft kiss, enjoying the intimacy. It confused him at times, making him wonder just what they were to each other, but then he remembered that this was his best friend and that made it okay. 

Pulling back from the kiss, HyungJoon smiled softly at JongWoon, smoothing a thumb over his cheek. "Did you want to take a nap? We're not on duty for another couple of hours."

JongWoon nodded at that, smiling at the contact before burying his face against HyungJoon's neck. "Nap sounds good," he murmured, closing his eyes and making himself comfortable, tangling their legs together. 

******************************************19************************************

Covering his head with his pillow, KyuJong tried to stifle the banging and screaming noises coming from down the hall. It was the second day they had their new 'guests' aboard and the only time they stopped making such a loud racket was eating or sleeping. KyuJong was trying to sleep, but they were making it absolutely impossible with how loud they were.

Sitting up, KyuJong threw on his clothes and stumbled out of his room down to HyunJoong's room. Pounding on the door, he leaned his forehead against the frame, willing the headache to go away.

Having given up sleeping for the same reason, HyunJoong was trying to get some work done. Not that it was any more successful with the endless noise that echoed through the ship's metal structure.

Rubbing his temple a little, he looked up when there was pounding on the door, standing with a sigh and walking over. He opened it to see KyuJong leaning against the frame. "Yes?" 

"Can we hog tie them and throw them into a container?" KyuJong asked, his voice low and scratchy. "Otherwise, I may kill them."

Blinking, HyunJoong sighed and shook his head. "No, we can't do that...what do they want, that they won't stop with the racket?" 

"To be let out," KyuJong said, slumping against the wall. "Can't we let them out for a little bit, just so some of us can get some sleep?"

HyunJoong frowned, thinking about that. It couldn't hurt if JungMin and YoungSaeng were able to keep an eye on them, right? "I'll go speak with JungMin and YoungSaeng about it...maybe they can keep an eye on the two of them for a few hours, in exchange for quiet." He slipped into his shoes, before pausing.

Going over to his desk, he reached into the top drawer and pulled out a small packet of earplugs, taking out two. He headed back to the door, holding them out to KyuJong. "Try these in the meantime...I'll go see if they're up for babysitting." 

"Thank you," KyuJong smiled appreciatively, taking the ear plugs. "Tell them we'd all be very grateful," he said, pushing off from the wall and tottering his way back to his own room.

Watching him go, HyunJoong smiled a little before stepping out into the hallway, closing the door behind him and heading down to JungMin and YoungSaeng's room. He doubted they would be doing anything with this racket, if they were even in the room. Stopping outside the door, he knocked lightly. 

Groaning, YoungSaeng stared at the door sleepily from where he was draped over JungMin. "I bet it's about the noise," he grumbled, rolling over and sliding off the bed. Padding over to the door, he scrubbed a hand through his hair as he opened it and leaned against. "Yes Captain?" he said with a smile.

HyunJoong smiled back at YoungSaeng. "I have a request to make. Is it possible to let the two Geckos out for a few hours under supervision, just to keep them quiet? I don't think anyone here will be getting sleep anyways, unless they make themselves pass out." 

YoungSaeng's smile turned into a pout. "We're not babysitters," he grumbled, but looked over his shoulder at JungMin. They wanted sleep too, and if it would shut them up, it was worth the couple of hours. "What do you say?"

JungMin sat up, flattening his hair a little. "Can we string them up by their tails if they annoy us?"

HyunJoong's lips quivered. "They'll have to be let down after a while, but go ahead."

"Then why not," JungMin sighed, standing. "Do we start right now?"

"It would be preferable," HyunJoong nodded. 

"Alright, a couple of hours then," YoungSaeng agreed. "Get some sleep Captain," he said patting the man on the arm before turning around to put on his boots.

"Thank you, let me know if there are any problems," HyunJoong smiled, stepping back from the door and heading back down the hallway towards his room.

"Stupid Geckos," JungMin grumbled as he pulled on his shirt, then went to get his boots as well. "Always causing trouble, they're lucky they're getting fed." 

"We just have to put up with them until the next station," YoungSaeng said softly, waiting for JungMin at the door. "Unless one of them is useful, but I doubt that."

"Geckos are never useful, except for stealing things," JungMin sighed, tugging his boots on before going to join YoungSaeng. "We're going to have to make an impression, if they try sneaking off they're getting tossed into a container." 

"I'll leave that up to you, you know how to leave an impression," YoungSaeng chuckled, stepping out into the hallway. "We should probably feed them while they're out and about. The mess hall is a good place to keep an eye on them."

"Sounds like a plan, and we're keeping them away from the bridge or any of the meeting rooms," JungMin wrinkled his nose as he closed the door behind them and headed down the hallway to where all the racket was coming from. "Do they ever run out of voice?" 

"No, and that's not one of their better traits," YoungSaeng scowled as they approached the door. Pounding on the door, he snorted when the noise inside stopped and reached over to tap the button to unlock the door. After he heard the click, he turned the handle and pushed open the door. "Alright, you've made your point. We're letting you out for a couple hours," he said.

The one YoungSaeng remembered was Zhou Mi, peeked out from where he was hiding behind the bed. "Out?"

"Yes, out on the ship, but you're going to stay with us and do as we say, got it?" JungMin scowled at him, before his eyes narrowed and he looked straight at a point on the wall. "And _don't_ pull any stunts, because we at least have no qualms about shooting you both out the airlock."

The outline against the wall shifted back into blue, KyuHyun glaring at him in return. 

"Hurry up or we'll change our minds," YoungSaeng said, stepping to the side of the door and waiting. He could hear some scrambling from inside and then Zhou Mi's head slowly poked out.

"Where are we going?" the tall Gecko asked, blinking wide eyed at YoungSaeng.

"Food first," YoungSaeng said, leaning against the wall.

KyuHyun appeared next, eyeing JungMin and YoungSaeng suspiciously. After a moment he stepped out of the room, tugging Zhou Mi out too.

"Why are shapeshifters working on a human ship, and looking like humans?" The Gecko's eyes narrowed as he looked at them.

"None of your business," JungMin snapped. "Come on, this way, and don't even think about running off." He turned and started down the hallway towards the stairs.

"We're just curious," Zhou Mi said, clinging to KyuHyun as they followed along. YoungSaeng brought up the rear, making sure the two didn't try to slip off somewhere.

"Keep that curiosity in check," YoungSaeng said, his arms crossed. "You won't be here long enough to worry about what happens on this ship."

"Where are we going, anyways?" KyuHyun frowned. When he wasn't answered, the Gecko scowled. "Come on, if you're going to dump us somewhere, at least tell us where we're being dumped!" 

"Hathen port in the Zena system," YoungSaeng said, wincing when Zhou Mi whined loudly. "Would you stop that?"

"But that's Darven controlled," Zhou Mi whimpered. "He'll find us there!"

"Who will find you?" JungMin sighed as he looked back at them, hand on his hips.

"HeeChul," KyuHyun murmured, and even he looked spooked at the idea, eyes wide.

"...You're running from HeeChul?" JungMin quirked an eyebrow at them. 

Zhou Mi nodded slowly, his shoulders slumping a little at the look from JungMin. 

"And what did you do to get on HeeChul's bad side?" YoungSaeng asked, a little amused.

"It wasn't our fault," Zhou Mi whined.

"I'm sure it wasn't," YoungSaeng rolled his eyes, nudging them to walk a little faster.

"HeeChul may be a spoiled princess, but even he doesn't chase people across the galaxy without a good reason, he'll break a nail," JungMin snorted, shaking his head as they headed down the stairs.

"Doesn't mean he won't kill us if he finds us," KyuHyun grumbled, dragging his feet. 

"You must have screwed up pretty badly then, he doesn't kill just anybody," YoungSaeng chuckled. "Don't worry. We won't give you up to HeeChul if we can help it."

"Please don't leave us on Hathen," Zhou Mi turned around, nearly sending YoungSaeng sprawling when he attached himself to the shapeshifter. YoungSaeng's eyes flashed dangerously as he tried to pry the Gecko off of him.

"Yah! Get off me or we will chuck you out the airlock," YoungSaeng snarled.

JungMin scowled, stepping over to grab Zhou Mi's tail and pull him off. "Whatever mess you got yourselves into is none of our business, get off of him before I drag you back to your room by your tail."

"Let go of him!" KyuHyun tried to get JungMin away and was easily batted back. 

Zhou Mi fell back, landing on his butt when YoungSaeng managed to get his arms pried off from around him and JungMin had given a hard tug. Yelping, the Gecko scrambled back up to his feet and cowered behind KyuHyun.

Huffing, YoungSaeng glared at the two before pointing to the mess hall door. "Go."

KyuHyun grabbed Zhou Mi's hand and glowered at both shapeshifters before going towards the mess hall door, walking inside with his tail waving indignantly.

"Are you sure we can't toss them out the airlock?" JungMin looked at YoungSaeng in exasperation. 

"Don't tempt me," YoungSaeng grumbled, following the Geckos into the mess hall. "If I didn't respect the Captain I would have already done so, but he has something against killing things." Stopping in the doorway, his eyes narrowed. "What the hell are you doing?"

Zhou Mi was digging through cabinets and storage lockers, piling up things on the counter. "Making food," the Gecko said quietly, trying to shrink down and hide behind the counter.

"No, you're not cooking," YoungSaeng scowled, striding over to pull the Gecko out from the kitchen by his tail, Zhou Mi whining in protest.

JungMin closed the door behind him to make sure neither of them would be able to make a break for it.

"What is it with you both and pulling our tails?" KyuHyun scowled at them, going to get Zhou Mi away from YoungSaeng.

"They make flinging Geckos around easy," JungMin shrugged, pointing at the seats. "Go sit down."

"What's the point of being able to walk around if we don't get to actually look around?" KyuHyun grumbled as he did as told.

"You're stowaways, you don't get complaining rights." 

"Just be glad the Captain was nice enough to let you out of the room," YoungSaeng said, letting go of Zhou Mi to start fixing something to eat. No sooner had he turned around and the Gecko was back poking around at the things in his pan. "Would you get out of here and go sit down!" YoungSaeng cuffed him upside the head and pushed him out of the way.

"But I can cook! You're going to ruin that!" Zhou Mi protested, squirming to try and get to the pan.

"Fine!" YoungSaeng threw up his hands and moved out of the way. "You two are the ones who have to eat it."

"I bet Mi cooks much better than you anyways," KyuHyun sniffed, and shrieked as JungMin hit him off the head.

"Considering we could just as easily _not_ feed you, stop pushing your luck!" 

YoungSaeng moved out of the kitchen to stand next to JungMin and leaned against him. "Just a few more days right? Then we'll be rid of them?" he murmured, watching Zhou Mi scurry around the kitchen.

"Yeah," JungMin sighed, then glared at KyuHyun. "You better stop making that racket if we're bothering to take you out of the room. Hanging from the ceiling by your tail, you'd make an excellent punching bag."

KyuHyun glowered at him but didn't say anything. 

"But it's boring in that room," Zhou Mi said, looking up from what he was cooking with a pout. "There's nothing to do."

"I suggest you find something quiet to do then," YoungSaeng said, looking between the two Geckos. "At least we put you in the same room. Is it so hard to talk to each other instead of banging on the walls all day?"

"We talk a lot," KyuHyun shrugged. "Who else is there to talk to when we're hiding in cargo bays all day?"

"My heart bleeds for you," JungMin rolled his eyes.

"You don't have any games or anything?" KyuHyun asked, slumped over the table with his head in his arms. 

"You'd have to ask the Captain," YoungSaeng said, his lips pursed. "If you ask him nicely he might let you borrow some games. Borrow. Not have."

"We wouldn't steal games," Zhou Mi frowned, tasting a bit of the sauce that was in the pan.

"You steal everything else, why not?" JungMin snorted.

"We haven't stolen a thing since we were here," KyuHyun glowered. "Not even food."

"Because you couldn't figure out how to get the cargo bay hatch open? Good to know." 

"It's hard to steal off a ship when you haven't left it yet," YoungSaeng said, his eyes narrowed at Zhou Mi who was looking a little flustered. "You've got a stash somewhere, don't you?"

"No!" Zhou Mi protested, shaking his head. He dumped the contents of the pan onto a plate and brought it over to set between himself and KyuHyun to eat.

"Why don't I believe you?" YoungSaeng rolled his eyes.

"None of our problem," KyuHyun started to eat as though he hadn't had a decent meal in years. JungMin had to admit that at least it looked like Zhou Mi could cook. "How long do we have out?"

"Two hours," JungMin replied. "If you're good, we might let you out longer next time, but considering you've been making sure no one on this ship can sleep, I wouldn't try your luck right now." 

"We'll be quieter," Zhou Mi said, glancing at KyuHyun with a nod. After a moment he lifted up the chopsticks with food on it holding it out to YoungSaeng and JungMin. "Try it, see I can cook," he said with a broad smile.

YoungSaeng frowned, looking up at JungMin then back at the Gecko. "Well I know you didn't poison it at least," he muttered, leaning over to take a bite. Chewing slowly, he begrudgingly had to admit it was very good. "Not bad," he nodded, leaning back. Zhou Mi held out the food for JungMin to try.

JungMin leaned over to try it, chewing and frowning before swallowing. "It's...decent."

"They love it, so see-through," KyuHyun snorted, going back to shoveling food into his mouth. 

"Well Zhou Mi, until we reach the station, you can cook the food for you two," YoungSaeng said. That meant less cooking for him to do, and he was more than okay with that. "As long as you two can keep the noise down, that is. Otherwise you'll be getting your meals served in your room again."

"We said we'll try to keep it down," KyuHyun wrinkled his nose, swallowing. About to reach out for more, he paused. "Wait, where did you say we're going again?"

"The Zena system," JungMin sighed.

"From the outpost? Wait..." The Gecko's eyes widened. "You can't take that route!" 

"Why not?" YoungSaeng raised an eyebrow at the response. Zhou Mi was slinking down in his seat again. "HeeChul said it was relatively safe space between the outpost and Zena."

"HeeChul.. doesn't know everything," Zhou Mi said quietly, looking hesitantly at KyuHyun.

"There's a new faction trying to start up," KyuHyun said, looking between them. "Very recent, so news hasn't really gotten out yet...but they're mean, and that route goes straight through their playground. The last ship we were on was in contact with a ship passing through this area...they suddenly lost communication and never got it back." 

YoungSaeng's brows knitted together, and looked at JungMin for a moment before turning back. "And would you have a suggestion for a safer route then?"

"Any route's safer than that one, but..." KyuHyun leaned forward, looking serious for once. "Do you have a map?"

"There's one on the bridge, JongWoon and HyungJoon are up there right now, right?" JungMin glanced towards YoungSaeng as he pulled out his com device to contact them. 

"Yes," YoungSaeng nodded, drumming his fingers on the table. "I think the Captain will want to hear about this. Think I should wake him up?"

"Yeah, he said to get him if there were any problems," JungMin nodded, before talking into the com line. "Can one of you twins get down to the mess hall? Bring a map." 

" _...Why?_ " That was HyungJoon and YoungSaeng wrinkled his nose, pulling JungMin's hand with the device over so he could speak into it.

"Just do it," YoungSaeng snapped, getting to his feet. There was a hurried assurance that HyungJoon would be down. "I'll go get the Captain," he said, glancing at the two Geckos before heading out and down the hall. Stopping at the Captain's quarters, he knocked, hoping HyunJoong wouldn't be too far into sleep, or he'd never wake up.

HyunJoong stirred a little at the knock, one eye cracking open as he blinked at the door, wondering if he'd actually heard a knock or if that had just been a dream. After a moment he pushed himself up reluctantly and climbed out of his bed, brushing his hair out of his face before going to the door and opening it. He blinked sleepily at YoungSaeng. "Yes?" 

"Sorry for waking you Captain," YoungSaeng said with a pained smile. "But there's a problem that we thought you should hear concerning our route."

Not entirely awake, HyunJoong rubbed his eyes before the meaning of YoungSaeng's words got to him, and he frowned lightly. "What kind of problem?" He stepped back a bit from the door to get his boots on. 

YoungSaeng leaned against the doorframe and waited for him. "One of the Gecko's says that our route is going to go right through a new faction's nest, and they're not very pleasant. I don't know how far we can trust the word of Gecko, but if there's any chance he's telling the truth, we should avoid that sector."

Frowning slightly, HyunJoong stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. "I'll speak with the Gecko about it...we shouldn't take any chances, this ship won't fair well in a confrontation. Where are they right now?" 

"The mess hall," YoungSaeng said, pushing away from the wall and heading back towards the mess hall. By the time they had arrived, HyungJoon had shown up with the map and was looking a little uncomfortable and standing slightly behind JungMin.

JungMin surprisingly wasn't saying anything about HyungJoon hiding behind him, hands on his hips as he watched the two who were finishing eating. He glanced at the door when it opened.

"You say there's a problem with the route we have?" HyunJoong cut right to the chase, not sure which of the two Geckos to look at.

KyuHyun sat up straight, nodding. "If you keep going the most direct route, you'll go right through the middle of the faction's territory, but it's still small so it's easy enough to get around without losing too much time."

Nodding slowly, HyunJoong searched the Gecko's face for any sign of a lie, not seeing anything. "HyungJoon, you have the map?" He asked, looking over at his engineer. 

Jumping a bit when HyunJoong said his name, HyungJoon nodded and handed out the rolled up map. "Uh, yes sir," he mumbled awkwardly, doing his best to avoid staring at the two Geckos. Zhou Mi cleared off the table, putting the plates on the counter so they could spread the map out.

"What's this new faction called?" YoungSaeng asked, coming up beside JungMin.

"Vhel, it's the name of their leader," KyuHyun rolled his eyes. "Not very original, and they're not very smart, so I doubt they'll last long...but they'll last long enough to blow up anyone they come across." He leaned over the map, tracing out the route from the station to the Zena system. "This is the way you're going?"

"Yes," HyunJoong nodded.

"Their territory is right here," the Gecko drew an oval that cut right through the center of the route. "Those planets and asteroid belts are theirs. Now, there is a pretty safe way to get around it, if you don't mind dodging a couple asteroids." He drew out a new route with one thin finger, that arched around Vhel's territory by skimming around the outer side of the asteroid belt they claimed. 

"That route cuts awful close to Sylar territory," YoungSaeng said with a frown. "But we may have to risk it. Going any other way will get us noticed by Valis. I don't know what this Vhel idiot is thinking sprouting up right between those two."

"I said he wasn't smart," KyuHyun rolled his eyes. "They'll be gone before the month's up, once they've blown up one ship too many and the other two decide to stop humoring them. But in the meantime, they're a pain. If you're feeling like _lots_ of fun, you can go straight through the asteroid belt, you'll never be spotted in there because the big ships avoid it. Depends how well this tin can flies in tight places." 

"This ship has a good pilot," YoungSaeng said, looking over at HyunJoong, a smirk on his lips. "You think he'd be able to get us through an asteroid belt of that size?"

Looking down at the map, HyunJoong pursed his lips. "I will ask him once he's had a chance to sleep properly, but I think he will be able to do it." He traced the asteroid belt all the way down. "It looks like it would take several hours to clear, but then it leaves us with plenty of space between the different territories." 

"We're still a day away at least," YoungSaeng nodded, glancing over the map again and the new route they would take. "There's still the possibility of running into faction ships until then, but we can hope they stay in their own territories for the time being." His narrowed eyes went to KyuHyun. "If we find out your information is wrong and you're directing into some kind of a trap, we will not be pleased."

"I gathered that much from the repeated airlock threats," KyuHyun drawled, his head in one hand. "Don't worry, if you blow up then we blow up with you, and I'd rather get out of this with my skin attached."

Grumbling at the snark, JungMin took a step back and nearly stepped on HyungJoon. "Get out from behind me, you," he scowled at the engineer as HyunJoong rolled up the map. 

HyungJoon squeaked, flailing as he toppled back over onto his butt. "S-sorry," he stuttered, scrambling to get back up on his feet. He tried to shuffle behind YoungSaeng, but one look from the other shapeshifter and he backed up against the wall. "Um.. I'm.. just... going to go back to the bridge," he gave a pained smile and scampered off towards the door.

Rolling his eyes, YoungSaeng looked back at the two Geckos. "If you two are done eating, it's time to go back to your room."

"I thought we had two hours?" Zhou Mi blinked, a pout forming. "And you promised us games."

"We need to talk about the change in route," HyunJoong said firmly. "And...games?" He glanced at the other two.

"They were complaining of being bored," JungMin shrugged.

"I'll have a word with JongWoon then about borrowing a few, and bring them to you in your room shortly," HyunJoong said, looking back at the two Geckos.

"We give helpful information, and are shoved back into that room for it," KyuHyun grumbled, slouching. 

"Maybe if you stop pounding on walls and screaming for a while, we'll let you out for longer next time," YoungSaeng said shortly.

Zhou Mi looked like he wanted to say something, he kept looking at KyuHyun with wide eyes and then up at the captain, fidgeting. He let out a strangled whine and stood up. "Captain, we would like to plead for sanctuary."

YoungSaeng covered his face with a hand.

HyunJoong's eyes narrowed. "What is this about?"

"They got themselves in trouble with HeeChul and are convinced he's going to find them," JungMin rolled his eyes.

The Captain frowned at them both. "...It will be discussed, but as of now the answer is no, because thanks to you our pilot has had no sleep and is just as likely to slam us into those asteroids than avoid them." 

The Gecko deflated and sat back down next to KyuHyun. "We're sorry about that, we'll be quiet, right Kui Xian? And, and, we can be helpful around the ship. I can cook, and Kui Xian knows more about what's going on out here than HeeChul does."

"Please stop talking," YoungSaeng sighed, shaking his head. "If we get through this little mess alive, then we can talk again." Zhou Mi nodded, slumping down again.

HyunJoong rubbed his temple a little, looking at the two Geckos. "...I'll speak with JongWoon and be on the bridge for a little while," he said quietly to YoungSaeng and JungMin. "Come see me once they're back in the room."

JungMin nodded, and the older man turned and walked out, the door closing behind him.

"...A human ship, still can't believe that," KyuHyun muttered to himself. 

"You picked the ship," YoungSaeng shrugged. "Let's go, back to the room."

"But, we don't understand why Shinbi would be taking orders from humans," Zhou Mi said quietly, looking between JungMin and YoungSaeng. "Isn't that against your.. moral code?"

"We don't need a lecture from Gecko's about moral code," YoungSaeng frowned, pointing to the door. "Either start walking, or we're dragging you by your tails."

"What's with all the threats?" KyuHyun grumbled as he got to his feet. "We're listening, aren't we? Come on Mi, and I hope one of you shifts into something with a tail while we're here so you can see how _you_ like it."

"Already been there," JungMin said dryly, eyeing YoungSaeng as KyuHyun trudged out of the room, pulling Zhou Mi along. 

YoungSaeng raised a brow at JungMin but didn't say anything, following after the Geckos. "Threats are the only things Gecko's seem to understand. I'd rather not have to argue with you two all day just to get something done."

"But we're not like the others," Zhou Mi said, looking over his shoulder as he stumbled along behind KyuHyun.

"You snuck aboard a ship. Not seeing a difference so far," YoungSaeng shrugged.

"What's wrong with living life on the edge?" KyuHyun sniffed. "Well, more on the edge than space already is."

"Just stop talking, you're both giving me a headache," JungMin grumbled, making sure they kept moving on up the stairs. 

Both of the Geckos were quiet after that, Zhou Mi turned around to look at them occasionally, but remained silent. He did make a little whine of protest when YoungSaeng had shut the door on them and locked it. Turning to JungMin, the older man sighed heavily. "On to the bridge?" he said with a pained smile.

"Yeah," JungMin rubbed his face a little before heading in that direction. "We can sleep after, right?" 

"As long as these two idiots stay quiet, then yes," YoungSaeng nodded, taking the younger man's hand and starting towards the bridge. "If KyuHyun's information is correct though, we could have been flying right into trouble without his help."

"And if his information _isn't_ correct, we're flying right into trouble _now_ ," JungMin sighed. "Do you think he was lying?" 

"I can't think of a reason why he would, he and Zhou Mi are on the ship too," YoungSaeng frowned, turning the corner and reaching the ladder to start heading up. "And no one trusts Gecko's enough to have them try and pull off any kind of scheme."

"Guess we better do as he says then, I don't think this ship can take on any faction, even a small one," JungMin shook his head as he followed along behind YoungSaeng. "That contact equipped it well, but not that well." 

"Maybe one ship, but no, not a whole faction," YoungSaeng agreed, getting to the top and waiting for JungMin. "Although, it might not hurt to see if we have contacts still alive in Valis. They seem to be in a good position and were one of the friendlier factions. Might be able to find a place to hide for a while."

"Worth a shot, once we have a little more information about what's going on, and _if_ they're still alive," JungMin nodded, heading towards the bridge. "Because if they're not, friendly or not, there might be no safety for us there." 

Pausing at the door, YoungSaeng looked up at JungMin, his eyes concerned. "Things have always been a little rough out here, but is it just me, or are things getting worse? How did Sylar get so big in such a short amount of time? It's only been half a year since we were last out here."

"I have no idea," JungMin shook his head, frowning. "We should have asked HeeChul that before gagging him. Do you think the Geckos would know? They get around." He folded his arms over his chest, leaning a little against the wall beside the door. 

"Maybe," YoungSaeng's lips pursed. "I don't like the idea of using bottom feeders for our information, but they might know more than HeeChul. I guess we can talk to the Captain about it, see what he thinks."

"I don't like this either, but we're not going to have much of a choice," JungMin sighed before stepping through the hatch and onto the bridge.

HyunJoong looked up at them from where he was talking with HyungJoon and JongWoon. "They're back in their room?" 

"Yes," YoungSaeng nodded, taking a seat next to the table and propping his chin up with one hand. "What did you think of their information?"

"I think it's too much of a risk to ignore," HyunJoong sighed, leaning against the table slightly. "I'll reprogram the ship's course, but we won't enter the asteroid belt until KyuJong's confirmed he's able to fly us through there." 

"Hopefully he'll be well rested by then, he'll need it," YoungSaeng said softly. "Speaking of, once we've all rested a bit, we'll have to discuss some things with you Captain, the least of which being our Gecko problem."

Frowning at that, HyunJoong nodded slowly at that. "We will have to have a discussion." He sighed after a moment, looking towards HyungJoon and JongWoon. "You both okay to continue until the end of your shifts?"

"We're all good up here sir, get some sleep," JongWoon smiled nervously. 

Getting back up to his feet slowly, YoungSaeng stretched out arms and looked at JungMin with a pout. "Would it be too much to ask you to carry me to bed?" he asked, his voice tired.

"Someone's got a short leash," HyungJoon mumbled under his breath.

JongWoon quickly rolled his chair away from HyungJoon's as JungMin stormed over and put the engineer into a headlock. "You are so lucky you don't have a tail or you'd spend the rest of your shift suspended from the rafters." 

Shrieking, HyungJoon swatted at JungMin ineffectively. "Get off! I'm sorry!"

"Let him go Min, you can get him back for that tomorrow during practice," YoungSaeng said, yawning and leaning up against the wall.

Letting go after a moment and giving HyungJoon's head one last shove, JungMin went back to YoungSaeng. "I will look forward to that," he grumbled darkly, scooping YoungSaeng up before leaving the bridge.

JongWoon gave HyungJoon a sympathetic look. "It was nice knowing you." 

HyungJoon whined loudly and let his head drop down onto the console. "Me and my big mouth," he mumbled, covering his head with his arms.

HyunJoong laughed quietly, shaking his head at the two. "You deserved that one Joon. I will see you both at the end of your shifts." He left the bridge to bring the Geckos one of JongWoon's games before heading back to bed.

"Why in the world would you say something like that where he can hear you?" JongWoon chuckled, rolling closer and rubbing his hand along HyungJoon's back. 

"Because I'm an idiot," HyungJoon said, his voice muffled. "I'm skipping practice from now on and hiding somewhere where he can't find me."

"He's going to find you eventually, it's a small ship and you have to come out for your shift sooner or later." JongWoon shook his head, playing with strands of HyungJoon's hair. 

"But, if he kills me, then what? There won't be an engineer and then the ship is going to break down and everyone is going to die, and it's all my fault cause I'm an idiot with a bit mouth," HyungJoon whined, his voice getting higher and higher the more he rambled on. His head popped up and he looked at JongWoon with wide eyes. "You think YoungSaeng will plead my case?"

"I don't think he will need to," JongWoon sighed, shaking his head in amusement as he patted the younger man on the head. "JungMin's not gonna kill you, though I can't say he's gonna go easy on you next practice." 

"...That doesn't make me feel better," HyungJoon's head fell back down onto the console. "I think I'll be spending another couple of hours in the medbay after next practice then."

"If you keep hitting your head on the console you will, you're going to press buttons." JongWoon pushed HyungJoon back up into his seat. "He's not that horrible, you just seem to constantly be on his bad side." 

Lolling back limply, HyungJoon pouted at his friend. "I don't know why he hates me so much," he grumbled. "I didn't do anything to him. He had it out for me from the start."

"I'm sure comments like that don't help," JongWoon smiled tightly at the younger man. "Why don't you try just talking to him, normally? He talks with the rest of us just fine." 

"Because he doesn't let me," HyungJoon snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "I so much as walk in the room and he starts hitting me, or yelling at me, or glaring at me. He just hates me and I don't see that changing no matter how hard I try to be nice to him. Rather give him a reason to hit me at that point."

"...If that's what you want to do," JongWoon sighed, shaking his head before scooting closer and leaning against his best friend. "At least it helps with training, that was pretty fun to watch." 

"You're supposed to be on my side," HyungJoon scowled, nudging at him with his shoulder.

"I am," JongWoon grinned. "It was fun watching you tackle him over." 

HyungJoon's lips quivered and he glanced at the man beside him. "It felt pretty good too," he said, amusement in his tone. "He still hasn't got me back for that yet either." He paused and his whole face fell. "I really am going to die tomorrow."

Laughing, JongWoon hugged his friend. "You'll be fine, just practice hard before he loses his temper on you again. I can't keep on using all our medical supplies on you as much as I want to." 

HyungJoon mumbled something but leaned into the hug, closing his eyes for a moment. "Thanks," he murmured.

JongWoon smiled, resting his head against HyungJoon's as he rubbed the younger man's back slowly. "You gonna be okay for the rest of our shift? You didn't get much sleep either." They'd been rudely awakened at the very start of all the noise-making. 

"I'll be fine. Why, you going to abandon me up here all by myself?" HyungJoon asked, pouting a little at him.

"No I'm not!" JongWoon shook his head. "I was just wondering if you were getting tired, why are you making assumptions," he pouted back at the younger man. "You insult me." 

"I was just asking," HyungJoon rolled his eyes, pulling JongWoon a little closer. "And no, I'm not getting tired. Are you?"

"A little, but I can make it till the end of our shift," JongWoon shrugged, resting his head against HyungJoon's and closing his eyes. 

"Uh huh," HyungJoon chuckled, patting JongWoon lightly on the arm. He was pretty sure the other man would be asleep in a few minutes, just like the last time.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before JongWoon was out, leaning against the younger man and breathing slowly as he ended up drifting right off. 

********************************************20*************************************

"Can I say, for the record, that this is a bad idea?" HyungJoon said, making sure JongWoon was nice and strapped into his seat.

"I think you've said something to that effect a few times now," YoungSaeng mused, leaning up against JungMin, safely buckled up.

"Your concern is duly noted HyungJoon," KyuJong said, his attention entirely on the console and hitting buttons. "But unless you had a better idea, this was the best option."

"He seems a little too happy about this idea," JungMin snorted.

"Of course, he gets to fly through asteroids," HyunJoong rolled his eyes, strapping himself into the co-pilot's seat just in case. "Be careful with her KyuJong. Our two guests know things might be a little rough?"

"Yes, I told them to strap in," JungMin wrinkled his nose, checking both his and YoungSaeng's restraints. "Whether they actually listened or not is up to them." 

"They're going to have a rough few hours then," KyuJong chuckled, turning off the auto-pilot and taking the controls. "Keep an eye on those sensors for me HyunJoong, I won't be able to watch what's flying at us from all sides while trying to steer."

"Do you have to say that out loud?" HyungJoon whined.

"You don't have to stay up here HyungJoon if you think you're going to have problems," KyuJong said, his eyes focused on the window as they made their approach to the asteroid belt. He easily avoided the smaller rocks that were hovering around the edge.

"I'm sure if you're so worried, you could go sit in the gun turret and blow up anything that looks like it's getting too close," YoungSaeng suggested, amused by the constant whining.

"That actually wouldn't be a bad idea," HyunJoong chuckled. "Why don't you go do that HyungJoon?"

"I offered before," JongWoon sulked.

"I'd rather not have a hole blown in the side of the ship...but you can go with him if you promise not to touch anything."

JungMin snorted as JongWoon sunk as low as he could in his seat while being buckled in. 

"Oh come on, you can be my second eyes," HyungJoon said, unbuckling both their restraints and getting to his feet.

"You'd both better hurry, entering the asteroid field in less than a minute," KyuJong said without turning around.

"I'm guessing you'll want to be strapped in at that point," YoungSaeng mused, snickering when HyungJoon took JongWoon's hand and scrambled off the bridge.

Shaking his head at them both, HyunJoong turned back to the sensors, adjusting them slightly so he'd be able to see anything coming at them from the sides easier. "Ready, KyuJong?" 

"You know, I've never taken on an asteroid belt this big, or this length of time," KyuJong said, the ship slowing to a crawl the closer they got to the field. Giant rocks were crashing into each other in front of their nose, and they were lucky the one got deflected by another asteroid and didn't go sailing into the window.

"But you can, yes?" YoungSaeng asked, his voice tense. He trusted the pilot, but he was still uneasy. It was one thing to pass through an asteroid belt, it was another to use it like a highway.

"Long as I don't get distracted," KyuJong nodded, his grin broadening. "Let's go," he chirped, hitting the accelerator. The ship shot forward, careening around a large asteroid that flew from underneath them, and banked to the left, starting to follow the path of the field.

Taking a deep breath, YoungSaeng took JungMin's hand, holding it tightly between his own and glanced up at him nervously. "Maybe we should have stayed in our room so we didn't have to watch," he murmured lowly, nearly toppling over into his lap when the ship pitched to the side again.

"A little too late for that now," JungMin winced, holding YoungSaeng close and letting the older man hide his face in his shirt if he wanted.

HyunJoong's entire focus was on the sensors, making sure nothing snuck up on them. He'd strapped himself in well enough that he wouldn't go sprawling over the controls, biting on his lower lip.

"Asteroid approaching on starboard," he reported after a minute. 

"Starboard," KyuJong nodded, and the ship took a nose dive, banking sharply to avoid crashing into another asteroid that was flying in from above them. There was detonating sound of the guns being fired and YoungSaeng looked up to see one of the larger asteroids was breaking in two, the pieces moving off away from them.

"This is going to be a long couple of hours," YoungSaeng rested his head on JungMin's shoulder and closed his eyes. The ship pitched again and YoungSaeng let go of JungMin's hand to wrap tightly around his waist, using the younger as an anchor so he wasn't falling out of his seat every ten minutes.

JungMin ran his fingers through YoungSaeng's hair, watching the asteroids in front of the ship. "At least this way we won't be spotted by anyone, if we get through this alive," he sighed, then winced as the ship turned sharply again, tightening his grip on the older man. HyunJoong reported any asteroid that got within sensor range, watching carefully. 

" _If_ we get through this alive," YoungSaeng grumbled, though he did have to admit that if it had been anyone else piloting they probably wouldn't have fared so well thus far.

After nearly three hours, even KyuJong was exhausted and was feeling the strain of the constant vigilance. YoungSaeng had stopped counting the amount of near misses, or how many times he heard the guns firing, and only noticed when they stopped. Opening his eyes, YoungSaeng sat up a little straighter and looked out the window. 

"And we are clear of the asteroid belt," KyuJong breathed a sigh of relief, avoiding a stray asteroid easily and setting in their course. "That was fun," he said, looking over at HyunJoong with a grin.

HyunJoong rolled his eyes at their pilot, but relaxed as well as he leaned back in his chair. "Let's not do that again unless we have to."

The com line went off. _"Finally!"_ JongWoon called down the line.

"Not bad at all for a Federation pilot," JungMin said, but he was grinning a little, sitting straight as well. 

"No, not bad at all," YoungSaeng mused, unbuckling his seat belt and stretching out his back.

"Laying in course--" KyuJong started, cutting off when something slammed hard into the ship, sensor warnings going crazy. Not buckled in anymore, YoungSaeng went flying out of his seat with a shriek, landing on the floor and rolling into HyunJoong's feet.

" _Captain, we've got a ship on our tail!_ " HyungJoon whined over the com line.

Hands out to stop himself from slamming into the controls, HyunJoong paid no attention to YoungSaeng at his feet as he looked through the sensors again. "They came up behind the asteroids, we've been hit." Thankfully the blow had only skimmed along the ship's side, but there was no saying the next fire would do the same.

JungMin undid his buckle and went to the other window, leaning over to see the ship. "It's not any model I recognize, it might be that new faction." The ship swayed as a pulse just missed them, and he scrambled to get his footing back before going to pull YoungSaeng up off the floor. 

"Shields are back up," KyuJong said, taking sharp evasive maneuvers to keep from getting hit. "We're not going to be able to take too many hits though," he said, hitting the accelerator to speed up. "HyungJoon, if you get a good shot, take it," KyuJong said over the coms.

Getting back to his feet with JungMin's help, YoungSaeng's eyes flashed in irritation. "They probably sit there at the edge of the belt and wait for ships to pass," he grumbled, sitting back down and buckling his seat back up. "Can we get to warp and clear of them?"

"Not without sucking an asteroid up into the engine," KyuJong shook his head. "We're not far away enough from the field yet."

Another hit rocked the ship, JungMin nearly going sprawling until he quickly sat back down. Seeing the shields flicker, HyunJoong redirected power to them, trying to hail the other ship. His jaw clenched as they refused to accept communications; it was clear that they were perfectly happy to blow the ship into pieces.

"How soon before we're clear of the field?" He asked, seeing another pulse go past them thanks to a sharp maneuver.

Then the sensors went off again, the Captain's eyes narrowing. "There's another ship approaching from the other side, not the same make." 

"We're pinned between them," KyuJong scowled, trying to keep out of range of the shots being fired at them.

"That's a Valis ship," YoungSaeng said, leaning forward to see the ship approaching. "Don't bother hailing them, they won't respond. We out of that field yet?"

"No, just another minute," KyuJong said, nearly crashing into his console when another hit rocked the shields. Swallowing nervously he watched the other ship approach. "They're getting ready to fire," he said, eyes wide.

Taking JungMin's hand, YoungSaeng watched with narrowed eyes. The Valis ship fired, the shots wide of their ship, slamming into the Vhel ship behind them. "Guess we're not the target today," he breathed a little easier. "We should get out of here, now."

"Clear of the field, hold on," KyuJong said, slamming down the accelerator and hitting the warp engines. The ship took off, leaving the small battle behind.

HyunJoong sighed in relief, waiting until they were clear before redirecting the power sent to the shields to compensate for the heavy fire. "I think we're going to have to upgrade the shields next chance we get...a few more hits and they would have failed."

 _"Is it over yet?"_ JongWoon whined into the com line.

"Yes," HyunJoong sighed, turning to the navigation console to make sure they were still on course. "HyungJoon, you're going to have to take a look at the shields." 

" _Told you we should have upgraded them at Tablo's,_ " HyungJoon grumbled over the coms. " _JungMin, meet me in engineering._ "

Turning the auto-pilot on, KyuJong slumped over, resting his head and arms on the console. "Okay, that was not fun."

"We were lucky that Valis ship was around," YoungSaeng said, softly. "This is the very edge of their territory."

JungMin stood up, rolling a shoulder that had been jostled in the collisions. "They have little patience for idiots, it wouldn't surprise me if they were just waiting for those new guys to show themselves." He sighed before turning and leaving the room, heading towards engineering.

HyunJoong turned to go over the maps, tracing out their path with his finger. "At least it looks like we'll be clear of trouble for a while....the next challenge comes when we enter Darven space. Which is still a while off." He clapped KyuJong's shoulder lightly. "You all right to finish your shift?" 

"Maybe? I'm a little drained," KyuJong lifted his head up to look at HyunJoong with a smile.

"I can take over for him Captain," YoungSaeng said, getting to his feet. KyuJong's eyes went from HyunJoong to YoungSaeng and then back up to HyunJoong, eyes shining brightly.

Chuckling at the look he was given, HyunJoong squeezed KyuJong's shoulder lightly before letting go. "Go, get some sleep." 

"Thank you Captain," KyuJong smiled, getting out of his chair and tottering a little wobbly towards the door. 

YoungSaeng watched him go, smiling softly as he turned to the Captain. "Your crew did good today. We wouldn't have got through that without a pilot as good as that," he said, moving over to sit down in the pilot's chair. "You should be proud of them, HyunJoong."

"I am proud of them," HyunJoong smiled in return, adjusting the sensors now that they were clear of the asteroid belt. "I couldn't ask for a better crew." He glanced towards YoungSaeng. "I would like to consider yourself and JungMin as part of my crew as well." 

"We may be here a while," YoungSaeng nodded, turning to look out the window. "I can't speak for JungMin, but I feel like a part of the crew now," he said with a soft smile.

"I'm glad for that," HyunJoong leaned back against the chair, closing his eyes. After a moment he cracked one eye open to look at YoungSaeng beside him. "You used my name this time." 

Chuckling, YoungSaeng glanced over at him. "I did. I hope you don't have a problem with that. Some Captain's are fussy about that."

"If I was that kind of Captain, HyungJoon and JongWoon wouldn't be able to get away with half of the things they do around here," HyunJoong laughed quietly, shaking his head. 

"Very true," YoungSaeng nodded, looking at the sensor display. "I'm comfortable here HyunJoong. That hasn't happened in a very long time. It's a nice feeling."

"Everyone should have at least one place where they feel like that," HyunJoong shrugged, watching outside the window. 

********************

With YoungSaeng helping out in taking a shift on the bridge, KyuJong was able to relax a little more and get some private time. Curled up on his bed with a book, he enjoyed what little solitude he got sometimes. 

Not that he didn't appreciate the visits from certain people, he just didn't get enough time to himself these days. The fact that they were flying so close to a faction war had everyone on edge, and it was simple things like this that helped him get his mind off their situation.

Some time later, JungMin slid down the stairs to the crew deck, landing lightly. His shift had finished a while ago, YoungSaeng was busy and the twins were asleep. Which meant he was bored out of his mind; there was only so much he could do to amuse himself that he hadn't already done.

Finally he found himself outside KyuJong's door, and knocked lightly before poking his head in to see if the pilot was still awake. "Are you asleep?" 

"No," KyuJong said lightly, not looking up at the redhead, turning a page in his book. "You need something?"

"Yes, tell me why everyone decided to be either busy or asleep all at the same time and leave me with absolutely nothing to do," JungMin sniffed, shuffling into the room and closing the door behind him. 

Seeing as he wasn't going to get any more reading done, KyuJong closed the book and set it aside. Turning over to look at him, he propped his head up with one hand and smiled. "That's kind of how it goes when there's only so many crew members," he said with a smile. "I'm sorry your playmate got taken away, but we did need more people to take shifts on the bridge."

"Yes," JungMin pouted sadly, before brightening. "But you're available now, yes?" He grinned as he started towards the bed. 

"I suppose," KyuJong mused, watching him approach. Knowing what the shapeshifter was here for made KyuJong frown slightly as it had been some time since JungMin had come to see him. Now that he and the Captain had started back up where they were before, it almost felt like he'd be cheating on HyunJoong. It was silly though, how could he be cheating on someone if they weren't together? "So what can I do for you, JungMin?" he asked, deciding that no, it wasn't cheating. Besides, JungMin actually liked to talk to him afterwards.

Wondering if he'd imagined the indecision in the older man's eyes, JungMin grinned as he leaned against the bed. "Entertain me?" He traced one finger along KyuJong's arm, pressing one knee into the mattress to balance himself. 

Watching the hand move up his arm, KyuJong traced the arm with his eyes back up to JungMin looking up at him in curiosity. For all intents and purposes, JungMin looked human, smelled human, and tasted human. He'd seen though, the way JungMin could easily melt into some other form, like the giant black cat. Sitting up, KyuJong reached out to place a hand against JungMin's chest. He could feel a heart there, beating; could feel the warmth off of his skin, and the slow breath from his lungs.

"What do you really look like?" KyuJong asked softly, his eyes meeting JungMin's brown eyes that he'd seen change colors before.

Blinking at that, JungMin looked into KyuJong's eyes, surprised at the question. He hadn't thought KyuJong would be the one to give in and ask again first, rather looking forward to bopping HyungJoon off the head if he tried asking. But with the pilot, his lips pursed a little thoughtfully, wondering how KyuJong would react.

"You really want to know?" He asked, head tilted to one side. "It always made the Feds uncomfortable." 

KyuJong nodded slowly, a small smile appearing. "I want to see," he said, lifting his hand away from JungMin's chest. "I'm not the Fed's, I'm not going to freak out."

"If you say so," JungMin chuckled quietly, a little nervous even though his eyes had already shifted into silver. "I might need some incentive though," he pouted, pointing at his lips. 

Rolling his eyes, KyuJong snorted softly as he shifted onto his knees and leaned up to press his lips against JungMin's. Warm and soft like he remembered. He idly wondered if JungMin's real form had lips, and if they would be as warm and soft as that. He pulled back after a moment, looking into JungMin's silver eyes. "I hope that was enough incentive," he murmured.

"It passes," JungMin teased to diffuse the slight tension in his shoulders. After a moment he sighed, leaning back so that he wasn't too close to KyuJong. "All right, here we go."

His form didn't shrink or grow; he didn't sprout any extra arms, tails, wings, or eyes, or lose any of the above either. But his skin shimmered and paled, and like fog disappearing from a window, went from opaque to transparent within the space of a second. His hair did the same, going from red to clear and maybe a little longer in length.

The transformation was over as suddenly as it started, and JungMin tilted his head slightly, the movement making the light in the room bounce off skin like liquid glass, interrupted only by the clothes he wore. The only opaque parts of his form were the silver eyes that watched KyuJong inquiringly. 

Eyes widening, KyuJong looked JungMin up and down, not quite able to process what he was seeing yet. He had never seen anything like it, but he wasn't scared or repulsed, just curious. Sitting up a little more, he reached his hand out hesitantly. "Can I?" he asked, wanting to know what JungMin felt like.

Judging KyuJong's reaction, JungMin wrinkled his nose slightly at the hesitance, the expression looking different now. "...Just no poking my eyes, that hurts no matter what form you're in," he sniffed, a strange echo to his words now, and he seemed to be taking a little more care with forming the words. 

Swallowing, KyuJong nodded as his hand reached forward more and rested against JungMin's chest. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but feeling the resistance of skin had surprised me. Maybe he thought his hand would pass right through. 

It was almost like touching glass, but softer, and now he could see the swirls of...something underneath the exterior. There was no pounding of a heartbeat, or breath from lungs, and KyuJong wondered about that, but pushed it to the side to ask later. His other hand came up to run down the length of JungMin's arm, taking his hand and looking at the fingers. "Beautiful," he murmured, looking back up to JungMin. "You're beautiful," he said with a smile.

Watching the pilot with a trace of nervousness, JungMin blinked widely at the statement, not sure what to say to that. After a moment he smiled in return, eyes crinkling slightly. "Well, that's definitely a better reaction than running away screaming." He wiggled his fingers a little in KyuJong's grasp, curling them around the older man's. 

"Not all us human's are scared of our own shadows," KyuJong chuckled, bringing the hand that was on JungMin's chest up to his jaw. Running his fingers down the jawline, he had to smile at how smooth it was, no trace of stubble. "I hope this doesn't make you uncomfortable," he said, smoothing his fingers over his cheek.

"Not at all," JungMin chuckled, brushing strands of hair out of his eyes. That didn't mean he would tolerate the whole crew treating him like an animal at a petting zoo, but for Kyu it was fine. He played with the hand in his grasp as he waited for KyuJong's curiosity to be sated, tracing along the lines of the pilot's palm and curling and uncurling his fingers. "And I didn't say you were scared of your shadow, just that I've heard it's a little unnerving to be able to see right through someone." 

"It is, a little," KyuJong admitted, pulling back a little to sit down on his knees. "But it's who you are, I can get used to that," he said, looking down at the hand in his own, turning it over and playing with the fingers a little. "Thank you for showing me."

"No problem." After a moment, JungMin shifted back into his human form, fingers curling around KyuJong's a little before he grinned. "Better?" 

"Would you hate me if I said yes?" KyuJong said with a smile. "Is that how it usually works though? Your human form is so similar to your real form, just a splash of human coloring."

"It's usually how it goes, though most Shinbi have coloring of some sort under their skin...like different skin colors for humans. It just happens that I don't," JungMin shrugged. 

"Oh," KyuJong blinked a little at that. "So, does YoungSaeng have some coloring to him then? Or is he like you?"

"You'll have to ask him that one," JungMin grinned mischievously as he shifted closer. "Though I'm kinda surprised you're the first to give in and ask, would have thought the wonder twins would crack long before now." 

"The Captain made it clear to them that they shouldn't ask," KyuJong said, leaning back on his hands and looking up at him. "He told me if I was curious enough, I could though."

"So they actually listened to him, just as surprising." JungMin trailed his hand up KyuJong's arm, shoulder and neck, tracing the line of the older man's jaw. 

"They follow direct orders," KyuJong said, his eyes fluttering at the touch. "Most of the time. I think they're still a little too scared to ask. That might not last much longer."

"That'll be interesting...maybe I can convince YoungSaeng to shift into some really weird race just to freak them out." JungMin kissed the corner of KyuJong's mouth, shifting to hover over him. 

"That seems more like something you would do," KyuJong murmured, responding to the kiss. If there was one thing he would change about his time with HyunJoong, it would be kissing. He liked to kiss, and HyunJoong seemed to have an aversion to it. JungMin on the other hand, was a great kisser. He probably shouldn't be thinking of another man while JungMin was trying to get into his pants.

"That's why they wouldn't believe it coming from me." JungMin deepened the kiss, tilted his head to one side and pressing into KyuJong's mouth. One hand ran down his chest, fingertips teasing lightly. 

Deciding conversation could wait, KyuJong wrapped one arm around JungMin's neck and pulled them both back down onto the bed. His fingers curled tightly into JungMin's shirt, pulling up on it lightly.

Moaning lightly into the kiss, JungMin broke the kiss to pull his shirt up over his head, dropping it to one side. He returned to pull KyuJong's shirt up as well, fingers splayed across the human's belly. 

Helping get his own shirt up and off, KyuJong moved into the hand on his stomach, sighing softly at the feel. A part of him wondered what this would feel like if JungMin was in his true form, but that would be weird to ask. There was also another part of him, asking if he should be doing this at all, but that voice was ignored in favor of JungMin's lips and touch.

The second the shirt was off, JungMin started to kiss along KyuJong's chest, insistent in his actions. It wasn't long before his long fingers found the edge to KyuJong's pants, unbuttoning them and pushing them down off the pilot's hips. 

Wiggling a little and helping get his pants down and off, kicking them to the floor, KyuJong sat up a bit to start working on JungMin's pants. With his hands occupied, he leaned up to capture JungMin's lips in another deep kiss, nudging the pants down until he couldn't reach them anymore.

JungMin returned the kiss as he kicked his pants off of his feet, one hand twining into KyuJong's hair at the back of his head. Hands wandering, he tilted the older man back to lie down again.

It was some time later when JungMin rolled off of the pilot again, panting quietly. He trailed one hand along KyuJong's chest before pressing up against his side, eyes slowly transitioning from silver back to dark brown. "That definitely cured my boredom," he chuckled. 

Looking up at the ceiling for a moment to catch his breath, KyuJong swallowed and turned his head to look at JungMin. "Glad to be of service then I guess," he chuckled tiredly before closing his eyes. "I think though... from now on you should relieve your boredom elsewhere," he said softly.

Blinking at that, JungMin looked at KyuJong for a moment before pouting. "I knew it, the walking glass-person freaked you out," he sniffled, acting sad. 

"Eh?" KyuJong blinked and shifted back a little in shock. "No, that's.. no," he chuckled, shaking his head. "I meant it when I said you were beautiful. It didn't freak me out," he said, taking JungMin's chin in hand and tilting his head up to lean in for another kiss. Pulling back, he smiled sadly at JungMin, brushing the red bangs from his eyes. "It's just... HyunJoong and I..." he trailed off, not sure how to continue when he wasn't sure what they were himself. "I just can't anymore."

HyunJoong, huh? So they were finally making some progress with that. YoungSaeng would be amused. "Ah, so I'm being replaced then. Okay, I can handle that," he chuckled. "Though I will definitely miss this. The offer's always open." He ran his hand along KyuJong's chest one last time before pulling it back. "And I'm not opposed to just....what was that human term?" He wrinkled his nose at KyuJong, grinning. "Hanging out." 

KyuJong had to chuckle at that, drawing his blankets up over him and watching JungMin. "We could hang out. I like you JungMin, you're a nice guy, I'd like to be friends," he said. "Besides, you've still got YoungSaeng no?"

"Yes, I've definitely got YoungSaeng, he's been very frustrated lately with no one making surprise visits," JungMin chuckled. "I...would like to be friends too." It was a stretch, considering his usual opinion of humans, but he rather liked KyuJong. 

"Good," KyuJong smiled up at him, his head tilted to the side a little. "I have a question, and you don't have to answer it, but now that we're in unclaimed space, and you don't have to hide what you are, would you be more comfortable in your true form?"

Blinking at that, JungMin pursed his lips a little, playing with the edge of the blankets. "Maybe eventually...I don't think we're at that point yet. And truthfully, it's something that I'd have to get used to again. I haven't stayed in that form for longer than a few minutes at a time since I was little." 

Sitting up, KyuJong watched him for a moment. "I'm sorry that happened to all of you. You must have thought some terrible things about humans," he said quietly.

JungMin shrugged, watching his fingers twine around the bedsheet. "It's over now, and we're not ever going back to that life." After a moment his eyes lifted to KyuJong's and his lips quirked. "I _hate_ humans, but I like you and the others here." 

KyuJong winced slightly at that, but he understood. The things his kind had done to JungMin and YoungSaeng were unforgivable. He tried a tentative smile back at him. "Even HyungJoon?"

"Even the high-pitched, babbling chicken, yes," JungMin rolled his eyes, dropping onto his back again. "He just has some of the best reactions I've seen in a while," he grinned mischievously. 

Snorting and bursting out in laughter, KyuJong covered his eyes with his hand. "I'll let him know you said that. He thinks you hate him. Maybe now he'll actually hit you during practice."

"Yah, don't ruin my fun," JungMin sniffed, nudging KyuJong's leg. "And he needs to get over that himself, if he can't bring himself to attack me then he's gonna be dead meat if we get into a real fight. It's mental training." 

"The thing with HyungJoon is, he doesn't want to hurt any body," KyuJong said, smirking at the nudge. "Especially not his friends. I imagine though if you set him up against one of those Gecko's he wouldn't have any problems hitting one of them."

"So it's a good thing I'm not being his friend until he figures out how to land a decent hit," JungMin chuckled. "He actually caught me when I got him angry enough...a rather stupid lunge that would have put him wide open if he'd missed, but he got me. Maybe we're making progress." He actually had a decent amount of respect for the engineer. 

"I saw that on the security feed," KyuJong chuckled. "He'll get there, he just needs time. Not that we really have that kind of time," he said, glancing out the window above his bed. "Everything we've run into so far, it's just the beginning isn't it?"

"Yeah, we've been lucky so far," JungMin murmured, hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. "Things are different than when YoungSaeng and I were last out here...more unstable. As harsh as deep space is, there were peaceful points, planets with stable governments and the like...they're almost all taken by the factions now." 

"Is there anywhere that we can go now?" KyuJong asked, looking back down at him. "It seemed like YoungSaeng had an idea of where he wanted to go, but not now?"

"We're going to head to the nearest safe zone that's left, but to get there we're going to have to go through some faction territory," JungMin replied, closing his eyes. "The both of us are going to try and reach some old contacts, but there's no guarantee there." 

"We'll do what we have to I guess," KyuJong nodded, glancing at the time. "I'm going to be going on duty soon, so you'll have YoungSaeng back, but I'd like to take a shower and get ready," he said, scooting over to the edge of the bed and putting his feet on the floor. 

Chewing on his lip, he glanced over his shoulder at JungMin. "What I said about you not visiting me anymore... that doesn't take effect until you leave the room. So, you're free to join me if you'd like," he gave a wry smile before he started picking up his clothes and headed towards his washroom. "If not, you can let yourself out."

Sitting up and blinking at him, JungMin's eyes trailed along KyuJong's form before he gave a wide grin and scooted off the bed, following him. "Well, I'd be an idiot to refuse an offer like that." 

*************************************21******************************************

"Well?" Zhou Mi was hovering around, bouncing lightly on his feet and looking at everyone's faces. "How is it?"

KyuJong took a hesitant bite of the food in front of him, chewing slowly. "I have to admit, it's pretty good," he nodded slowly, smiling despite himself at how giddy Zhou Mi looked at that.

"Really good! Even better than YoungSaeng," HyungJoon nodded vigorously, stuffing food in his mouth. YoungSaeng wrinkled his nose slightly at the younger man.

Chuckling at that, HyunJoong finished his mouthful and sipped at his water. JongWoon was happily eating, seeming to have far less reservations about blue-skinned people with tails when they happened to be really good cooks.

"So, we'll be approaching the Zena system within a couple hours," HyunJoong commented. KyuHyun slunk lower in his seat at the reminder, muttering under his breath. 

Wringing his hands, Zhou Mi dropped down next to HyunJoong's seat, looking up at him with wide eyes. "Did.. did you think about what I asked? For sanctuary?"

"You really haven't proven to us that either of you are worth keeping around," YoungSaeng said with a frown, picking at his food. "Except for cooking, and we already have one of those."

"'Cept he's a better cook than you," HyungJoon said around his mouthful, looking away quickly and scooting closer to JongWoon when YoungSaeng glared at him.

"Well, considering you were about to go right through a faction's playground without our help, I'd say you need us," KyuHyun eyed them.

"That could have been a one-time thing," JungMin rolled his eyes. "HeeChul's pretty up-to-date with his information."

"Yes, but he doesn't get the inside scoop from ship-hopping around the systems, and not all the information's right," KyuHyun snorted. Then he grinned, leaning over. "Ever heard of Choi SiWon?" 

"He's a top ranking in Valis faction, of course we've heard of him," YoungSaeng said, eyes narrowed. KyuJong could see he was interested in what the Gecko was saying, even if he didn't want to be.

"We know him," Zhou Mi said, scrambling up to his feet to sit down next to KyuHyun. "I mean, Kui Xian knows him. He's helped us a couple times."

"Not possible, why would a Gecko know him?" JungMin stared at them, not believing that.

"Cause I knew him before he was a hot-shot," KyuHyun smirked, tapping his fingers against the table. He knew he had them now, and it showed. "We're friends, I do favors for him and he pulls us out of trouble."

HyunJoong frowned, glancing towards YoungSaeng for his thoughts. He knew nothing about the factions and their ranking systems out here. 

YoungSaeng chewed on the inside of his cheek, eyeing the two geckos. "If what you say is true, then you'd be able to get a hold of him when we get to Hathen station?"

"Not so sure," KyuHyun frowned. "That's a Darven port, and communications between the factions are...either monitored or restricted completely. But if com lines are open, I can reach him, yes." 

"Darven and Valis were still on agreeable terms last I heard," YoungSaeng said, sitting back in his chair. "With Sylar making a move against other factions I don't think a call to Valis controlled space will be as closely watched." YoungSaeng glanced at HyunJoong, considering the options. " _If_ what you say is true, and you do know SiWon, then maybe you could be a useful Gecko after all."

HyunJoong nodded slowly; any connections they had would help in the long run.

"When we arrive at port, get into contact with him, and we'll talk again about you both staying here," he said, glancing at both Geckos then at his crew for their thoughts. JongWoon was rather wide-eyed, but nodded slowly when HyunJoong looked at him.

"If communications are up, then sure," KyuHyun chuckled. "What message do you want me to pass on?" 

"That we would like to speak to him," YoungSaeng said, glancing at JungMin. "We may have some information that could be useful to him, and vice versa." It wouldn't hurt to have faction allies with how the state of things were. He frowned, smoothing his hands over the table. "We do have a question that maybe you know something about," he started slowly. "How is it that Sylar got to be so large in such a short amount of time?"

Zhou Mi stiffened noticeably, looking at KyuHyun with wide eyes. He started to gesture wildly, speaking rapid fire in a language that KyuJong couldn't follow. YoungSaeng raised an eyebrow. "What is he saying?"

Glancing back and forth from Zhou Mi and the others, KyuHyun waved one hand at him to get him to calm down, frowning.

"You're all from the Federation, right?" KyuHyun asked them, eyes narrowed. "Don't know where else humans could come from."

"That's where we're from, yes," HyunJoong frowned, wondering what was going on.

"Aren't you out here _helping_ Sylar then? That's what all the other Fed ships we've seen are doing." 

"Why would we be helping them? We're running from the Fed too," HyungJoon said, missing the look on YoungSaeng's face. KyuJong elbowed him hard in the ribs, shushing him.

YoungSaeng leaned forward a little, staring at KyuHyun with narrowed eyes. "Are you saying that the Federation is working _with_ Sylar?" Zhou Mi nodded from the side, having quieted down.

KyuHyun nodded quickly. "There's always been the odd Fed ships floating around, but a while back they started entering and leaving Sylar space almost exclusively, and that's when Sylar started expanding like a black hole. Mi and I have snuck on a few of their ships, and Sylar ships let them in without problems, trading with them and things." 

YoungSaeng looked over at JungMin; this was a problem. "I wonder what Sylar's going to get out of the deal, if they're even going to survive afterwards," he said, voice tight with tension.

"I don't understand, why would the Fed be working with a faction? Aren't they all criminals?" KyuJong asked, very confused about what was going on.

"Of course they're criminals," KyuHyun rolled his eyes. "But in many ways they're also a better government than the actual governments themselves. They keep things controlled, and sure they have blowouts with the other factions every now and then....okay, a lot of the time...but it also keeps one faction from getting way too powerful."

"When people get power, they always want more," JungMin scowled, glancing at YoungSaeng. "What do you think?" 

"I think I'm understanding a little better why we weren't given any information about the job we were heading out for before they put us into deep sleep," YoungSaeng said, his lips thin and tight in frustration.

"So, the Fed is working with this Sylar to stomp out the other factions," KyuJong clarified, looking around at the others. "Why? Why does the Fed care?"

"Because once the Federation moves in to occupy these systems, there won't be anyone to stand up to them," YoungSaeng said, drumming his fingers on the table. "Except the Sylar."

"So, the Sylar won't do anything about that?" HyungJoon asked.

"Either they have a deal, or the Federation is just going to eliminate them," YoungSaeng shrugged. "It's a simple military tactic. Let your enemies battle for dominance, then take out whoever is left standing."

"I don't see the Federation letting Sylar stay, even if they do have a deal," JungMin rolled his eyes. "It's easy enough to frame them for something breaking whatever deal they have, and move in."

"But...that's..." JongWoon looked at them helplessly. "What's going to happen now?"

"Darven is already almost wiped out...everyone knows going after their old territory is a stupid move, but somehow they think they could pull it off," KyuHyun wrinkled his nose. "I'd suggest you get as far away from Darven territory as soon as you can." 

"Hathen is just a supply stop," YoungSaeng shook his head. "We haven't decided on where to go from there, and that would depend on you getting in touch with SiWon. If this goes down how we think it will, then hiding out in any faction space for too long will be dangerous. I would like to get to Arcadan territory if they haven't closed their borders yet. Even then they might be next on Sylar's to do list."

"So, does this mean that the Federation would be taking over everything?" KyuJong asked quietly, fumbling with his fingers nervously.

"Not everything, there are bigger governments out there than the Federation," YoungSaeng said.

"Like who?" HyungJoon blinked. YoungSaeng glanced at JungMin before turning to HyungJoon.

"The Shinbi."

"But we won't find any safety there, the Shinbi are notorious for not getting involved with anything outside their own borders," JungMin shook his head. "And they're too far away."

"The factions surely won't take this lying down though, right?" JongWoon chewed on his lower lip worriedly. "They'd fight back."

"They can only get so far if they don't know the Federation's helping Sylar," HyunJoong said quietly, glancing at KyuHyun and Zhou Mi. "Do they know?"

"It's not exactly common knowledge..." KyuHyun shook his head. "I don't think anyone knows apart from any of us who might be ship-hopping in the area." 

"I'm sure the Valis would be interested in hearing this then," YoungSaeng nodded. "Of all the factions, the Valis and Merin are the only two strong enough to take the Sylar on, especially if they work together. Other factions might not like it, but they'd all have to work together, and I don't see that happening any time soon."

"So, what do we do?" HyungJoon asked. To him, it didn't seem like it was any better out here than it was in Federation space.

"We get a hold of SiWon, and maybe some of our other contacts," YoungSaeng said, glancing down at his half-finished plate. "It may not be possible to not be in the middle of this."

"We're not a combat ship though, what are we supposed to do?" JongWoon protested, scared now. There was something big happening out here.

"Let's just start with what we know, and get that information out," HyunJoong shook his head. "We'll figure the rest out once we come to that." He looked at the two Geckos. "But if you are able to reach SiWon and get this information to him, then you both will have a spot on this ship." It would be good to have someone who knew even things HeeChul didn't; KyuHyun seemed to know a lot about what was going on. 

YoungSaeng nodded. It wouldn't do them any good to worry about things they haven't run across yet. "We'll just take this one step at a time, and figure out our options as we go," he said. "How long until we reach Hathen station?"

"Should be soon, I'll go check on the bridge," KyuJong said, pushing his plate away and standing up. When the pilot left the table, YoungSaeng turned to JungMin.

"We should figure out who we'd like to get a hold of," he said, glancing at the Geckos out of the corner of his eye. "They might know if some are still alive or not."

JungMin nodded. "Probably a good idea..." He rubbed his temple, thinking. "Do you think...GyuRi's still around? She's always stayed clear of the trouble spots." 

"She's also hard to find," YoungSaeng said, tapping his fingers on the table. "But, if she hears you're looking for her she'll pop up," he said, amusement clear in his voice.

"I don't doubt that," JungMin snorted, pursing his lips. "Who else? It's hard to think of who might still be around who doesn't hate our guts." 

"Xander?" YoungSaeng mused, tilting his head to the side. "If he's still around that is and didn't high tail it back to whatever backwater system he came from."

"Xander?" KyuHyun lifted his head up off the table. "The nutcase?"

JungMin snorted at that, glancing over at him. "That would be a close enough description."

"Last I saw him he was in one of the Merin systems, but he's still around." 

"Well then it shouldn't be too hard to track him down," YoungSaeng nodded, chuckling a little to himself. He looked up at JungMin. "I'm not sure I trust anyone else since the Federation knows most of our contacts and would be able to get in touch with them. The less people who know where we are the better."

The redhead nodded. "So we'll see if we can reach those two for now."

"And avoid HeeChul, right?" KyuHyun asked a little nervously.

"Yes, we'll stay away from HeeChul," JungMin chuckled. "As best as we can anyways, he has his fingers everywhere." 

"HeeChul doesn't exactly like us right now either," YoungSaeng said slowly, eyeing the two Geckos. "What is it exactly that you did that got you in his cross hairs anyway?"

Zhou Mi immediately started in the rapid fire rambling in another language until YoungSaeng held up his hand. "A language I can understand please?" he said with a frown.

" _Captain, we're making our approach to Hathen station_ ," KyuJong called over the coms.

"Explanation will have to wait till later then," YoungSaeng said, but Zhou Mi looked a little relieved at that. YoungSaeng got to his feet, glancing at HyunJoong. "You and I should talk."

HyunJoong nodded, standing as well. "We'll dock safely first, then we'll talk. How long will we have in this station?"

"Hathen is a little less of a problem than the last station, we'll be able to get more supplies and the like," JungMin said, standing as well. "What about them?" He pointed at the two Geckos. "They staying out?"

"They'll have to go back into their room for the moment, we won't be able to watch them," HyunJoong shook his head, glancing at HyungJoon and JongWoon. "Can you both bring them back to the room?" 

"Well get them back to their room and then meet you on the bridge," YoungSaeng nodded, glancing pointedly at the Geckos. Zhou Mi was looking despondent but stood up slowly and shuffling towards the door.

Wanting to wait until the shapeshifters and Geckos had gone first, HyungJoon picked up some of the plates and slowly went over to the counter to set them down. He glanced at the Captain when the other four were gone. "Did you follow all that Captain?"

HyunJoong sighed, nodding his head. "We'll need to go over all this again later, but..." He glanced at HyungJoon and JongWoon. "We definitely didn't know any of this about the Federation before."

"They were always saying they were keeping us safe," JongWoon said quietly, looking down. 

"I don't think most people living in the Federation would be happy knowing that 'keeping us safe' really meant," HyungJoon said, crossing his arms over his chest. "What are they planning on doing with all the people living out here? Kill them?"

"I don't know," HyunJoong murmured. "What are the chances they'd let other races live with us, knowing all the stories they've told about hostile alien races."

"Not good," JongWoon swallowed. "But, I mean, not all of them have to be hostile. KyuHyun and Zhou Mi aren't hostile, they're kinda goofy." 

"And JungMin and YoungSaeng aren't... that hostile," HyungJoon put in. "You know, aside from the pirate attacks and other ships trying to shoot us, it hasn't been that bad out here so far. Maybe it really just was all propaganda."

"We'll have to wait until we see a proper city to judge that, but from what it sounds like, space wasn't all that bad before the Federation decided to push its way in," HyunJoong frowned, before sighing and going to the door. "Come on, let's go to the bridge." 

Taking JongWoon's arm as they followed behind the Captain, HyungJoon looked at him with a little bit of a frown. "No wonder Zhou Mi freaked out about this being a human ship."

"Wonder if any Geckos have ever been caught sneaking on a human ship," JongWoon winced, looking at HyungJoon with a pained expression. "Do you think?" 

"I'm sure it's a good possibility," HyungJoon sighed. Squeezing JongWoon's arm, they followed HyunJoong up to the bridge, the planet looming brightly in the window.

"Um...I don't know where to land," KyuJong said, looking over his shoulder at HyunJoong. "There's a station, but I'm not seeing any slips, and there's no answer to my hails."

Frowning at that, HyunJoong glanced at the sensors. "JungMin and YoungSaeng will be here in a minute, can you hover until then?" 

"Yeah, it wouldn't have been a problem if I'd seen other ships, but I don't see any, and no one has come or gone," KyuJong said, easing back on the controls and banking slowly to come around again. Hearing the hatch open, he looked over his shoulder to see YoungSaeng and JungMin coming in. "Hey, where do I land?"

"Land?" YoungSaeng blinked, stepping closer and looking down at the station. "The docking is underground Kyu, see, there's the access," he said, pointing at a large opening in the cliffside."

"Oh, how unusual," KyuJong blinked, coming around again to fly into the opening.

"The Darven are small, but smart," YoungSaeng said softly. "Most of their stations are built into rock like this so in case of attack they can keep their ships safe."

"Makes sense," HyunJoong nodded, sitting down in the co-pilot seat to watch sensors and adjust them for the change in air pressure. "What kind of procedures are there to dock?"

"About the same as the last station, though I'd say avoid anything too crazy because crashing into cavern walls isn't fun," JungMin remarked, sitting down. 

"There's little traffic, so I don't think we'll be fighting for spots, hopefully," KyuJong said, pulling back on the accelerator as they flew into the cavern. "Woah..." he breathed, seeing the extensive network that had been built inside the hollowed out cliff side. Swallowing roughly, he gripped the controls tightly.

The ship jerked slightly to the right, YoungSaeng having to grab onto JungMin's arm to hold himself steady. From where he was sitting, he could see KyuJong was trembling. "Is everything okay?" he asked, frowning a little.

Holding himself upright, HyunJoong looked over at KyuJong, seeing the trembling as well. "KyuJong, are you all right?" he frowned, not used to seeing the pilot look shaken in any situation. 

"Fine," KyuJong nodded, but the trembling got worse, the ship weaving from side to side nearly sending them into another ship.

"Captain, you might want to take over," YoungSaeng said, holding onto JungMin for support. "I think he's got a problem with being underground."

Nodding with a small frown, HyunJoong reached over and switched controls from KyuJong's seat to his own, taking the steering to steady the ship out again. "Why don't you sit away from the windows for a while, KyuJong," he said firmly but gently. JungMin got up to switch seats with KyuJong as HyunJoong looked around for a slip to dock in, bringing the ship in. 

KyuJong turned around slowly, keeping his eyes on the floor as he got up from his seat, YoungSaeng reached over to take his arm and help him sit down. A supportive arm around the pilot's shaking shoulders, YoungSaeng smiled worriedly at him. "You haven't spent much time on planets have you?" he asked quietly.

"No," KyuJong shook his head, still staring down at the flooring. YoungSaeng nodded, letting the younger man lean against him while HyunJoong got the ship docked.

There were several slips open, HyunJoong choosing one and docking carefully. Once the clamps were secure on either side of the ship he powered down the engines before unbuckling, turning around in his seat to look at KyuJong a little worriedly.

"So, what now?" JongWoon asked nervously.

HyunJoong glanced at the others. "We need to buy supplies and fuel, but I don't want either of you off the ship without JungMin or YoungSaeng with you. That comes first, then we can bring the Geckos out to see about reaching that contact." 

"Fuel should be easy enough, there's filling stations here," YoungSaeng said, rubbing a hand up and down KyuJong's arm soothingly. The pilot had his eyes closed, but was still shaking a little. "Food's going to be pricy, and probably a little different than what you're used to, so that should be first priority." 

YoungSaeng frowned and looked over at the two friends who were clinging to each other still. "JungMin, you and HyungJoon should get the fuel, I think JongWoon and I can take care of food, and Captain..." he said glancing at HyunJoong and then motioning to KyuJong. The pilot would have to stay on board since most of the station was underground.

HyunJoong nodded. "We'll keep an eye on things here." He watched the others slowly leave the bridge to get to work, checking over the systems again just to make sure.

Then he turned back to KyuJong, standing up and going to him. "Do you want to go back to your cabin?" he asked softly, one hand lightly against KyuJong's shoulder. 

KyuJong looked up HyunJoong for a moment before lowering his eyes and rubbing at his forehead. "I'm sorry Captain, I don't.. I've never frozen up like that before," he said, slowly getting to his feet. "I'll just take a little break."

"It's fine," HyunJoong smiled. "I'll walk with you." He kept one hand lightly against the younger man's back, steering him towards the hatch. "Did you know you would have a reaction like that?" 

Shaking his head, KyuJong stepped out first into the corridor. "It's the first time I've ever been underground, or had to fly in like that. Seeing something over all around the ship like that... I don't think I've ever panicked so much flying."

HyunJoong nodded in understanding. "Now we know if we need to do this again," he murmured, rubbing his thumb against KyuJong's back a little. "You've been in space your whole life, hm?" 

"Born and raised on a ship," KyuJong nodded, smiling a little. "Longest time I spent on a planet was a week, and that was right before I came on board here. I just don't feel right being on a planet."

"Well, we won't be here for long," HyunJoong smiled at him. "We'll just keep the windows drawn shut until we leave." They headed down the stairs to the crew deck. "I've met plenty of people with an aversion to being in space, not many with the reverse." 

"Most people are born on planets, transport ships aren't exactly family friendly," KyuJong chuckled softly, grateful for the fact that there were no windows in the halls. "Do you have an aversion to space Captain?"

"I'd be in trouble if I did," HyunJoong chuckled. "Born and raised on a space colony orbiting Hera. We went down to the planet's surface every now and then, but I was more comfortable on the colony." 

"I'd been there a couple times making deliveries," KyuJong nodded. "It's a nice a little colony. Your family still there?"

"My parents are, my older brother is God knows where." The Captain shook his head. "He always wanted to explore. Took off on a ship and haven't heard from him in years, no one knows where he is."

"It feels weird, knowing you probably won't see them again," KyuJong said softly, his brow furrowed. Reaching the door to his room, he stopped, his hand on the handle. "I'll just take a short break sir, clear my head. I'll be back to work in an hour or so." 

"Don't push yourself, if you can't then you can't," HyunJoong shook his head, moving his hand to KyuJong's shoulder as he looked at the younger man. "And if something makes you that uncomfortable in the future, don't try to pretend," he said quietly, meeting KyuJong's eyes. "You can say so, all right?" 

Meeting HyunJoong's eyes, KyuJong took a slow breath and nodded. "Alright, thank you sir," he said, slowly opening his door. "If something comes up though, and I'm needed... I can handle it."

"I know," HyunJoong smiled, squeezing his shoulder lightly before pulling back. "Get some rest." After a moment he turned and walked back towards the bridge. 

**********************

HyungJoon felt a little odd having been paired up with JungMin like this, but it wasn't all that bad. At least JungMin wasn't hitting him nearly as often as he did in practice. It seemed JungMin was more worried about other people that he forgot that he was supposed to be a big bully.

At the filling station, HyungJoon was doing his very best not to stare or even look around, keeping his eyes fixed on the back of JungMin's shirt. Shuffling forward a little, he peeked around JungMin's shoulder to the line in front of them. "How much longer is this going to take?" he whispered to the redhead.

JungMin glanced over his shoulder at HyungJoon, then at the rest of the line. "Not much longer, we're just about there," he murmured. "Am I doing the talking?" He kept an eye on those around them, in case anyone got any funny ideas with the human, but other than a few glances in their direction no one was paying much attention to them. 

HyungJoon glanced up at the front of the line again where he could see the operator of the filling station was not in any way humanoid. Squeaking a little, HyungJoon shuffled a little closer to JungMin's back, his fingers automatically curling into the man's shirt. "Um, yes, you're talking," he nodded vigorously.

Rolling his eyes but not saying anything degrading, JungMin nudged the man attached to the back of his shirt a little. "Try and loosen up, the more freaked-out you act the more attention you're going to get." 

"I'm trying," HyungJoon grumbled, glaring up at the back of the man's head. He slowly let go of JungMin's shirt and took a shuffling step back. That's when he noticed someone was standing at his elbow. Jumping, and nearly shrieking in fright, HyungJoon looked wide eyed at the other, who looked human. Except their eyes were about three times the normal size and when HyungJoon looked down to see what was tickling at his leg, he noticed the long tail scaly tail.

"Aren't you a pretty human," the alien whispered lowly, a rattling noise in the speaker's voice. HyungJoon swallowed nervously and tried to get closer to JungMin. "You want to go play a game human? I bet you like games," the wide eyes were boring a hole into HyungJoon's head, and he couldn't look away from them.

Turning around quickly when he noticed the alien's presence, JungMin's eyes flashed an annoyed silver. "Hey, he's with me," he said, voice low and warning. "And he's not interested, go find some other playmate." 

"But he's pretty, I like his eyes," the alien slid forward, leaning in to HyungJoon. "How much you want for him? I bet he cost a tidy sum. I'll pay double whatever you paid." HyungJoon scowled a little at that and shuffled back to hide behind JungMin.

"Back. Off." JungMin stepped to the side so he was fully between the alien and HyungJoon, eyes dark. "He's not for sale, and you can't have him, he's mine. Is that clear enough?" 

"Fine fine," the alien sniffed, holding up his hands and taking a step back. It looked like he was going to finally leave and HyungJoon breathed a sigh of relief, that turned into a squawk. The alien's tail had curled around his ankle, pulling on him sharply so he went tumbling over and felt himself being dragged.

JungMin moved quickly, not letting the alien get too far before stomping down hard on the offending tail. " _Yah._ " He growled and grabbed the front of the alien's shirt, pulling him closer. "Guess it wasn't clear after all, would a severed tail get through easier?" He ground his heel into the tail under his foot. The others in line had backed up out of the way, but weren't interfering. 

The alien shrieked, HyungJoon had to cover his ears at the sound, scrambling to his feet when the tail let him go. " _Fine_ ," the alien hissed, pushing away from JungMin and clutching at its tail as he backed away. Once the alien was lost in the crowd, HyungJoon lowered his hands from his ears and nearly slumped over.

"Okay.. you can't blame me for that," HyungJoon said after a moment when the people around them started to shuffle back into line.

Glaring at where the alien had disappeared, JungMin grumbled about stupid bug-eyes as he pulled HyungJoon back into line. "No, humans are rare around here," the shapeshifter gave a frustrated sigh, shaking his head with one hand on his hip as he glanced at HyungJoon, his eyes slowly darkening from silver back to brown. "But you need to stop acting like this, people go after the easy targets." 

HyungJoon shrank a little at the look, but nodded. "I know, I'm trying okay? This is all new for me," he said, trying to stand a little straighter and keep his head up. He just needed the confidence to do this. It shouldn't be that hard. They were just different looking, nothing to be afraid of. "Thank you," he said, looking up at JungMin. "I'll do better."

Nodding, JungMin quirked a slight smile before turning back to the line, moving up with it. Finally they reached the station, and JungMin started to arrange for their ship to be serviced. He had to switch languages to get a few things across, seeing that the operator was having trouble with his chosen language. 

Not able to follow most of the conversation, HyungJoon glanced around curiously. Seeing different races was weird, but it wasn't as bad as he had imagined. Sure there were some that even other aliens were looking at strangely, but HyungJoon did his best to keep his curiosity in check. At least there weren't any more incidents.

Once JungMin was done at the station, HyungJoon stepped to the side and started back towards the ship. He had started to wonder how well JongWoon was faring with YoungSaeng, but that was answered when he saw a very angry looking YoungSaeng stalking through the crowd, dragging JongWoon behind him by the collar. "That doesn't look good," he sighed, glancing at JungMin.

Blinking at the two up ahead, JungMin shook his head. "Nope, not at all."

They caught up just in front of the ship, JungMin raising an eyebrow at JongWoon's stuttered apologies. "Okay, what happened?" 

"Where do I begin?" YoungSaeng said, glaring at JongWoon and then looked up at JungMin in frustration. "Between staring, and nearly getting his head bitten off, he stepped on a Orcon's tail, then tripped over the tail, and landed on a shopkeeper's fruit display, ruining a whole batch of tiven fruit."

Eyeing JongWoon, who had shrank back at the glare, JungMin shook his head. "Let's just leave him on the ship next time. Of course of all the tails you have to step on, it has to be the one who's most likely to decapitate you on sight."

"It was an accident, I didn't know the tail was there!" JongWoon protested, looking more than a little scared for his life as they went up to the airlock, opening it.

JungMin rolled his eyes. "Were you able to get the supplies at least?" 

"Yes, we should be set for a while," YoungSaeng nodded, ushering the two humans into the ship. "As well as a whole bunch of smashed tiven fruit," he said, closing the airlock behind them and leaning up against the wall, rubbing his forehead. HyungJoon took JongWoon's arm and scurried away from the other two.

YoungSaeng watched them go, shaking his head. "How did the other twin fare? Please tell me better than what I went through?"

"Better, aside from someone offering to buy him from me and not taking no for an answer," JungMin wrinkled his nose. "That's probably going to happen a couple times, until they smarten up a little. I'm not so worried about the Captain, but I still wouldn't let him off the ship without one of us around." 

"Buy him? How much did they offer?" YoungSaeng asked, lips quirking in amusement as he pushed away from the wall. "We should find the Captain and make those calls now. I'm sure we'll be wanting to leave as soon as possible."

"Not nearly enough for me to be able to explain it to the Captain," JungMin chuckled, stretching out a little. "And yeah, sounds like a good idea. KyuJong will probably be hiding out until we're back in the air." He headed towards the stairs. 

"Probably," YoungSaeng frowned, following after JungMin. "I didn't think to warn him about the docking here, wasn't expecting that kind of reaction."

"Considering how well he flew with the asteroids, I wasn't expecting it either, but guess he had to have one fault," JungMin shook his head. "We'll just make this quick, and warn him whenever we have to dock in a place like this again." 

"Luckily there aren't too many stations like this," YoungSaeng said, climbing up to the catwalk and going through the hatch. "Should we grab the Geckos on our way?"

"Yeah, might as well, we're going to have to come back for them anyways," JungMin sighed. "So we're really keeping them here? Not that it's a bad idea if they can be useful, but Geckos are so _annoying_." 

"These two aren't as bad as some we've run into before, although the one has a chip on his shoulder," YoungSaeng rolled his eyes. "He could be a problem if he doesn't keep his mouth in check. The other one I can't understand most of the time, but he can cook."

"I can still string them up by their tails if they don't leave us alone, right?" JungMin asked, wrinkling his nose. 

"If you'd like," YoungSaeng chuckled, stopping at the door the Gecko's room. He pressed the button to unlock the door, pushing it open. After a second of blank staring he shut the door again and looked up at JungMin. "Should have knocked first, shouldn't I?"

JungMin managed not to laugh, leaning against the wall and grinning ear to ear. "Didn't look like they were playing any of JongWoon's board games to me."

There was a shuffling noise from inside the room, and a minute later, KyuHyun pulled open the door, scowling at them both. 

"Are you done?" YoungSaeng asked lightly, seeing Zhou Mi still frantically pulling on his clothes over KyuHyun's shoulder. "It's time to make a call."

"We weren't, but I guess we are now," KyuHyun grumbled, going to pull his shoes on.

"You're the ones who want to stay on board, remember?" JungMin commented. 

"I'm sure this won't take long," YoungSaeng said, stepping out of the way. Zhou Mi came out first, blushing furiously and keeping his head down. "Not sure why you two were complaining about having nothing to do now. Unless that's really what some of that screaming and yelling was about?" Zhou Mi made a strangled whining noise and shrunk down a little more. YoungSaeng snorted and turned to start going towards the bridge.

JungMin stayed behind them to make sure they didn't wander, but both Geckos followed after YoungSaeng, KyuHyun still looking put-out. When they reached the bridge, he stopped them from going in. "Nope, you both are staying out here for a moment." 

Eyeing them for a moment, YoungSaeng nodded to JungMin before stepping through the hatch and closing it behind him. "Captain? We finished up on the station, and brought the Geckos up for the call," YoungSaeng said, approaching HyunJoong's chair.

HyunJoong looked up from the sensors, turning his chair around to face YoungSaeng before he nodded. "All right, we'll do that. Then we should be ready to leave again once the supplies are loaded. Are they waiting outside?" He started up external communications, linking theirs to the station's. 

"They are, I'll bring them in," YoungSaeng said, turning back around to open up the hatch and motion them to come in. "Alright, tell the Captain how to reach SiWon," he said to KyuHyun, sitting Zhou Mi down in a seat and making him stay there.

KyuHyun wrinkled his nose a little at all the equipment before going over to where HyunJoong was sitting. "You're connected to the station, right?"

"Yes," HyunJoong nodded, watching how KyuHyun scanned over the terminals.

"Okay, I have the codes for his ship, he's usually around the Valis core systems." KyuHyun recited the numbers and instructions for HyunJoong to put into the terminal. The Gecko knew exactly which arrays to go through for the shortest route, and least amount of ears to listen in.

After a moment he leaned back, lips pursed. "Communications aren't restricted, which is good...guess we just wait to see if he responds." 

Arms crossed, YoungSaeng watched from HyunJoong's side, keeping an eye on Zhou Mi who was curled up in the chair. After a long silent moment, the speakers crackled in response. " _Name and password_ ," came a gruff reply.

KyuHyun leaned over HyunJoong to speak. "Cho KyuHyun, GP-1000," he recited. "Requesting to speak with Choi SiWon." 

"One minute," the other end replied before the line went dead. It was another long silent moment and YoungSaeng thought maybe the call had been dropped before the speakers crackled.

"KyuHyun?" an amused voice came over the line. "I thought you were dead by now, why are you in Darven space? Zhou Mi with you?"

"Nice to see you too," KyuHyun snorted. "Yes he is, and we're here because the ship we hopped on didn't have anywhere better to go. If you don't have a few minutes, you might want to make some, because we've got some intel for you that you're not going to like at all." 

"...Are you calling from their com lines? Not worried about getting caught?" SiWon asked, confusion in his tone.

"He already got caught," YoungSaeng drawled, smirking slightly.

"I see, alright KyuHyun, what is it?"

KyuHyun glanced over at Zhou Mi, before leaning over closer to the speaker. "Federation ships have been coming in and out of Sylar territory, since Sylar started expanding. Mi and I hopped on a couple, and it's trading. Extreme trading. You must have found the sudden expansion fishy too, right? We think the humans are helping Sylar." 

"Are you serious?" SiWon sounded like he didn't believe KyuHyun at first. There was a sigh, and then a frustrated curse. "Kyu, you and Mi need to get out of Draven territory, now. What ship are you on? Can you get here?"

"Uh...." KyuHyun glanced over at the others nervously. "About that...we're on a human ship. But these guys didn't know about what's going on, and they don't look like military folk."

HyunJoong took over from there. "SiWon sshi, my name is HyunJoong and I'm Captain of the _Proteus_. My crew and I are civilians of the Federation, forced out past our borders." 

There was a pause, and YoungSaeng glanced at JungMin in concern. There were two ways this conversation could go now.

"Captain, if you can send over your specifications and call sign, I'll make sure there's a ship waiting for you at the border," SiWon said a little hesitantly. "We can discuss this more when you get here."

"They will be sent over right away," HyunJoong replied firmly.

"We'll be on our way SiWon, see you soon," KyuHyun said. 

"Be careful Kyu, you too Mi," SiWon said and the speakers went dead. YoungSaeng took a deep breath and leaned against the table.

"That went better than I thought it would," YoungSaeng said softly. "How soon can we leave, Captain?"

"Once we receive confirmation the supplies and fuel are on board, we'll leave," HyunJoong said, turning off communications and turning his chair around to face them. "Looks like you're coming with us," he smiled a little at KyuHyun and Zhou Mi. "We'll need to find positions for you both on board." 

Zhou Mi brightened up considerably at that, leaping off the chair to throw himself at HyunJoong. YoungSaeng blinked and the Geckos had his arms around the Captain's waist, saying something over and over in a different language.

"I think he's saying thank you," YoungSaeng chuckled, reaching down to grab the Gecko by his collar to try and pull him back. "Come on you two, it's back to your room."

Blinking at the alien attached to him, HyunJoong chuckled as he disentangled Zhou Mi's arms from around his waist.

"If we're going to be part of the crew, why are we still being locked up like prisoners?" KyuHyun grumbled, not liking that idea at all.

"Stop complaining, we're not dropping you off at the station are we?" JungMin rolled his eyes as he nudged KyuHyun towards the door, the Gecko obeying reluctantly. 

"We don't trust you two yet," YoungSaeng said, pulling Zhou Mi away from HyunJoong and towards the door. "Once we do start letting you out, there will be rules," he said, shoving Zhou Mi out after JungMin and KyuHyun. He turned to look at HyunJoong over his shoulder. "The pilot still in his room?"

HyunJoong nodded. "He'll probably stay there until we're clear of the station. Once they're in their room, we need to talk." He turned back to the monitors, checking to see if the supplies had arrived yet. 

"I'll be right back then," YoungSaeng nodded with a small smile, stepping out into the corridor. The two Geckos were trailing behind JungMin towards the ladder.

"Come on you both, you'll be let out again later, and didn't you have something to be getting back to?" JungMin snorted, KyuHyun glowered at him. The redhead dropped down the ladder easily, glancing around in case the twins were around. He didn't see them anywhere, assuming they were hiding either in the engine room or in their room. 

YoungSaeng waited until they were both down the ladder and then followed behind. At their room, he leaned against the door frame as the two shuffled into the room, waving his hand and smiling. "See you in a couple hours for dinner," he said.

JungMin watched them disappear inside the room, waiting until the door was closed before looking back at YoungSaeng. "What now?" he asked, arms folded across his chest. "It'll be another ten or fifteen minutes before the supplies get here." 

"I'm going to go speak to the Captain," YoungSaeng said, smiling up at JungMin. "Why don't you go see how the pilot's doing? He could probably use a friend right about now."

"That's what I'll do then," JungMin quirked a smile. "See you later." He headed down the hallway towards KyuJong's room with his hands in his pockets. 

YoungSaeng watched him go for a moment before pushing off the wall and started back towards the ladder. He could go for a nice long nap about now. Back on the bridge, he collapsed into a chair, sighing heavily as he looked over at HyunJoong. "Did you send over the information and get the coordinates for our rendezvous?"

"All done," HyunJoong nodded, turning around to face YoungSaeng. "They're starting to load the supplies now, so we'll be able to leave soon." He rested his elbows on his knees, looking at YoungSaeng. "Just what are we getting ourselves into, YoungSaeng?" he asked quietly, eyes serious. 

YoungSaeng was silent for a moment, studying HyunJoong's features before he sighed and shook his head. "Honestly Captain, I wish I knew. There's a lot of things going on right now that we weren't aware of. I wish I could tell you that there was somewhere we could go and stay safe, but I don't think we're going to be able to sit this out, and not get involved."

The Captain frowned at that; he'd guessed as much, from all they'd seen and heard, but he wasn't sure what to do about it. "We're civilians...whatever is going on out here, none of us are anywhere near equipped to handle it. The only ones with any kind of training are myself and JongWoon. And if the Federation is really helping Sylar...I'm not so sure any of your contacts are going to appreciate a human ship getting involved." 

Pursing his lips, YoungSaeng tapped his fingers on the arms of the chair. "Captain.. HyunJoong... I think for the near future, it would be wise if we don't mention to anyone that this was a human ship. Yes it's a standard civilian transport, but most ships flying out here are recommissioned Federation ships." He frowned and sat forward a little, tilting his head to the side. "There may be situations in which we may have to pretend that you are not in command."

HyunJoong nodded slowly as he took that in. If it would make things easier out here, then it was for the best. "We will need to go over scenarios all together later, in case," he murmured. "I'm guessing either you or JungMin would be 'Captain' if that came up." Probably YoungSaeng.

He was silent for a moment before sighing, looking up from his hands to YoungSaeng. "No matter what happens out here, the safety of my crew will always be my priority," he said quietly. "Just keep that in mind." 

"I know Captain," YoungSaeng smiled softly at him. "And as part of that crew, I will do my best to make sure we stay safe. I wouldn't make any decisions without consulting you first, unless absolutely necessary. Keeping you all alive, is my priority."

Smiling in return, HyunJoong nodded slightly in relief. "Thank you." He leaned back against his chair with a sigh, looking over at the terminals. "Looks like we're all ready to leave. Want to act as co-pilot until we get out of the atmosphere?" He sent the request to leave the dock, starting up the systems again. 

"I guess I can do that," YoungSaeng chuckled, turning his seat around to look over the console. "Hopefully we won't have any problems getting out of Darven space," he said, looking at navigation with frown. "Unfortunately we do have to cut in to Sylar territory on our way to Valis."

"Guess we'll deal with that when we get there," HyunJoong sighed. Once he had approval from the station, he turned on the overhead coms. "Getting ready to leave, we'll be clear of the atmosphere in ten." He flicked the coms off again and turned back to the controls as the docking clamps released the ship.

**************************************22******************************************

Kicking his feet back and forth lightly as he listened to the message, JungMin quirked a smile and looked back at KyuJong beside him. "Looks like we'll be aboveground again soon." 

"Good," KyuJong sighed in relief, pulling his head out from under the covers and looking up at JungMin. "You probably think I'm being silly for this, getting scared of something as simple as being underground."

"No," JungMin rolled his eyes, nudging the older man. "No one's perfect. I think you freaked out your Captain though," he grinned down at him. 

"Yeah, just a little," KyuJong nodded, his eyes lowered. "I think I freaked myself out too. Do you have anything you're afraid of?"

"Afraid of?" JungMin tilted his head to one side. "Not being able to see. Some forms are capable of night vision, but if there's something over my eyes, I completely panic." He grinned a little. "Found that one out when we were first kidnapped." 

"I can understand that," KyuJong nodded, looking up at him. "I'm sure putting those masks on for deep sleep isn't easy then."

"No," JungMin snorted. "That's the last thing they do before putting us under, so thankfully I'm not conscious for long." He felt the ship starting to move. 

"Well at least you know you won't have to put one of those on again, it's not like we're going to be doing any long travels," KyuJong said, curling up a little more around his pillow. "You said some forms have nightvision, does that mean when you take on a new form you get abilities if they have them? Like, if you changed into a Gecko, you'd have their camouflage?"

"Yeah," JungMin chuckled. "When we change into something, _everything_ changes. Appearance, bones, organs, everything. A Gecko's camouflage is in their skin, so we have to make our skin the exact same. It takes a lot of practice to get a form right, as well as complete knowledge of their anatomy, can you imagine what would happen if we forgot to include a liver in the form?" 

"So, when you change into human, you pretty much become a human then? I guess that would help going through body scanners and stuff," KyuJong said, sitting up a little. He'd thought about JungMin's true form quite a bit since the younger had shown him. There were a lot of questions he had still, but was refraining from asking too much.

"You could think of it like that, yeah," the redhead grinned. "Everything about me right now is 100% human, inside and out. You feeling better?" 

KyuJong risked a glance over his shoulder at the window, giving a relieved sigh when he saw the stars. "Yeah, much better," he nodded. "Thanks, for coming to keep me company. It was a nice distraction."

"No problem," JungMin grinned. "I could have distracted you other ways too, but that fun's over. How are things with the Captain going?" If KyuJong could ask him questions, he was going to ask questions right back. 

KyuJong's lips pursed and he looked down at the sheets, picking absently at a loose thread. "Same as before," he said with a shrug, peeking up at JungMin through his bangs. "You aren't jealous are you?"

"No," JungMin snorted. "I still have YoungSaeng, though I will miss sneaking onto the bridge." He watched KyuJong's expression curiously. "You don't seem particularly happy for someone who's on the straight and narrow." 

Frowning, KyuJong sat up fully and looked over at JungMin. "I just don't know where I stand with him. His last relationship ended badly, so I think he's hesitant to be anything more. I just don't know to convince him I'm not like that guy. It's... been frustrating since the beginning."

The redhead watched him, head tilted to one side. This was getting more complicated. Time to relay more information to YoungSaeng. "Well, not acting like the other guy is usually helpful. Other than that, I don't know him so I can't say much." He nudged KyuJong reassuringly. "But you're both only seeing each other now, so that's always a good sign, no?" 

"I guess," KyuJong smiled softly, looking out the window again before scooting over to the edge of the bed. "I should get back to the bridge, let other people get some rest now," he said, stuffing his feet into his boots and standing up.

"I suppose," JungMin stretched out before standing as well, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I guess I'll go find YoungSaeng. We were supposed to train the wonder twins, but I don't think pairing him with JongWoon is a good idea for the rest of the day," he snorted as he followed KyuJong to the door. 

"He messed up that badly?" KyuJong chuckled, opening up the door and stepping out. YoungSaeng was heading down the hall towards them, head tilted to the side curiously. "I guess I'll see you later then," KyuJong said, smiling up at JungMin as he started for the ladder to the bridge. YoungSaeng stopped in front of their door, watching him go before looking at JungMin, smiling.

JungMin grinned back, tapping his fingers against his pockets. "He's feeling better. What are we doing now?" He shifted from foot to foot. 

"I want to take a nap, it's been a long day," YoungSaeng said, opening up the door to their room and stepping inside. "You going to join me or find someone else to bother?"

"Join you," JungMin chuckled, following the older man inside the room. "And apparently things are not progressing between HyunJoong and KyuJong." He kicked off his shoes. 

Flopping down onto the bed after he'd pulled his shoes off, YoungSaeng looked up at JungMin tiredly, holding out his hand. "Not progressing? What do you mean? I thought you said they were sleeping together."

"Yeah, but according to KyuJong, that's about it." JungMin took YoungSaeng's hand, crawling onto the bed with YoungSaeng and rolling over him to drop onto his other side, wrapping his arms around the older man. "Our Captain's dragging his feet." 

"Odd," YoungSaeng frowned, nestling against JungMin's chest. "Did our dear pilot have anything else to say about it? Or is he as tight lipped as the Captain."

"Not as tight-lipped," JungMin chuckled. "He said something about HyunJoong's last relationship ending badly, and trying to show HyunJoong he's not like the last person, only I don't think it's working from how he talks about it." 

"I wonder what happened to the Captain then to have him acting in such a way," YoungSaeng mused, closing his eyes and sighing softly in contentment. "Not much we can do about that, but maybe we can steer them both in the right direction? Did you offer any advice?"

"Other than to keep not acting like the last guy, no?" JungMin wrinkled his nose. "I'm not a professional counselor, and I don't know HyunJoong. What about you? Any info from HyunJoong that might help?" He ran his fingers through YoungSaeng's hair. 

"No, he's not very forthcoming with anything unless it has to do with factions and pirates," YoungSaeng shook his head. "It's not like I can just show up to his room and offer him massages now, I've been cut out of that loop."

"Yeah, but even captains need friends, right," JungMin chuckled, burying his face in YoungSaeng's hair. "How did we get to be matchmakers?" 

"It's something to do," YoungSaeng shrugged, nuzzling against JungMin's chest. "They like each other, and more than just for the occasional bed romp. I can see it when HyunJoong looks at the pilot. Besides, we don't need tension like there was before, not now." He yawned softly, then sighed. "And I'm working on the Captain, but he's very hesitant to let anyone in, and now I know why."

"Well, I'll see what else I can get out of KyuJong, but we're going to need the other side of the story soon," JungMin mused. "Not right now though, sleep now." He pulled the blankets up over them both. 

"Yes, sleep," YoungSaeng pouted, burying himself further against JungMin, and hiding his face under the blankets.

***********************************

The Geckos were let out of their room alone for the first time three days later, after a long conversation with YoungSaeng and JungMin, warning them what would happen if they tried anything funny. They also arranged for positions on the ship, already knowing Zhou Mi would be their new cook. KyuHyun proved to have a knack for navigating as he promptly went through their entire map collection, tossed out ones that were far too outdated to be useful, and filled in blanks.

The hatch to engineering opened, and KyuHyun poked his head in curiously. "Yah, anyone in here?"

"Yes, scram," JungMin scowled at the Gecko; HyungJoon was trying to show him another piece of machinery. KyuHyun stepped in anyways, looking around with interest. 

HyungJoon looked up at the distraction that was KyuHyun. It took a second for his brain to switch gears and he frowned. "You're not supposed to be in here, the Captain doesn't want you in here," he said, motioning him back towards the door. "Go find Zhou Mi."

"Zhou Mi's cooking and doesn't like me hovering," KyuHyun grinned, looking around. "I'm just looking, what's wrong with that? Never seen the inside of an engine room before. What are you doing?" He wandered over to them.

"Yah, you want to go back in your room?" JungMin kicked the Gecko's shin. "Shoo." KyuHyun danced away from JungMin to hide behind HyungJoon. 

"Why are you hiding behind me?" HyungJoon looked over his shoulder at the Gecko, stepping out of the way. He sighed and shook his head. "Okay, if you promise to just sit down and not touch anything you can stay, but you can't touch anything."

"Yes sir," KyuHyun chuckled, dropping down onto the last stair to the catwalk, tail curling around the railing as he watched them.

JungMin eyed the Gecko suspiciously before sighing and turning back to what they had been doing. "You were saying?" 

"Right, yeah," HyungJoon blinked at the machinery before him before he remembered what he had been saying. Pulling off a panel, he knelt down to show JungMin how the power converters interacted with each of the systems. "So, in case of a power breach, you can shut down all the systems one by one, manually by undoing these connectors here. Just be careful not to get zapped."

"So you ground yourself beforehand, right?" JungMin's brow furrowed slightly. "Touch metal?" He leaned over a little to see how HyungJoon was pointing out what connector controlled which systems. 

"Yeah, this bar here, make sure you hold onto it," HyungJoon nodded, pointing to a bar that ran the length of the panel above their heads. "Now this--" he stopped and looked behind him to KyuHyun and then up to JungMin, absolutely confusion on his face. "Did you just touch my ass?"

JungMin stared down at HyungJoon, baffled, before scowling and thwacking the engineer off the head. "Why the hell would I touch your ass, go back to explaining." 

Yelping at the hit, HyungJoon rubbed at the back of his head. "Well something touched my ass," he whined, looking back over at KyuHyun. The Gecko didn't seem to be interested in either of them, just looking around the room. Shaking his head, he started with the explanations again.

After another minute or so, HyungJoon had forgot about it. "This is the fuel injection cells," he said, pulling a long cylinder out of its holder to show JungMin. "Don't expose these to the air too much, or they can explode," he said, shoving the cylinder back in and closing it back up. He bent over to unlock one of the cells at their feet when something tugged hard on his back pocket and pulled him down. Shrieking, HyungJoon went down with a hard thump onto his butt. "What the hell was that?" he glared at JungMin.

Seeing HyungJoon suddenly go down in his side vision, JungMin blinked owlishly at the younger man. Both his hands were in front of him, resting on his knees lightly as he leaned over to see what the engineer had been doing. "What was _what_? Why are you falling over?" He scowled at the human, glancing towards KyuHyun who was tapping his fingers against his legs in boredom. 

"Something pulled me down," HyungJoon complained scrambling back up to his feet and twisting his head and back around to look at the back of his pants. "See! My pocket is ripped a little at the corner here. It wasn't you?"

"No, both my hands were in front of me," JungMin's eyes narrowed at the slight tear, having an idea of what was going on now. "Just go back to what you were doing," he grumbled, turning back to the equipment, more alert this time. 

HyungJoon mumbled irritably under his breath about weird things going on and how it always happened to him. He bent back over to unlock cells again, showing JungMin how many there were, what they looked like full and when one was spent. "See, this indicator here goes black when one is spent, so you have to remove the cell and dispose of it in that box over there. Fresh cells are locked up in a special container. They have to be changed about once a month," he said, getting back into his explanations.

Movement in the corner of his vision snapped JungMin to attention. "Oh no you don't," he growled and grabbed the tail that had just tried to pull HyungJoon back down, yanking hard. KyuHyun shrieked as he went sprawling across the floor, JungMin tucking him up until he was hanging upside-down by his tail. "What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?!" 

Straightening back up quickly, HyungJoon looked wide eyed at the Gecko and then up at JungMin, then back to the Gecko. "Yah, what's the big idea? You're just going to get locked up again," he said, scowling at the upside-down Gecko.

"I was bored," KyuHyun protested, looking up at them. "No one lets me do anything, so I make my own fun."

"Your 'fun' is going to get you stringed to the rafters," JungMin growled.

"Geez, overreacting much, it was just a small joke," KyuHyun smirked at the redhead as best as he could when he was being dangled by his tail. "Or are you mad I touched his ass before you did, you were staring at it a little too long to be looking at his pocket."

"That's it, out before I space you right now." JungMin strode over to the hatch and flung KyuHyun out by his tail, the Gecko shrieking as he went tumbling head over heels. 

HyungJoon flushed, his cheeks puffed out in irritation as he glared out the door where JungMin had thrown the Gecko. "Yah! Why does everyone decide I'm the easy target here? There's other people on the ship!" he yelled after him, before turning around in a huff, back to the engine. It was bad enough JungMin had it out for him, now this blue tailed alien wanted to pick on him too. What did he ever do to deserve this?

"The only other easy target is JongWoon, and I bet that's where he's going now," JungMin stomped back to the equipment, muttering darkly under his breath. "I'm going to tie him up and use him for target practice." 

"I'm surprised you didn't just let him continue," HyungJoon said, going through and checking the cells. He pulled a dead one out and went over to the bin to toss it. "You two could be best friends and team up to pick on me."

JungMin scowled down at the cells, trying to pay attention to what HyungJoon was doing and how he was doing it. "Blue monkey can find his own target." He crouched down to see better. 

HyungJoon made a face at that but didn't say anything. Pulling out a fresh cell, he carried back over to where JungMin was. "Here, press this button to charge it, and then shove it down in that slot there. Easy to do," he said, handing the shapeshifter the cell.

Taking the cell, JungMin shook his head to clear it. He found the button and pressed it as instructed and leaned over to insert it in the slot, lips pursed slightly as he focused on securing it like the others. "Like this?" 

"Yup, and then hit the button up on here on the panel to restart the injector sequence," HyungJoon said, pointing to a large button on the console. "Once that's done, we refill the spent cells, but since it's just the one today it's not a big deal so I'll do it later," he said, looking back over his shoulder at the door. "Can't believe he was touching my ass."

JungMin glared down at the cells. "Whatever gets the best reaction," he grumbled, going to press the button as told. "If he tries it again, feel free to toss him around by his tail, or I'll happily do it for you." 

"Probably... shouldn't tell the Captain," HyungJoon said, glancing over at JungMin. "I mean, yeah I don't want him touching me like that or anything, but I'd feel kind of bad if he had to go back to being locked up all the time again." Looking over the terminal to check the fuel distribution and check for inconsistencies, he sighed. "Thanks, by the way." 

"If he gets locked up again it's his own fault," JungMin muttered. At the thanks though, he deflated slightly, tapping his fingers against the metal. "Whatever. Are we just about done?" 

"Yeah we're done," HyungJoon nodded. "We can go over some more tomorrow before practice. Captain wants to make sure you know these systems pretty well," he said, scanning through the readouts. "Go on," he waved JungMin off dismissively. "I've got some more work to do."

"Don't want to be a distraction then," JungMin rolled his eyes, standing with his hands in his pockets. He turned and left the room, not in the best of moods now. 

Blinking at that, HyungJoon watched him go. Hadn't he wanted to leave in the first place? Why was he mad now? Sighing, HyungJoon shook his head and returned to work, hovering over the terminal.

Five minutes later, KyuHyun poked his head back into the room. Seeing only HyungJoon, he snuck into the room and went up behind the human, blowing on the back of his neck. 

Not having heard anything, too busy being distracted by work, HyungJoon shrieked at the sudden air on the back of his neck. Whirling around, he tried valiantly to back up onto the terminal, staring wide eyed at the Gecko. "What the _hell_ are you doing? Get out of here!"

"I thought I might have better luck this time with grumpy gone," KyuHyun grinned, eyes mischievous. "I don't think we were ever formally introduced, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have grabbed your ass without knowing your name. My name is KyuHyun, and you are?" 

HyungJoon blinked, looking at the Gecko suspiciously. "Uhh.. HyungJoon," he said, glancing towards the door. "What do you want? You're not supposed to be in here."

"I'm not supposed to be in a lot of places, but I get there anyways," KyuHyun chuckled. "I just wanted to see what a human looked like up close, a real human not a Shinbi impersonation." He looked HyungJoon up and down. "What can you do?" 

"Eh?" HyungJoon stared at KyuHyun in confusion. "What do you mean? You've never seen a human before?"

"Only on the Fed ships heading to Sylar territory, and I'm not stupid enough to get that close," KyuHyun snorted, continuing to examine HyungJoon thoroughly. "So, what can you do?" 

"I... nothing? I don't understand what you mean," HyungJoon shook his head, trying to shuffle out from between KyuHyun and the console. He did not like the way the Gecko was looking at him.

"Nothing? Well, that's boring." KyuHyun started prodding at the engineer, as if trying to coax an ability out of him. "No spikes, bone structure's rather plain...I heard humans have a 'tail bone', where's your tail?" 

HyungJoon squeaked, swatting at the hands prodding him. "We don't have tails, it's just an expression," he said, tripping over his own feet and falling over, landing on his butt. Wincing, he glared up at the Gecko. "Go away, before I call the Captain."

"Well that's rather unfair, I'm just asking questions, you're the one who trips over himself," KyuHyun sniffed, crouching down, tail waving behind him. "That's a rather stupid expression, why would you have a tail bone but no tail? Maybe you're hiding your tail in your pants."

" _There_ you are." JungMin had come back into the room, scowling to find KyuHyun pestering HyungJoon again. He yanked hard on the Gecko's tail, KyuHyun faceplanting again as he was dragged backwards. "What the hell are you doing?" 

"He wanted to see my tail," HyungJoon rolled his eyes and got back up to his feet. "No, I don't have a tail, have never had a tail, go read an anatomy book if you're still curious," he said, glaring down at the Gecko on the floor.

JungMin's eyes flashed silver. "I told you to toss him out by his tail if he tried anything," he grumbled, kicking KyuHyun in the side. "And I told _you_ to scram, you're going back in your room right now." He turned and left the room again, dragging a protesting KyuHyun out along the floor. 

Too wound up to get any more work done, HyungJoon followed them out into the hall. Maybe JongWoon would be around. "I don't know why you insist on pestering me, I told you it was just going to land you back in your room," he said, scowling down at KyuHyun.

"It's just too easy," KyuHyun grinned, not seeming annoyed at being dragged around by his tail at all, even though every now and then he winced like it was hurting. "And you're _scared_ of us, I've never seen someone afraid of our race before, it's cute." He yelped when JungMin yanked harder to shut him up. 

"I'm not _scared_ of you," HyungJoon snorted. Not anymore at least. After having spent a little bit of time with Zhou Mi, who was infinitely nicer than KyuHyun, he wasn't scared of the blue aliens anymore. "The only people I'm scared of on this ship are the Captain, and him," he said, pointing at JungMin's back.

"Oh, grumpy? That makes sense," KyuHyun snorted, then gave a strangled yelp as they started going up the stairs. "Ow, ow! That _hurts!_ " 

HyungJoon couldn't help but snicker at that. "Yah, you could have avoided it if you wouldn't have come back to pester me. Maybe if you ask him _nicely_ he'll let you stand up on your own."

"No he won't," KyuHyun grumbled, wincing as he was dragged the rest of the way of the stairs. "He's enjoying this."

"Damn right, maybe a few bruises will smarten you up," JungMin snorted. 

Standing at the top of the stairs, YoungSaeng was leaning his shoulder against the wall, watching in amusement. "Should I ask what happened?"

"Gecko was touching my ass," HyungJoon called up to him, sneering down at KyuHyun. "Wouldn't take a hint that I don't have a tail."

"Humans don't have tails, why would he think you had a tail?" YoungSaeng blinked, glancing at the expression JungMin's face. He narrowed his eyes slightly at that but smirked. "I would suggest not doing things to piss JungMin off, KyuHyun."

"Apparently touching the human's ass pisses him off," KyuHyun drawled, then yelped again as they finished with the stairs and JungMin turned the corner towards the Gecko's room, purposely knocking KyuHyun into the corner of the wall. 

"Just keep your tail to yourself from now on!" HyungJoon said, scurrying the other way to go back to his room. YoungSaeng watched him go, then turned his attention back to JungMin. Pushing off the wall, he followed behind. 

"Any human's ass, or just that one?" YoungSaeng asked, clearly amused about something.

"Should I go around pestering the other humans to find out?" KyuHyun grinned up at YoungSaeng.

Muttering darkly under his breath, JungMin stopped at the Gecko's room and opened the door, throwing KyuHyun inside. "If it weren't for the fact we need him alive, I would have tossed him out the airlock by now," the redhead grumbled, still fuming as he turned to go back to their own room. 

Arms crossed, YoungSaeng followed after JungMin back to the room. Once inside, he shut the door and leaned against it, looking at JungMin with a curious expression. "I don't think I've seen you so riled up before," he mused, the corners of his lips curled in amusement. "There something you're not telling me?"

"Besides the fact that I hate Geckos?" JungMin flopped onto his stomach on the bed with a groan, burying his face in the pillow. 

Walking slowly over to the bed, YoungSaeng slipped his shoes off and crawled up to straddle JungMin's waist. Running his hands up the man's back, he massaged the tense muscles in his shoulder. "That's nothing new, but I'm surprised you would care about one of them pestering the engineer, since that seems to be your favorite thing to do around here."

"I got him first, blue-face can find his own punching bag," JungMin grumbled into the pillow, relaxing a little at the massage. 

"That's a little possessive of you," YoungSaeng chuckled. "Since when have you cared so much? Usually you just move on and find a new target."

"Why should I give up my target to a Gecko?" the redhead sniffed, not looking up. "He's mine, KyuHyun can climb into the furnace." 

"Favorite target?" YoungSaeng blinked, pausing the massage as he stared at the back of JungMin's head. "Why the engineer? Why not the other twin? They're pretty much identical when it comes to reactions."

JungMin whined at the pause. "Just because, why are you stopping?" 

Folding his arms over JungMin's back, YoungSaeng leaned down, resting his chin on JungMin's shoulder. "Because why?" he asked softly, a smile forming.

"Just because, why do you keep on asking?" JungMin grumbled. "I'm allowed to have a preferred target." 

"Because you're being awful defensive about it," YoungSaeng chuckled, sitting back up and continuing to massage at his shoulders. "I've been thinking about switching targets since the Captain and the pilot are sticking with each other. Maybe I'd have better luck with the engineer. What do you think?"

JungMin bristled a little. "Why not the negotiator, you just finished saying they were the same." 

YoungSaeng smirked, snorting a little as he shook his head. "The engineer has a nicer butt," he said lightly, eyes dancing. "Don't you think so?"

"Paws off _my_ target," the redhead growled into the pillow. "There's enough other people on the ship that you can find someone else with a nice ass." 

"Alright JungMin, what's going on?" YoungSaeng asked, pinching the other in the side. "You have never cared if we have the same targets before, in fact we've often done it intentionally to get information. _You_ are never this possessive, except with me."

"I just don't want to share this target, what's wrong with that?" JungMin grumbled, yelping at the pinch and swatting backwards at the offending hand. 

"Nothing wrong with that, just wondering why, it's very unlike you," YoungSaeng said, pinching him again a little lighter. His eyes narrowed and he poked JungMin hard in the back. "You _like_ the engineer don't you?"

Yelping again, JungMin half-turned his upper body to glare up at the older man. "What kind of stupid idea is that? You know I hate humans," he fumed, face almost the same color as his hair at all the accusations. 

"But you're becoming friends with the pilot, and don't even try to deny that," YoungSaeng said, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Once the sex stopped I thought you would stop talking to him but no, you've been hanging out with him whenever you're bored. So don't give me that you hate humans crap. You're red as a tomato JungMin. You like the engineer, and not in a friend way."

"I do _not_ like him," JungMin scowled, knocking the finger away. "He's just a good punching bag with good reactions, okay? Why won't you just drop it?" 

"Because you're being so defensive," YoungSaeng shrugged, sitting up to roll JungMin over onto his back. Crossing his arms over his chest, he stared down at JungMin, eyebrows raised in question. "But I'll drop it for now. Doesn't mean I believe you though."

"Believe whatever you want to," JungMin grumbled. "Doesn't mean it's right." He poked YoungSaeng's stomach. 

Squirming at the poke, YoungSaeng poked him back. "I thought we were dropping this?"

"We are," JungMin huffed, poking him back, underneath YoungSaeng's shirt this time. 

YoungSaeng squeaked, eyes narrowing as he slid both hands up JungMin's shirt and started to tickle his sides. "Doesn't seem like you want to drop it."

JungMin shrieked, bucking up against the older man. "I do, but that doesn't change the fact that you're on top of me!" He pulled YoungSaeng's hands out of his shirt and yanked the older man down. 

Yelping when he was pulled down, YoungSaeng caught himself before he crashed down onto JungMin's chest. Blinking at him, he smirked and wiggled a bit. "I thought you like it when I'm on top?"

The redhead bit back a swear, head falling back onto the pillow. "I never said I didn't," he got out, pouting up at YoungSaeng with his hands against the other man's hips. 

"Alright then, no more talking," YoungSaeng murmured, leaning down press his lips firmly against JungMin's. Despite the change in conversation, and JungMin's vehement denials, he'd be keeping an eye on the redhead closely from now on when it came to the engineer.

********************************23************************************************

A light knock sounded on KyuJong's door, before it cracked open and JungMin stuck his head in. "Knock knock?"

He hadn't seen the pilot up on the bridge or in the mess hall, so he'd assumed he was in here before his shift. 

"Yes?" KyuJong had just gotten his pants on when the redhead stuck his head into the room. Having just woken up from a short nap, he was a little bleary eyed still. "Oh, hey, what's up?"

"Just wanted to see what you're up to," JungMin grinned, slipping into the room. "The Geckos have the run of the ship again and they're driving me bonkers." 

"I just woke up," KyuJong yawned, rubbing at his eyes sleepily. "But you can hide out here if KyuHyun's getting to you," he said, collapsing back down onto his bed. "Any more incidents between him and HyungJoon?"

"Yes," JungMin grumbled. He kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the bed beside KyuJong, draping himself over the pilot's legs. "He was hiding in the machinery today, why do people keep letting him out of his room?" 

"Because we're trying to be nice?" KyuJong shrugged, propping his head up to look down at him. "HyungJoon should really lock engineering if it's going to be a problem. I don't get why KyuHyun has it out for him."

JungMin didn't say anything more about that, tapping his fingers against the bed comforter. "How much longer before we reach the border?" He asked, looking up at KyuJong. "We should be there soon." 

"Day after tomorrow, as long as we don't run into any problems going through Sylar space," KyuJong said, looking out the window. "Considering we look like a Federation ship, they might leave us alone."

"And if they do visit us, we can just pretend, right? This _is_ a human ship." JungMin rolled off of KyuJong's legs, sitting up and looking at him. "Either way, we'll be fine. Tomorrow's practice again, don't forget." He nudged KyuJong's leg. 

"I wasn't going to forget," KyuJong rolled his eyes, nudging him back. "Don't be confusing me with your other training partner."

"He only pretends to have forgotten, he just doesn't want to train," JungMin sniffed, flopping down next to the older man. 

"He wants to train, just not with _you_ ," KyuJong pointed out, poking JungMin in the side.

"I'm just helping him shape up," JungMin pouted at that, rolling away from the poke and shrieking as he nearly fell off the bed. 

Reaching out to snag JungMin's arm and pull him back, KyuJong snorted. "Dangerous deadly assassin, and he nearly falls off the bed. I'm not feeling very safe right now."

"Yah!" JungMin mock scowled at him. "I'm not in fighting mode right now, want me to show you how dangerous and deadly I can be?" And he easily rolled himself the other way and on top of KyuJong, straddling his waist to pin him down. "Hah!" 

Blinking when JungMin quickly rolled on top of him, KyuJong stared up at him for a moment before he broke out in a snorting laugh, covering his mouth with a hand. "I'm so impressed," he managed to get out, shaking from the not so well contained laughter.

JungMin's mouth fell open as he looked down at the older man. "You're laughing at me, why are you laughing?" He scowled, poking KyuJong's stomach. "I could string you to the bed in half a second flat." 

"I don't need to know about your kinks," KyuJong poked back, still laughing as he tried to squirm out from underneath him.

"You're horrible, laughing at me when I'm trying to keep your pretty head on your shoulders," JungMin sniffed, pinning KyuJong's hands to his sides. 

"You laugh at me all the time when you're beating me up," KyuJong countered, struggling in his grip. "And I can laugh at you when you do something silly like fall off the bed. I'm sure HyungJoon would find it funny as well."

"He doesn't get to laugh at me until he can land more than one hit a session," JungMin snorted, keeping KyuJong pinned.

They were so occupied with the roughhousing they didn't hear the light knock on the door, opening after a pause. "KyuJong? Your shift's—" HyunJoong froze when he saw JungMin sitting on top of KyuJong, pinning his hands beside his head. 

Head snapping to the side, KyuJong blinked a few times at HyunJoong before his brain caught up. "Uh.. Captain, yes, I'm sorry, I was getting ready," he said, pushing JungMin off of him and scrambling to his feet. "He was just... bothering me," he said, glancing sharply at JungMin.

Managing to keep himself from falling off the bed at the push, JungMin blinked owlishly at the Captain. Uh oh. "Yeah, just goofing off," he said quickly.

HyunJoong's eyes had narrowed at them, and JungMin knew he saw pain in the older man's gaze, jaw slightly clenched. "Understood. My apologies, didn't mean to interrupt." There was an icy tone to his voice before he closed the door. 

"Shit..." KyuJong grabbed his shirt, pulling it over his head and running out the door after him, glaring at JungMin on his way out. "Captain, wait, can we talk?" he asked once he was out in the hall.

HyunJoong was already heading back to his room, shoulders stiff and mind jumbled. "There's nothing to talk about, it's your shift," he said sharply, trying to dismiss the younger man. That had caught him by surprise, and he should have braced himself for it really, it shouldn't hurt this much. 

"I think YoungSaeng can wait a few more minutes, HyunJoong," KyuJong said, trying to match the other's stride. "That wasn't what it looked like," he said, his voice dropped low. "We're just friends."

"The same way we're 'just friends', KyuJong?" HyunJoong snapped, looking over his shoulder at the pilot before looking away. Why was his quarters at the other end of the corridor? He just wanted to cut this conversation short before it could hurt any more. 

KyuJong's steps faltered slightly at that, but his eyes hardened and he pushed forward to block HyunJoong's path. "Is that all I am to you HyunJoong? A friend?"

HyunJoong had to stop before he walked into KyuJong. "Some days I wish," came out before he could stop it, eyes narrowed at the younger man. "Move." 

"Some days you wish what?" KyuJong asked, not budging from where he was. "Just answer me HyunJoong. What am I to you?"

Something inside HyunJoong snapped. Grabbing KyuJong's shoulders, he pulled the pilot closer, kissing him roughly and unceremoniously. 

Squeaking, KyuJong's eyes widened when HyunJoong grabbed him, for a split second he thought the Captain was going to hit him. The kiss was unexpected, but not unwelcome, and after for struggling for a moment, he wrapped his arms around HyunJoong's shoulders, returning the kiss.

The kiss was almost desperate, HyunJoong holding KyuJong close. But every second spent kissing seemed to break him a little more; sleeping with someone was one thing, but kissing meant something more, and that something had broken him once before. He was scared of it.

Finally the kiss ended, HyunJoong pulling back to look at the other man, expression stiff with anger and thinly-veiled pain.

"I hope that answered your question," he said tersely, letting go and pushing past KyuJong on to his room. 

Catching his breath, KyuJong watched him go with a wide-eyed expression. He didn't know what to say after that, or what to do. HyunJoong had only kissed him once before, as a joke. "Not really," he murmured under his breath in answer to HyunJoong. Rubbing at his forehead, he debated. That kiss had brought up more questions than answers, and even though he really should go relieve YoungSaeng on the bridge, he just couldn't let this go now.

Taking a deep breath, he walked down the hall after where HyunJoong had gone, knocking lightly on his door.

Sitting down on the edge of his bed, HyunJoong tried to calm himself, hands shaking despite his efforts to contain it. Some days, he wished he thought of KyuJong as just a friend. It would make things so, so much easier if that were the case. But it wasn't. The back of his eyes burned and he had to swipe his hands over them, drawing in a shaky breath.

When the knock came, HyunJoong ignored it, knowing who it was. Why couldn't KyuJong just leave him alone, why did he always have to make HyunJoong go through emotions and memories he didn't want to? 

When there was no answer, KyuJong leaned his forehead against the door, taking a steadying breath before he checked to the see if the door was unlocked. This could possibly be a bad idea, but he was tired of these games with HyunJoong. He wanted answers. Turning the handle, he pushed the door open and stepped in, closing the door behind him.

HyunJoong lowered his hand quickly when the door opened, glaring at KyuJong when he came in. "Your shift's already started, pilot," he said sharply, wishing his authority would work with KyuJong when he really wanted it to. 

"I don't think this should wait," KyuJong said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the door. "I'm going to talk for a minute, and then I'll go," he said, matching HyunJoong's look with one of his own. "I don't know what you want from me HyunJoong. We aren't together, but yet you're jealous of JungMin, who is just a friend. Then, you kiss me, out in the hall, for the first time for real, and that was supposed to be some kind of answer? I need some kind of clue as to what's going on here HyunJoong, cause right now I'm pretty lost."

KyuJong just wasn't going to leave him alone, was he? It hurt just to be talking about this, The younger man said that he didn't know what HyunJoong wanted, but the opposite also held true; HyunJoong didn't know what _KyuJong_ wanted, why he had to keep pressing and pressing and it scared him more than anything.

If he'd been thinking clearly, he wouldn't have said anything, would have just kept his silence until KyuJong grew frustrated and left again, perhaps with another backlash comment or two. But he couldn't think clearly, his head and heart just hurt too much, and before he knew it he was standing again.

"You want to know? Fine. _I like you_. But I won't even consider getting together with you because _I don't trust you_. I learned the hard way what happens when you trust someone, and I'm not going to go through that again. Is that clear enough for you KyuJong?" 

Letting that sink in for a moment, KyuJong slowly pushed away from the door, taking a few steps toward HyunJoong. Arms going to his sides, he stopped just a pace away from the older man, expression thoughtful. "I like you too HyunJoong, otherwise I wouldn't care so much," he said, meeting HyunJoong's eyes. "I hope one day you can trust me. Until then, I'm going stay to right here, and tell you everyday, that I'm not going to leave, that I'm not him."

Swallowing thickly, HyunJoong looked into KyuJong's eyes, and wished he could believe him. But he just couldn't bring himself to, because it was easy for someone to say things they didn't mean. And there was the other nagging voice in the back of his mind.

"I made a mistake in my relationship with JaeJoong," he said quietly, defeat in his eyes as he looked at KyuJong. "And until I figure out what it is, I can't be with anyone else."

Finally he turned away, going to his desk. "Please leave now, KyuJong." 

Watching him with sad eyes, KyuJong nodded and slowly made his way to the door. "And I'll be waiting for you, when you realize that you weren't the one who made a mistake," he said quietly, turning the handle and stepping out into the hall.

HyunJoong didn't relax even after KyuJong had left, pressing his hands against the desk and closing his eyes against the tears that threatened to escape. KyuJong was wrong. He had to have done something…to lose not only JaeJoong but almost all of his crew. Had he been a bad lover? A bad captain? With all that was going on right now, he wasn't so sure anymore. 

KyuJong hurried to the bridge, mind still spinning after the conversation with HyunJoong. There was only so much he could do to convince HyunJoong that it had been JaeJoong's fault, not his, for what had happened, and it would just take time. Opening up the hatch, he smiled sheepishly at YoungSaeng who was frowning at him.

"You're late," YoungSaeng said, getting up from his chair and moving out of the way for KyuJong. He didn't miss the look on KyuJong's face as he moved past.

"Sorry, something came up," KyuJong said, sitting down and going over the sensors. 

YoungSaeng pursed his lips and nodded, heading off the bridge with a wave of his hand. Back at his room, he wondered where JungMin had got to when he opened up the door.

JungMin looked up from where he was sprawled over their bed on his stomach, removing his face from the comforter. When he saw it was YoungSaeng, he knew KyuJong had taken a while to get to the bridge, and pouted sadly at the older man. "I don't think Kyu's going to want to talk to me anymore." 

"What'd you do this time?" YoungSaeng raised an eyebrow at that. Kicking off his shoes he flopped down on the bed next to JungMin. "Is that why he was late?"

"We were just hanging out in his room, play fighting, nothing big," the redhead pouted, picking at the comforter. "Except that HyunJoong kinda walked in while I was on top of him." 

"I'm sure that went over well," YoungSaeng sighed, rolling over onto his side and looking at JungMin. "He didn't look very happy when he relieved me on the bridge. They probably fought."

"Probably," JungMin sulked. "I'm not even sleeping with Kyu anymore, and _now_ he walks in on something. Maybe I should stay away from Kyu for a while, not like I could probably show up in his room right now without being booted right back out." He looked up at YoungSaeng. "Those two argue worse than a married couple." 

"They do," YoungSaeng nodded, smiling sadly. "It would be funny if it weren't so serious." Tapping his fingers on the blankets, he thought for a moment. "I wonder if I should pay the Captain a little visit, see what I can find out. Maybe smooth things over," he said, sitting up and looking down at JungMin. "I'd give the pilot a few days, otherwise he might make a rash decision," he said, getting to his feet with a sigh and heading to the door. "Be back in a few."

JungMin watched him go, resting his head in his arms. "You sure that's a good idea right now? If they just fought…" 

"If they just fought the Captain won't be as on his guard as he usually is," YoungSaeng said with a smile. "Don't worry, it's not like he can put me off the ship or anything." Opening up the door, he stepped out into the hall and headed down towards HyunJoong's quarters. "This should be fun," he murmured under his breath, knocking on the door.

HyunJoong lifted his head at the knock on the door, glancing towards it. That couldn't be KyuJong again, could it? He would have gone to his shift by now.

He wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle anyone right now, but he couldn't ignore the door forever, he was still Captain whether he was on his shift or not. Drawing in a shaky breath and wiping the tears away, he straightened and composed himself a little before walking to the door and opening it. "Yes?" 

YoungSaeng didn't miss the glassy eyes and the tired expression on the Captain's face. The man was hurting just as much as the pilot was. "Captain, sorry to bother you," he said with a soft smile. "Can we talk for a moment?"

Looking down at YoungSaeng, HyunJoong exhaled slowly. "Is it urgent?" he asked, not feeling up to conversation. But if it was something about their situation while approaching the border, or Sylar territory, maybe it would distract him at the same time. 

"Depends on what your definition of urgent is," YoungSaeng said, crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his head to the side. He had thoughts of making something up to talk about, but considering how the Captain looked he should probably just come out with it. "JungMin told me about the run-in, so I came to see if you were okay. I don't claim to know everything about human relationships, but I can help."

HyunJoong bit the inside of his cheek, not sure what to say. He wasn’t comfortable talking about these things with anyone, preferring to keep to himself. "I’m not sure what can be done to help," he shook his head a little, though he did move out of the way slightly so YoungSaeng could come in. "I don’t really like…talking with anyone about things like this." 

"I've noticed," YoungSaeng nodded, slipping by when HyunJoong let him in. "But it's not doing you, or the pilot, any good to keep going on this way," he said, walking over to perch on the edge of the bed. "What happened with this former pilot?"

Closing the door, HyunJoong leaned against it for a moment before going to sit on his bed. He stared down at his hands, debating the pros and cons of telling YoungSaeng.

Finally he leaned over and opened the bedside drawer, pulling out a photograph, taken with one of the old cameras from before everything went digital. He held it out to YoungSaeng. It was on one of their first flights with HyunJoong as captain, surrounded by a group of a dozen, mostly men with a few women. JongWoon and HyungJoon were off to one side, still attached by the hip. HyunJoong was in the middle of the group, his arm around the shoulders of his former pilot and lover, JaeJoong.

Looking at how happy they had all been hurt, but HyunJoong made himself look anyways, as a reminder.

"We were together for a long time, since I became Captain here," HyunJoong murmured. "It was going great…I was even considering asking him to marry me. But a month before we took on your shipment, he and almost all my crew suddenly showed up at my quarters, with transfer papers for me to sign." He swallowed thickly, looking down at his hands. "They’d already been signed by the Captain of another ship, and had the Federation seal…I had no choice but to sign them and let them leave." 

YoungSaeng held the photo in his hand, looking over the faces of all the people who had betrayed and hurt HyunJoong. Lips pressed firmly together, his eyes settled on the former pilot. The man's body language alone told the story. He was leaning a little bit out of HyunJoong's grip, the smile a little too forced. Then there was HyunJoong, a happy lopsided smile that YoungSaeng hadn't seen during his time aboard.

"What he did to you," he said softly, looking up at HyunJoong, "was unforgivable, twice over. A crew doesn't abandon it's Captain, not like that. He lied to you, and used you. You can't blame yourself for that HyunJoong, you didn't do anything wrong."

Looking down again at the photograph, YoungSaeng's eyes hardened. He took it both hands and tore it in half, splitting HyunJoong's image from JaeJoong's. "You don't need these kind of reminders anymore, and you can't keep living in the past," he said, handing HyunJoong the half of the photo with him in it.

Eyes widening in shock when YoungSaeng ripped the photograph in two, HyunJoong looked at the half offered to him for a moment before taking it with trembling fingers. He looked down at the torn picture, swallowing thickly and eyes becoming glassy before he closed them, drawing in a shuddering breath as he tried to compose himself. He couldn't get a word out, his throat closed and painfully dry, fingers curling tightly around the edge of the photo as he took in YoungSaeng's words.

"How do you know?" he asked quietly after a long pause, not opening his eyes and hands shaking. "That I didn't do something, to chase them all away, t-to..." He swallowed painfully. 

"Because just in the short time I've been aboard this ship, I've seen how much you care about your crew," YoungSaeng said, folding up the other half of the photo and stuffing it in his pocket to shoot out the disposal later. "They're your first priority for every decision you make, even the tough decisions, and they adore you, that much is obvious. I've been aboard a lot of ships HyunJoong, met a lot of Captains. You're the first one I've actually come to respect. That alone should say something."

Listening to what YoungSaeng was saying, HyunJoong covered his eyes with one hand, wiping at the corners of his eyes a little. He couldn't stop the tears anymore, shoulders stiff as he drew in shaky breaths. 

Smiling sadly at him, YoungSaeng scooted closer, watching the man for a moment before putting an arm around HyunJoong's stiff shoulders. He didn't say anything, just wanting to be a silent presence for the Captain if he needed it.

HyunJoong leaned against YoungSaeng a little, grateful for the support. He felt completely lost, not sure what to do or think. It would probably be a while before YoungSaeng's words fully sank in, and until they did, he was left a broken man, taking what little comfort he could.

It was a bit of time before he tried to compose himself again, wiping away the tears before slowly sitting up straight, swallowing to ease the pain in his throat. He drew in a breath, looking up at YoungSaeng again. "Thank you, for this." 

"You're welcome," YoungSaeng smiled softly, squeezing his shoulder before pulling his arm back. "Sometimes it just takes an outside perspective to clear away the grime," he said, looking HyunJoong's eyes. "Do you want to be alone now, or do you want me to stay?"

Meeting the younger man's gaze, HyunJoong thought about that. Before he'd wanted to just be left alone, but now he wasn't so sure. Did he really just want to lie here until the thoughts drove him crazy?

"Would it be all right if you stayed a while?" he asked finally, voice quiet. "We can just...talk about something else." 

"Of course," YoungSaeng nodded, folding his legs up under him and leaning back a little. "What would you like to talk about? You know, now that you've spilled one of your big secrets to me, you can ask me anything you'd like, and I'll answer."

The corners of HyunJoong's lips quirked a little. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to." He thought about that for a moment, eyes on YoungSaeng's face. "What's your real form like?" he asked after a moment. Despite seeing YoungSaeng shift into a sleek black wolf once, and HeeChul another time, it was still strange thinking that this wasn't how YoungSaeng really appeared, just what he chose to appear as to them. 

"I think that's easy enough," YoungSaeng chuckled, eyes shifting to silver. Unfolding his legs again and sitting up a little straighter he faced HyunJoong, smiling as his skin rippled, the color seeming to wash away from his form. His hair lengthened slightly, the strands taking on the translucent quality. Unlike JungMin, whose form had been devoid of any color, YoungSaeng's skin had a very slight green tint.

HyunJoong's eyes widened slightly, shifting a little on the bed so he was more facing YoungSaeng. His gaze ran along the shapeshifter's new form, his true form, surprised. He could see the wall through YoungSaeng, but could also see the small amount of green, like highlights where the light bounced off the glass-like skin.

"Amazing," he murmured, lips curling into more of a smile. "Simply amazing. Can I..." He held out a hand slightly, not wanting to make contact without YoungSaeng's permission. 

"Of course," YoungSaeng said, his words slow and echoed. "Was it what you were expecting?"

"Not exactly, but I'm not sure what I was expecting," HyunJoong chuckled. "JongWoon and HyungJoon theorizing on little green bobbleheads comes to mind." He touched YoungSaeng's arm lightly, thumb smoothing over the soft skin. Pliable glass. His hand trailed down to YoungSaeng's hand, running over his fingers. 

"I'll keep that in mind when they do finally ask," YoungSaeng laughed, the sound reverberating with a tinny quality. "They at least got the green part right in my case."

"In your case? JungMin isn't slightly green like this too?" Curiosity satisfied, HyunJoong drew his hand back a little, meeting YoungSaeng's eyes with a small smile. 

Returning the smile, YoungSaeng closed his eyes, slowly shifting back into the human form. When he opened his eyes again they were back to the dark brown. "No, like humans have variations in their skin color, so do we," he said, rolling his shoulders a little. "JungMin doesn't have a color actually."

Nodding slowly in understanding, HyunJoong tilted his head slightly to one side. "You were talking differently...well, your voice itself was the same aside from the echo, but you were speaking slower. Is it hard to talk?" 

"It is," YoungSaeng nodded, curling his legs up again. "We can mimic human speech in our true form, but it's rather difficult. I won't go into specifics, but it's not our natural speaking voices."

HyunJoong's lips quirked slightly. "Makes sense that you would have your own language. Is it more comfortable for you in that form?" He rested back on his hands a little, more relaxed now. 

"Yes, but I'm a little rusty," YoungSaeng admitted, smiling a little. "We weren't allowed to be in our true forms, or speak in our language while we were training, and we haven't run in to any other Shinbi."

Nodding in understanding, HyunJoong smiled back. "Your true form is amazing, have you considered staying in that form on the ship? It's only us here." 

YoungSaeng chewed on his lip, looking down at his knees. "We've considered it, but honestly Captain, we're more comfortable this way. Maybe in time we'll want to, but not now. We're still adjusting to being...free."

"Understood," HyunJoong smiled softly, watching him. "It was just a thought. Myself and the crew want to give you as much freedom to do what you want, though we will never be able to make up for what humans have done to you both." 

"No, and we don't expect you too," YoungSaeng shook his head, looking back up at him. "You've done more than enough already. You risked a lot for us, and we appreciate it, although in JungMin's case somewhat grudgingly. Despite his aversion to humans, we've both made friends here," he said. "And Captain, you do know that he and KyuJong, are just friends, nothing more."

Sighing softly, HyunJoong looked down at the bed. "I guess I was just...caught off-guard," he murmured quietly, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again, looking up at YoungSaeng. "And you both?" he asked, lips quirked slightly to one side. "Are you together?" 

YoungSaeng blinked, his eyebrows going up. "JungMin and I? No, oh no," he chuckled, shaking his head. "We may sleep together, but that's the extent of it. We've known each other for far too long, and far too well to be together."

HyunJoong chuckled at that. "Was just curious." He glanced at the clock. "I think I should try and get some sleep...my shift comes up soon," he smiled a little tiredly. 

"Okay," YoungSaeng nodded, getting to his feet. "I hope you're feeling better now," he said, moving towards the door. "Rest well," one last smile and he slipped from the room, closing the door behind him.

HyunJoong watched the door close, giving a soft sigh as he laid down on his bed. He felt a little better than before, YoungSaeng's visit had helped.

Pulling the torn half of the photograph out of his pocket, HyunJoong looked at it for a moment, realizing that both HyungJoon and JongWoon were on this half of the picture as well. He smiled a little at his two friends before placing the photo on the nightstand, closing his eyes and drifting off slowly, exhaustion pulling him under. 

**********************************24******************************************

"How much further?" HyungJoon hovered nervously behind KyuJong's chair. Irritating the pilot more than usual.

"Just another couple of minutes," KyuJong said slowly, taking a deep breath to keep himself calm. "Why do you insist on hovering behind me asking questions like a five year old?"

"I'm just anxious," HyungJoon whined, shuffling his feet and pouting.

"Go be anxious somewhere else," YoungSaeng drawled, sitting comfortably in his seat. "Preferably off the bridge."

"Come on Joon, let's sit down," JongWoon laughed nervously, pulling on HyungJoon's arm to bring him to one of the seats by the table. "Before you're spaced. SiWon sshi said to meet at these coordinates?"

"Yes, you've already made me double-check the coordinates five times in the last hour," KyuHyun gave a long suffering sigh. The Gecko, being their new navigator, was allowed on the bridge as long as he didn't try to mess with anything. 

"If no one has anything important to say, or not repeat a question for the fifth time, please be quiet," KyuJong said, checking sensors.

"Sorry," HyungJoon mumbled, sitting down next to JongWoon.

"We're going to be in hailing range in about two minutes, I'm not seeing any ships there, but there's a lot of sensor interference," KyuJong frowned, typing something into the display to try and compensate.

"They're there," KyuHyun said firmly, leaning against a terminal. "They like popping up out of nowhere."

HyunJoong glanced out the window, then back to the display in front of him. "They will appear before we cross the border?"

"Yeah, but if they don't, don't go too far past the border without the escort," KyuHyun grinned a little. "The other Captain may be a little trigger-happy." 

"You're instilling me with confidence here," KyuJong muttered, bringing the ship down to a crawl. They were going to cross any second, and KyuJong stared down at the sensors. Another tense second before a blip on the screen of another ship. "There they are," he said, looking up at the ship that was looming up in their view.

"Valis has upgraded," YoungSaeng mused, craning his neck to get a better look.

"Hailing now," KyuJong said, turning to communications. After a few seconds of silence, there was a crackle of response, and SiWon's voice came over the speakers.

" _So this is the_ Proteus? _KyuHyun_?"

"Present," KyuHyun called.

"This is the _Proteus_ , SiWon sshi," HyunJoong said. "Thank you for meeting us."

"That's a big ship," JongWoon murmured, eyes wide, and JungMin kicked him to be quiet. 

" _Captain... HyunJoong was it? Captain, it's a three day ride back to headquarters, may I suggest docking in our hangar bay? I don't think you'll be able to keep up._ "

Glancing to the shapeshifters for their input, and seeing JungMin nod, HyunJoong turned back to the speakers. "Thank you SiWon sshi, we will do so. We will send the docking request right away."

JongWoon shuffled into HyungJoon a little nervously. That was a _really_ big ship if it had a hangar bay that their own ship could fit in. 

YoungSaeng eyed the pilot who was looking at the ship nervously. "You going to be able to do that?" he asked quietly. KyuJong looked up at him, and nodded.

"It's a ship, not a planet, I should be okay," KyuJong said, turning back to the console. The docking request was approved and they were given procedure instructions for docking.

" _I'll see you all in about ten minutes, don't leave the ship until I get there_." SiWon said and the com line went dead.

"I don't think I can watch," HyungJoon closed his eyes and buried his head into JongWoon's arm.

HyunJoong buckled in, glancing at KyuJong beside him and ready to take over the controls if it looked like the pilot was having trouble. JungMin pulled YoungSaeng down into a seat, just in case.

The ship loomed in front of them as they moved into position, the side of the Valis ship opening for them. HyunJoong checked over the procedure for docking as they slowly maneuvered in. 

Taking a deep breath, KyuJong slowly eased the ship into the hangar. He had to keep reminding himself that space was just outside these walls, and that it wasn't a planet. That seemed to help, as he didn't feel the overwhelming panic bubbling up in his chest, and was able to maneuver the ship to where they where they were supposed to dock.

When HyungJoon opened his eyes, the ship had come to a stop after a slight bump. He looked out the window, amazed at just how big the hangar was on this ship. He'd only seen ones this big on military carriers. "Wow," he said, unbuckling his restraint.

"Docking complete," KyuJong said, powering down systems.

HyunJoong unbuckled himself and stood, setting up security just in case; they had no way of knowing what would happen next. He hated going into a situation unprepared, but KyuHyun had been vague at best, and YoungSaeng and JungMin weren't exactly sure either, so he would make sure they were as prepared as they could be.

"Someone should stay on the ship," he said, looking at those gathered. "Volunteers?" He chuckled slightly when JongWoon promptly raised both his and HyungJoon's hands.

KyuHyun rolled up the map on the table and put it away, tail swishing back and forth impatiently as he went to the hatch, waiting for them. 

"I haven't been off the ship since this all started, I'm going too," KyuJong said, getting up from his seat, following after YoungSaeng and JungMin to the hatch.

"Where is Zhou Mi? Still in your room?" YoungSaeng asked KyuHyun. Now that the two Gecko's were allowed out, YoungSaeng found it strange that Zhou Mi didn't wander around the ship like KyuHyun, preferring to stay in the room or in the mess hall.

"Yeah," KyuHyun nodded, leaning against the wall. "Should I get him and meet you?"

"Meet us at the airlock," HyunJoong nodded, and the Gecko disappeared down the hallway. The rest of the group moved out of the bridge next, HyunJoong turning to go towards the cargo bay. JungMin followed along beside YoungSaeng, hands in his pockets and frowning lightly.

"This is going to be interesting," he muttered. 

"Very," YoungSaeng nodded, his hands clasped behind his back. "Keep your eyes and ears open, and watch the humans," he said softly so the other two didn't hear. "Who knows what this faction's take on humans is now."

Nodding in understanding, JungMin glanced back at KyuJong before facing the front again.

They reached the airlock a moment before Zhou Mi and KyuHyun did, HyunJoong unlocking it as the two Geckos approached. 

Giving JungMin a wary glance, YoungSaeng took a deep breath as the door opened. He saw KyuJong edging towards the Captain out of the corner of his eye. When the airlock finally opened fully, YoungSaeng blinked at the man standing on the other side. Well he hadn't been expecting that.

KyuJong tried not to stare, but his eyes did widen slightly at the alien on the other side. Or rather, the large black feathered wings behind his back that were twitching slightly.

"Welcome to the _Zelos_ ," the man with the wings said, his smile bright as he looked over them all before the eyes settled on HyunJoong. "Captain?"

HyunJoong bowed as he was addressed, appearing unfazed by the wings although he was just as startled as his crew. This must be SiWon. "A pleasure to meet you."

"Good to see you, SiWon," KyuHyun popped up at HyunJoong's elbow. "New ship?" 

"Yup, so don't break anything," SiWon nodded, smiling at the Geckos. "Well, enough with the niceties, let's go talk shall we?" he said, turning around and heading down the corridor, the two Geckos trailing after. KyuJong glanced at HyunJoong, nudging him forward.

"It's a good thing the wonder twins didn't come with," YoungSaeng murmured to JungMin as they left the ship.

"Really," JungMin wrinkled his nose. "They wouldn't be able to stop staring." And SiWon's wings was definitely the least to be staring at with the other crew members they started to see.

HyunJoong followed behind SiWon and the Geckos, glancing at KyuJong out of the corner of his eyes. 

SiWon led them through a series of corridors, KyuJong doing his best not to look around too much at the crew members that they passed. It helped that KyuJong had at least been exposed to some different races already, but he was particularly fascinated with SiWon and his wings.

At the end of a corridor, SiWon opened up a door and stepped in, KyuJong reasoned it was a lift of some sort. When they were all crammed inside the door shut and the lift started to move; somehow he had ended up squished between HyunJoong and SiWon. When he looked up, the winged alien was looking at him with a strange smile. Returning the smile hesitantly, KyuJong looked away, unsure what that meant.

After a few flights the lift stopped and the doors opened again, SiWon leading them through another corridor to a room. "Take a seat," SiWon said, motioning to the table and chairs. When they had all sat down, SiWon looked at KyuJong again before turning to KyuHyun and Zhou Mi. "So how is it you two ended up on a human ship?"

KyuHyun chuckled slightly, resting his elbows on the table. "We were ship-hopping, and were caught. Nothing really special about it, we just weren't as careful as we usually are." He glanced towards HyunJoong before looking back at SiWon. "We were actually pretty lucky to get caught on this human ship and not one of the _other_ human ships, we'd be spaced right now." 

"How exactly _did_ you get caught?" SiWon asked, his expression puzzled. "You're usually more careful than that."

"They saw us," Zhou Mi piped up, glancing over to JungMin and YoungSaeng. "They're shifters, they saw us in the cargo bay."

"Shifters?" SiWon blinked, looking sharply at JungMin and YoungSaeng. "Shinbi?" YoungSaeng sat up a little straighter and nodded. "Why are the Shinbi involved?"

"They're not," YoungSaeng said softly, meeting SiWon's eyes, not willing to offer more than that. SiWon's lips pinched into a frown as he looked at HyunJoong.

"Okay Captain, let's start from the beginning," SiWon said, clasping his hands together on top of the table. "Why is a Federation civilian ship wandering around outside of Federation territory with two shifters and two Geckos?"

HyunJoong had already guessed that YoungSaeng and JungMin weren't too keen to have their former situation with the Federation known, nor was it necessary to share that information with SiWon as of yet. But lying would get them nowhere here...the best thing to do was gloss over that part of the explanation, avoid both details and lies at the same time.

"My crew and I found YoungSaeng and JungMin in Federation territory," he started, planning out what he was going to say and what he wasn't going to say quickly. "They were in a dangerous position with the Federation, of which they were not at fault. My crew has a high moral standing, and it didn't sit well with us to give them up to the government...but the Federation knew that they were on the _Proteus_ , so we ended up becoming fugitives."

JungMin relaxed a little as HyunJoong gave away as little as he could.

"After discussing our situation, we found the safest thing to do was to leave Federation space," the Captain continued. "The Geckos, we somehow picked up at a stop for supplies and information."

"Do you have to call us that?" KyuHyun grumbled, sinking a little in his seat. 

"Even I can't pronounce what you really are," SiWon said, glancing at KyuHyun with a raised brow. "It's one of the nicer terms I've heard of your people, so can it." His attention went back to HyunJoong. If he had suspected that they were hiding something (which he was sure they were), he didn't say anything. "What were your plans once getting out of Federations space?"

"Get as far from it as possible," YoungSaeng said, the winged alien glancing over at him. "We made no solid plans since we had little information. The further we've gotten away, the worse things have become."

"So I hear," SiWon nodded, looking to KyuHyun. "Explain about why you think Sylar is working with the Federation?"

The Gecko still looked put-out by the 'nicer term', but lifted his head when SiWon turned to him. "We saw them trading actively with the Federation," he said. "Mi and I were on a few human ships before, and ended up clean in the middle of Sylar territory. The ships passed through with hardly any inspection, and had high priority." 

"Where did these human ships go?" SiWon asked, his entire demeanor serious now, even his wings were twitching irritably.

"The last one we were on," Zhou Mi said hesitantly, shifting awkwardly in the chair. "The last one went to Erith."

"Erith? You're sure?" SiWon frowned when Zhou Mi nodded.

"Erith is still their home base then?" YoungSaeng asked and SiWon nodded curtly.

"Did you get close enough to listen in on any conversations?" SiWon asked.

"Just one," KyuHyun said, glancing at Zhou Mi. Even their new navigator looked nervous now. "That's what made us certain what was going on. Most of it wasn't clear...but they said something about a deal. Compensation."

HyunJoong frowned, leaning against the table. There was precious little the Federation would be interested in for compensation... 

SiWon was silent for a moment, considering KyuHyun's words before he nodded and sighed heavily. "I can only imagine what 'compensation' is supposed to be, but I'm guessing it won't be good. When we get to headquarters, you're going to have to retell all of this to the faction boss. I told him already what you told me over the last call, and he is very interested to know what's going on."

"We heard from someone, that Valis is considering merging with Merin to deal with Sylar," YoungSaeng said.

"If Darven is taken out, which is likely with how things have been shaping over there, then we have come to an agreement with Merin," SiWon nodded, although he didn't look happy about that.

"And you will share this information with them?" YoungSaeng continued.

"If necessary, so probably yes, we will have to share this with them, and all the other factions," SiWon nodded. "If the Fed is taking an active role in our politics by meddling with one of the factions, then we need to take out that faction."

"Nothing good can come of humans sticking their noses in deep space," KyuHyun rolled his eyes, before blinking and looking at HyunJoong. "No offense meant."

"None taken," HyunJoong said wryly.

"That's another thing," JungMin said, leaning forward a little, his eyes serious. "What about the Federation?" 

"One thing at a time," SiWon said, his wings rustling and stretching out behind him. "Even with all the factions working together we can't hope to take on the Federation. We'll just have to see how this thing with Sylar goes first. If we can stop them, maybe the Fed will pack up for the time being until we get things straightened out around here."

"And if the Federation is that intent on taking over this part of space?" YoungSaeng asked, leaning back a little in his chair.

"Then we might need to find another part of space to live in," SiWon said, his wings folding back up as he stood. "Maybe they'll try to go after Shinbi space next, that would get them out of our hair," he said with a laugh.

"The Shinbi would blow them into space dust and they know it, they aren't that stupid," KyuHyun snorted. JungMin frowned down at the table, hands curled into fists.

"What does Sylar think they can possibly gain from this?" the redhead scowled as the others stood as well. "They'll be blown up along with everyone else if the Federation gets their way." 

"Because greed makes even the smartest of people, idiots," SiWon said, YoungSaeng nodding in agreement. "I'm sure the Federation's dangling a nice big carrot in front of them and they can't help but want that carrot." He shook his head, leaning his hands on the table. "For now though, we'll keep an eye on the border. It's going to be a few days, so relax for a bit. You're allowed to leave your ship if you choose, though there will be some areas you aren't allowed in. Kyu, Zhou Mi, I'll want to see you both later," SiWon said, glancing at the Geckos.

"I guess we'll go back to our ship for now," YoungSaeng said, looking to JungMin and squeezing his arm lightly.

"If you need anything, or get into any kind of trouble, just get a hold of me," SiWon said with a smile as they started to leave the bridge. "You, wait," he said, pointing at KyuJong who had been at the back of the group. KyuJong blinked and stopped. "Let's talk for a moment, I never get to talk with humans," SiWon said with a smile. KyuJong glanced at HyunJoong before nodding and stepping back into the room, the door closed behind him.

"Should we wait?" YoungSaeng frowned at the door, not liking one of the humans being cut off from them.

HyunJoong frowned as well, something about SiWon calling KyuJong back not going over well with him. Why KyuJong? Yes he was human, but so was HyunJoong, unless SiWon wanted to discuss something with someone other than the ship's Captain.

JungMin glanced over at HyunJoong, seeing the expression on his face. "We should wait," he said, receiving a nod in return. KyuHyun blinked at them all before shrugging and leaning against the corridor wall. 

It was a few minutes before the door opened again, KyuJong stepping out and blushing furiously. Head down, he got as far from the door as he could before stopping to wait for the others. 

"Kyu, Zhou Mi, come see me in a couple hours," SiWon was in the doorway, all smiles, his eyes lingering on KyuJong before shutting the door again. YoungSaeng frowned and tugged on JungMin to start walking back to the lift. When they started moving again, KyuJong stuck next to HyunJoong's side, arms crossed and keeping his eyes on the ground.

HyunJoong glanced at KyuJong beside him, trying not to frown at the red he could see in the pilot's cheeks and how he wouldn't look up. Just what had happened in that room? He was trying not to overthink things, but something just didn't set him at ease.

The lift ride was in silence, before KyuHyun decided to break it. "Do we have to stay on the ship?"

HyunJoong glanced back at them, and shook his head. "Just report in where you are, and when you'll be back," he said, looking at KyuHyun in particular until the Gecko muttered an 'okay'. "The same goes with everyone else. And I still think it's best if we don't leave the ship without either YoungSaeng or JungMin." 

"I don't think the Geckos need our protection, they're more at home here than we are," YoungSaeng said, leaning against JungMin.

"I'm not leaving the ship," KyuJong said quietly. "And any more meetings with that SiWon, you can leave me out of them."

"What did he want?" YoungSaeng asked, head tilted to the side. He didn't miss the way KyuJong looked at HyunJoong out of the corner of his eye before shaking his head.

"Nothing, I don't want to talk about it."

JungMin blinked, looking at KyuJong and catching the glance towards their Captain as well. HyunJoong also looked at the pilot, and the redhead could tell the older man was bothered by not knowing what had happened, brow furrowed slightly. He wondered if he was back in KyuJong's good graces enough to weasel a story out of him later.

The lift opened and they walked towards their ship, reaching the airlock. Only once it was shut behind them did HyunJoong relax a little. "I will see you in a few hours then," he nodded to them, glancing at KyuJong again before turning to go towards his cabin. 

KyuJong didn't say anything, just turning to go to his room, leaving YoungSaeng with JungMin. The two Geckos disappeared quickly.

"I wonder what that was about," YoungSaeng mused, looking up at JungMin before starting to walk slowly.

"No idea," JungMin puffed out his cheeks, watching KyuJong disappear before turning back to YoungSaeng. "What do you think? Wait a bit, then see if he's up for sharing?" 

"Yes, if something happened in there I'd like to know, I don't fully trust SiWon," YoungSaeng said softly, looking around to make sure the Geckos weren't lurking about. "HeeChul isn't the only one who views humans as a rare commodity."

"Well, whatever happened, it didn't seem to leave the best impression on Kyu," JungMin wrinkled his nose. "I'll see if I can get anything out of him, I might not be back in his good books yet." 

"I'm sure you'll be able to worm your way back in, you can be very charming when you want to be," YoungSaeng chuckled softly. "Though do try to avoid pinning him down on the bed this time."

"Yes, any questionable contact will be avoided," JungMin snorted. "I'll go do that after giving him a bit to calm down. What are you doing in the meantime?" He folded his hands behind his head as they walked. 

"Hm... I was considering a nap, but I may be a little wound up from that meeting still," YoungSaeng shrugged. Reaching their room, he opened up the door and promptly collapsed onto the bed. He scowled up at the window that showed the inside of the hangar. "Close those blinds, don't need people peeking in here."

JungMin strode over to the window and pulled the blinds down, before dropping onto the bed beside the older man. "Want a massage while I'm here? I'd offer to unwind in other ways, but I do want to get some answers out of Kyu eventually," he grinned a little. 

"I won't say no to a massage," YoungSaeng smiled, rolling over onto his stomach and stretching his arms out to the side. "We have a couple days where we don't actually have shifts to cover, I'm sure we can do more of that other way of unwinding later."

"Sounds like a plan," JungMin grinned before straddling YoungSaeng's waist and starting to massage his shoulders. "How's the Captain? You've been spending quite a bit of time with him lately." 

YoungSaeng closed his eyes, sighing softly at the massage. "He's getting better, actually smiles now," he said. "It may take a while for him to build himself back up, that former pilot did a number on him. For himself mostly, and I think for KyuJong as well. He does care more about the pilot than he leads on."

"I think that much is obvious," JungMin smirked. "To everyone except them of course. He couldn't stop glancing at KyuJong the whole time we were off the ship, even before SiWon decided to have a little one-on-one with him." 

"He's still unsure of what to do about him, but he'll get there," YoungSaeng smiled softly. "KyuJong was looking at HyunJoong as well, and was sticking pretty close to him. It's nice to know he hasn't given up on the Captain yet."

"Can we just shove them in a closet and refuse to let them out?" JungMin pouted down at the back of YoungSaeng's head. "It would solve so much, I swear." 

"I'm tempted," YoungSaeng chuckled, cracking an eye open to look up at JungMin. "Keep that mind for the next game night. There is such a human game right? Shoving people into closets?"

"The first human game that actually sounds interesting," JungMin snorted, moving down YoungSaeng's back. "We should do that, it would be interesting to say the least. As long as I don't end up in there with KyuJong, I don't want another jealous-but-not-admitting-it Captain after my hide." 

"I'm sure we can arrange it so that doesn't happen," YoungSaeng laughed, quickly cut off by a low moan. After a moment when he was able to speak again, YoungSaeng looked over his shoulder at JungMin. "I made it clear to the Captain that you and KyuJong were just friends though, I think he understood. He even asked if you and I were together."

JungMin snorted at that. "Yeah...no. As much as I adore you Saengie, not in a million years. Friends is more than enough. And I can't really see you being the type to settle with just one person." 

Chuckling softly, YoungSaeng rolled his eyes. "You never know, maybe I'll fall in love out here, be swept away by some rich, gorgeous alien who wants to do nothing but pamper me all day. I'd settle for that."

"That's one alien in a billion," JungMin grinned. "Especially when he sees what you're really like under the pretty, innocent face." He pinched YoungSaeng's side teasingly. 

YoungSaeng flinched at the pinch and glared at JungMin. "I don't know what that's supposed to mean. You trying to imply something about me?"

"Not at all," JungMin grinned in return, continuing to massage his back and moving lower. "Just that the day you fall in love will be the day I try to shift into a horse again." He had sworn never to do that again after the first and last time. 

"Love is a human concept," YoungSaeng chuckled, relaxing again and closing his eyes. "I have no use for emotions that make you do dumb things. The Captain and pilot are perfect examples of what I don't want to get involved in."

"More than perfect examples," JungMin shuddered. "It's ridiculous at times. Okay, all the time." He dropped a few kisses to the skin at the edge of YoungSaeng's collar. 

"Yes it is," YoungSaeng nodded, sighing softly at the kisses. "What about you Min? Do you want to fall in love?"

"Not sure," JungMin shrugged. "It's more trouble than it's worth, and we've seen more than our fair share of fake relationships. It's probably best to just stay clear." 

"Maybe if there was someone out there who was worth it," YoungSaeng mused quietly, his lips quirking. "But I don't think that'll ever happen. I'm content to enjoy the sex. It's one of the few perks about this human form."

"Right," JungMin grinned, finishing with the massage and climbing off of YoungSaeng to sit beside him. "That and having colored hair. Or color at all." 

"Still so touchy about your lack of color," YoungSaeng shook his head, rolling over onto his side and curling up around his pillow. "You going to go bother the pilot now?"

"I'm allowed to be touchy when people start running into me because they can't see a see-through person," JungMin sniffed, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "Yup. See you in a while if he doesn't kick me out of the room." 

"Have fun," YoungSaeng waved, burying himself underneath the blankets. "Don't wake me up if he does kick you out, I want some sleep."

"Yes princess," JungMin rolled his eyes, and ducked out of the room before YoungSaeng could toss anything at him. He walked down the hallway towards KyuJong's room with his hands in his pockets, wondering if this visit would be fruitful or not. It could go either way.

He paused outside KyuJong's door for a moment before knocking lightly, deciding against just sneaking in as usual. 

It was a minute before the door opened a crack, KyuJong peeking out. When he saw it was JungMin, and that he was alone, he opened up the door a little further to let JungMin in. "Should have known you'd come by."

Raising an eyebrow at the crack in the door, JungMin slipped into the room when he was allowed. "I'm not that predictable, am I?" he pouted, leaning against the wall as he looked at the older man. "You okay?" 

"No, you're anything but predictable," KyuJong said, shutting door after JungMin came in before shuffling back over to his bed. Sitting against the wall, he drew his knees up to his chest. "I'm fine, just skeeved out. I don't like that SiWon guy."

JungMin dropped down to sit on the bed, leaning back against his hands. "He didn't seem that bad, unless you have a thing against wings." He was horrible at being subtle, so he just decided to ask. "What did he want to talk about?" 

"Nothing," KyuJong said, giving JungMin a pointed look. "He asked me if I wanted touch his wings, I said sure, but then he said only if he got touch me back. I said no and tried to leave, but he told me how much he'd been wanting to be with a human and I should reconsider, then I left."

The redhead blinked at that, then scowled. "Birdbrain. Just because humans are rare out here." It was like YoungSaeng had said, HeeChul all over again. "From what I heard SiWon isn't the sort to force people, but if he tries anything, aim for his wings." 

"Hopefully I don't have to see him again, but I'll remember that," KyuJong nodded. "Is that what it's going to be like over here? Fending off advances from every race we encounter?"

"Not all the time," JungMin wrinkled his nose. "It's just that the line of business we're encountering the most tends to attract people like that. It's rare to find a race with a neutral stance on humans though, they're either curious or suspicious." 

"I guess I can understand that," KyuJong said, glancing at JungMin. "What about you? How do the races out here view your race?"

JungMin shrugged, flopping down onto his back. "...Not the best, but now we have an unspoken agreement of sorts. They stay out of our way, we stay out of theirs." He chuckled a little. "It helps that being able to shapeshift scares them witless." 

"It doesn't scare me anymore, now that I've seen what you really look like," KyuJong said looking down at him. "But I'm glad you're on our side," he chuckled.

The redhead smiled a little, shrugging again. "We've been in this mess for too long. But you sure you're not going to leave the ship again?" He placed his hands behind his head. "Saeng or I could go with you if you want to look around." 

"Is there anything worth seeing off the ship?" KyuJong chewed on his lip before shrugging a little. "Maybe if you go with me, I'll consider it." He looked towards the closed off window. "I wonder what we're going to do tonight. Not having to be on the bridge for the next couple of days is going to be a little odd."

"Yeah, but a rest will be good, who knows what happens once we get back out into space," JungMin mused. He flipped himself over onto his stomach, looking up at KyuJong before grinning. "We could always play a game." 

KyuJong eyed JungMin suspiciously. "And what kind of game do you have in mind?"

JungMin hummed, thinking that if he mentioned anything about being shoved in closets, KyuJong would kick him out then and there. "Something fun? We'll think of something. What do you think? Unless you plan on hiding out in here for the next few days." 

"I think a game would be nice, help get our minds off what's going on," KyuJong nodded, thinking about that. "Someone should bring it up to the Captain, see what he thinks."

"Yeah," JungMin grinned. "He needs to be dragged out of the paperwork anyways." He stretched out on the bed. "Well, at least SiWon trying to come on to you had one good outcome." 

"...and that would be what?" KyuJong frowned at JungMin. He didn't see any good thing to come out of it.

The redhead winked at KyuJong. "Someone isn't very subtle when he's worried about you." 

KyuJong blinked at him, head tilted until he realized what the other man meant. Flushing, KyuJong looked away, tightening his hold on his legs. "Doesn't mean anything," he mumbled.

"What about the jealous fits then?" JungMin blinked at KyuJong innocently. "And the staring when you're not looking?" 

"..." KyuJong's lips pursed and he shook his head. "He doesn't want to be with me. He told me that," he said, looking down at JungMin. "How am I supposed to know he's staring when I'm not looking?"

"I don't know, mirrors? Or window reflections, you're always staring out the windows anyways," JungMin snorted. "And if you believe him then you're just as much in denial as he is." 

"What am I supposed to do, Min? He says he likes me, but doesn't trust me, or want to be with me," KyuJong said, leaning his head back on the wall. "I can't force him to be in a relationship with me."

"I never said that," JungMin rolled his eyes, resting his chin on the comforter. "I'm just saying that he's in denial. Some people don't like being told what to do by others, you have to let the hardheads figure it out on their own." 

"Well he can figure things out for as long as he needs, I'm done trying," KyuJong shrugged, closing his eyes. He was silent for a moment before he asked quietly, "have you ever been in love?"

JungMin tilted his head to one side so he could look up at KyuJong. "Nope. Never exactly stayed in one place long enough to like someone." He left out what he and YoungSaeng had already discussed, about the trouble love was. 

"It's probably the best, and worst, feeling," KyuJong said, his lips curling upwards sadly. "I don't recommend it," he chuckled.

"Duly noted," JungMin chuckled, looking up at the older man. After a moment he reached up and patted the pilot's knee lightly, not sure what to say to make the situation more bearable for him. 

"Well, you've got YoungSaeng at least," KyuJong said, opening his eyes to look down at him with a smile. "Who needs love when you've got that waiting for you."

"That's one way to put it," the redhead laughed, rolling himself onto his back again and bumping into KyuJong's legs. "And you've got me," he make a kissy face at the older man. 

KyuJong wrinkled his nose, nudging him lightly with a foot. "I guess, if I must," he snorted. "Not sure what I did to deserve a friend like you," he teased.

"Yah, you should be honored to be graced with my presence," JungMin huffed, nudging the pilot's foot back. 

"Why? You're kind of a nosy loud mouth who likes to hit people," KyuJong nudged him back.

"Because I'm good-looking?" JungMin bat his eyes at the older man, latching onto the foot before it could get him in the stomach again. 

"Tch, maybe as a cat," KyuJong rolled his eyes. "Why don't you go bother someone else for a while, I want to take a nap, and you should go before I do something stupid and ask you to join me."

"I can be a cat," JungMin grinned mischievously. "House cat, or big cat? And I wouldn't mind joining you, with or without the hands-off rule." 

"Don't tempt me," KyuJong mumbled falling over onto his side and curling up around a pillow. "You can stay if you want, just stay on your side," he mumbled.

"Fine," JungMin sniffed sadly, before stretching out more on his back, closing his eyes. "See you in a few hours." 

**********************************25**********************************************

"....No," HyungJoon shook his head violently. "No, I don't want to play. Why can't we play Jenga? We never play Jenga."

"It's just a game," YoungSaeng chuckled, pouring a shot for them all. "Besides, a few drinks in and you won't remember what game we're playing anyway."

"I really don't think this is a good game," JongWoon protested as well, sinking into his seat. There was absolutely no way a game of 7 minutes in heaven could end well. HyunJoong was looking uncertain as well, tapping his fingers lightly against the table. 

"Well if you don't want to play that, we could play, what was it? Strip poker?" YoungSaeng mused.

"No!" HyungJoon immediately protested. "Anything but that again!"

"Then this is what we're playing," YoungSaeng chuckled, taking his shot.

"How are we going to decide?" KyuJong asked, avoiding looking at HyunJoong. What would happen if he and JungMin were to go into the closet? Would HyunJoong be jealous again?

"We'll spin a bottle," YoungSaeng said, holding up an empty bottle.

"What are we doing?" Zhou Mi's head popped into the mess hall, squirming as he was pushed in by KyuHyun. "A game? Can we play?"

JungMin snorted as JongWoon turned an interesting shade of red, clearly imagining being shoved into the closet with one of the Geckos. "No, shoo," he waved one hand at them.

"What kind of game is it?" KyuHyun pestered, seeing the varied expressions on their faces. "With alcohol involved too." 

"Why can't we play?" Zhou Mi pouted, shuffling towards the table.

"Because I'm pretty sure neither of you want to be locked inside a closet with a human," YoungSaeng rolled his eyes. "Go, you're interfering."

"Locked in a closet?" KyuHyun blinked, then grinned as he eyed HyungJoon. "Depends on the human."

"Out," JungMin ordered, getting up and pushing KyuHyun out of the room, steering Zhou Mi out a little more nicely before shutting the mess hall door. 

HyungJoon shuddered, taking the shot YoungSaeng had poured for him and downing it quickly. "Not enough alcohol in the world would make me agree to that." YoungSaeng watched JungMin with an amused smiled, opening up a bottle of soju for himself.

"So, who goes first then?" KyuJong asked quietly.

"I still don't think this is a good idea," JongWoon protested weakly, glancing at HyungJoon.

"Okay, then how about this?" JungMin sat back down. "Everyone gets one veto. So if you _really_ have a problem with it, you don't have to do it that once."

HyunJoong slowly nodded. "That would be a good idea." 

"I think that's fair," KyuJong nodded, rolling the glass of liquor between his hands.

"Guess that's okay," HyungJoon mumbled, slinking down in his seat a little.

"I'll go first," YoungSaeng shrugged, taking the bottle. They cleared off a bit of space on the table and he set the empty bottle down in the middle. Holding it steady, he spun it with a flick of his wrist. The bottle spun around and slowly came to a stop, pointing at JungMin. "Veto! No fun with him, and we'd be longer than seven minutes. Your turn Min."

JungMin snorted in amusement. "You're defeating the purpose of a veto." He poked YoungSaeng's side before reaching out to spin the bottle. JongWoon shuffled a little closer to HyungJoon nervously.

Spinning, JungMin raised an eyebrow in amusement when it landed on HyunJoong. The Captain blinked down at the bottle in surprise. 

KyuJong had been eyeing the bottle with worry, but when it landed on HyunJoong, he blinked and looked up, glancing between the two.

"No vetoes? Have fun," YoungSaeng chuckled, resting his chin in his hand, grinning widely at the two of them.

"...I don't think I can watch," JongWoon buried his face in HyungJoon's shoulder.

"Well, seven minutes, might as well go," JungMin mused and took his shot before getting up again and going to the closet at the end of the mess hall, mostly empty. He had the guess that HyunJoong would save his veto, and he was right when the Captain gave a long-suffering sigh and downed his glass before following him.

"That's not a very big closet, why does it have to be _that_ closet," JongWoon whined into his best friend's shirt. 

"Next time, we play Jenga, no funny rules, just Jenga," HyungJoon whined, leaning against JongWoon and scowling at the other two. "Whose bad idea was this anyways?"

"Mine," YoungSaeng grinned at him, taking another shot. "Drink up you two, or you'll never get through it."

"If we pass out from alcohol, does that mean we don't have to play?" JongWoon asked HyungJoon. "And who's timing?" There was no noise from the closet, of which he was very thankful; of course there was no _exact_ rule for what happened in there, but still... 

"If they tried to force us to play while we were unconscious, that would be kind of mean," HyungJoon said, patting JongWoon on the back.

KyuJong was trying not to look at the closet. It shouldn't bother him that they were in there together, it's not like HyunJoong would consent to doing anything. Didn't mean he wasn't nervous though.

After what seemed an eternity, YoungSaeng got up from the table and headed to the closet. "Time's up," he said, tapping on the door.

The door clicked open and the two stepped out. JungMin looked very pleased as he went back to his seat, lips curled upwards. "Your turn now, Captain," he chirped, dropping into his seat.

HyunJoong sat down as well, a slight thoughtful expression on his face before he reached out. "I don't know why I'm even bothering sitting down, unless the next spin in vetoed." He spun the bottle lightly, and it turned a few times before landing on HyungJoon. 

Jaw dropping, HyungJoon looked at HyunJoong with wide eyes. "No, veto!" he said immediately.

"Alright, that's your veto, spin," YoungSaeng mused, watching in amusement. HyungJoon sighed and took the bottle. Looking around at everyone warily, he spun the bottle

When the bottle landed on JungMin, HyungJoon whined loudly. "Can I take that back? I'd rather go in with Captain."

"Nope, no take backs," YoungSaeng snorted, having to cover his mouth before he started laughing too loudly. After a second his head dropped onto the table, his whole body shaking.

HyunJoong couldn't help but grin behind his hand at the expression on HyungJoon's face. "I guess you should have saved your veto, Joon."

JungMin blinked at the bottle with wide eyes before kicking YoungSaeng under the table. "Fine, let's get this over with," he huffed, standing up.

JongWoon rubbed HyungJoon's back, looking up at JungMin nervously. "You have your veto, right?"

"Saving it, like _he_ should have." JungMin pointed at HyungJoon before going to the closet again. 

Looking between the others for mercy, HyungJoon shook his head. "No, no, I'm not going in there, he's going to kill me, I just know it!"

"He's not going to kill you," KyuJong chuckled, taking a sip of his drink. "It's just seven minutes. Just get it over with quickly."

"No, you go, I'm not doing it," HyungJoon sat in his seat, arms crossed and scowling at the table.

JungMin scowled at the engineer, hands on his hips. Was the idea really that repulsive?

HyunJoong watched in amusement. "You stalling isn't going to help."

"Can I give him my veto?" JongWoon asked nervously, trying to save his friend.

"Doesn't work that way," JungMin huffed. 

"I'd go, before JungMin drags you by the hair," YoungSaeng said, managing to compose himself. HyungJoon whimpered but slowly got to his feet. "Okay, fine, but seven minutes, that's it!" he grumped, following the redhead over to the closet.

"Bets on how many bruises he comes out with?" KyuJong said quietly to the others.

"Depends on how much more he annoys JungMin," HyunJoong shrugged, taking another drink. JongWoon stared at the closet door worriedly.

Shutting the door after them, JungMin turned back to HyungJoon, hands on his hips and still fuming. "Are you done flipping out?" 

HyungJoon backed up into the corner of the closet, watching JungMin. "Yes, just.. don't hit me, or hurt me, just stay on your side," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. Not like there were really sides, there was barely enough room for them to both to stand, as it was his elbows were nearly knocking against JungMin's chest.

"Sure, not moving an inch," JungMin rolled his eyes, highly annoyed and somewhat disappointed. This was going to be a very boring seven minutes. "You realize the whole point of this game is to make out?" 

"So? Did you make out with HyunJoong?" HyungJoon countered, eyeing JungMin suspiciously.

"I'm not telling," JungMin sniffed, leaning back against an empty shelf. "You're probably a horrible kisser anyways." 

"Wouldn't you like to know," HyungJoon grumbled. "You're probably a lousy kisser too." Not that he'd ever thought of kissing JungMin. Or rather, not that he'd tell JungMin he'd ever thought of kissing him.

"YoungSaeng obviously doesn't think so," JungMin smirked a little. And yes, he would like to know. 

"I may have to question YoungSaeng's taste," HyungJoon said irritably. He looked away, but kept glancing over at JungMin. "Well? Did you want to find out or not, cause it'll be your only chance."

"Well it'll be a really boring seven minutes if we don't do anything," JungMin rolled his eyes, before leaning forward to press his hands against the shelves on either side of HyungJoon, smirk visible in the near-darkness. "You kick me, and I'll kick you right back, got it?" 

"I'm not stupid," HyungJoon scoffed, looking up at the older man. His heart was racing though, and he licked his lips nervously. He should have run away when he heard about this game in the first place.

"You sure about that?" JungMin smirked, before leaning in and pressing his lips against HyungJoon's. Tasted human like KyuJong, but not like KyuJong at the same time. He tilted his head to the side so they weren't bumping noses, deepening the kiss almost right away. 

HyungJoon couldn't help the squeak that came out the moment JungMin started to kiss him. Trying not to flail, he rested his palms against JungMin's chest, half wanting to push him, half not wanting him to stop. Okay, so JungMin was a good kisser. Not like JongWoon, but nice enough that he couldn't help but lean into the kiss, sighing softly.

JungMin quickly decided he liked it much better when HyungJoon wasn't talking. Especially if he was being occupied this way. The kiss was very nice, but JungMin was greedy and wanted more, because HyungJoon was right; this would probably be his only chance. It was just a game anyways. Enjoying the kiss, the redhead parted his lips slightly to probe the seam of HyungJoon's lips with his tongue. 

Entirely caught up in the kiss, HyungJoon's lips parted, letting JungMin in. His arms slipped up around JungMin's neck, pulling him a little closer, completely forgetting that a minute ago he would have rather been anywhere than locked in a closet with the man he was kissing.

Tongue delving into HyungJoon's mouth and sliding against the human's own, JungMin straightened a little from leaning against the shelves so he could hook one arm around HyungJoon's waist, holding the younger man close. The engineer was definitely a better kisser than he'd thought, with a taste that reminded JungMin of something he couldn't quite put his finger on. 

HyungJoon couldn't hold back the moan that bubbled up, enjoying the kiss far more than he thought he would. He lost all sense of what was going on, that when someone tapped on the door, he ignored it in favor of continuing the kiss that was quickly becoming heated.

JungMin ignored the knock as well, wishing the seven minutes could have been half an hour instead, or even longer. His fingers trailed along the exposed skin at HyungJoon's waist, tongue running over the line of the engineer's teeth before fighting for dominance over the kiss.

At the second knock though, a little louder this time, he made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat before pulling back, out of breath and panting a little. 

When JungMin pulled away, HyungJoon was snapped back to reality. His eyes opened and he stared at JungMin in incomprehension. Did he really just make out with the redhead and enjoy it? His face felt like it was on fire, and he knew he was blushing intensely when he pushed JungMin away slightly, fumbling to open up the closet door.

Seeing YoungSaeng on the other side with a knowing smirk didn't help anything and he quickly put his head down, walking back over to sit down next to JongWoon. YoungSaeng watched him and then looked at JungMin, an eyebrow raised in question.

Scowling a little after the push away, JungMin ignored YoungSaeng in favor of dropping back into the seat, sniffing a little. "My turn?"

"Yeah," HyunJoong nodded, eyeing HyungJoon curiously. JongWoon was rubbing his friend's back like he'd just come out of a horrible ordeal, and that annoyed JungMin even more.

Lips pursed, he reached out and spun again after YoungSaeng had sat down. The bottle slowed to a stop at KyuJong.

"Veto!" 

KyuJong glanced at JungMin, lips quivering slightly. "My turn then," he said, taking the bottle.

"You both used your vetoes remember," YoungSaeng chuckled, retaking his seat next to JungMin. He would be sure to ask what happened later, even if he already had an idea. KyuJong nodded, spinning the bottle. It slowly came to a stop on JongWoon. KyuJong blinked, looking at the negotiator.

JongWoon stared up at KyuJong. "U-uh...veto!" That would just be awkward. And he and HyungJoon hadn't been oblivious to what was going on between HyunJoong and KyuJong, he didn't want HyunJoong after him.

"You spin," JungMin chuckled, head in one hand as he took another shot. JongWoon nodded and nervously spun the bottle, hoping it would land on HyungJoon.

The tip of the bottle slid right past HyungJoon, and stopped at YoungSaeng. 

YoungSaeng grinned at the negotiator; they were both out of vetoes. "Come on you," he said, getting to his feet. He went over to where JongWoon was sitting, grabbing his arm and started to pull him towards the closet.

"I think YoungSaeng's going to eat him alive," KyuJong murmured to JungMin, HyungJoon had to nod in agreement.

JongWoon yelped as he was all but dragged along sideways, stuttering protests as he heard JungMin laugh loudly. Next thing he knew, he was in the closet with YoungSaeng, pretty close together as the door was closed to leave them with only a little light. "U-uh..." He looked at YoungSaeng nervously. "I-is this really a good idea?" YoungSaeng could be just as scary as JungMin. 

YoungSaeng looked the negotiator up and down, smirking slightly. He hadn't spent much time with JongWoon, or really noticed him much other than in practice. The man wasn't that bad looking, just a little more hesitant and flighty than his usual taste. "Do you think it's a bad idea?" he asked, moving a little closer. "You don't find me attractive?"

"I-it's not that," JongWoon whimpered, slowly turning bright red at the way he could see YoungSaeng looking at him in the dark. "I mean, you're very attractive, but is this game really that good of an idea— A-and I don't mean that like—" he wasn't even sure what he was trying to stay, stumbling over his own words and acutely aware of the fact there was a shelf pressing into his back and he had nowhere to go. 

Not really listening to JongWoon babble, YoungSaeng ran a finger up JongWoon's chest as he pressed closer, the finger coming up to press against the man's lips. "Shh," he hushed the babble. "Yes or no question. Do you want to kiss me?"

A strangled noise escaped JongWoon at the finger that ran along his chest before pressing against his lips, instantly shutting him up. The question made him quiver a little as he looked at the shapeshifter, too frozen to reply right away. Did he want to kiss YoungSaeng?

After a moment, JongWoon swallowed nervously before answering. "N...no." 

YoungSaeng raised a brow in question at that, pulling his finger back away from JongWoon. "No? And why not may I ask?"

JongWoon could breathe a little easier with the finger away from his lips, leaning back against the shelf. "I don't...Y-you're very attractive, but I don't...kiss people just because of looks," he mumbled after a moment, looking down at the floor. 

"I can appreciate that," YoungSaeng nodded, leaning back a little. "So why do you kiss people then? You kissed the engineer."

The negotiator turned light pink, biting his lower lip. "I-I kiss people for several reasons. I respect them...and I trust them, and I _mean_ something by it." He'd had a crush on HyungJoon forever, even if they'd came to the conclusion an actual relationship just wasn't for them. 

"So unless I meant something to you, you wouldn't kiss me?" YoungSaeng tilted his head to the side, considering JongWoon for a moment. "Do you want me to mean something to you?"

The older man's lips quivered slightly, swallowing before looking up at YoungSaeng. The frightened rabbit look had faded somewhat, and he was able to answer truthfully without stuttering. "No, because it doesn't mean that I mean something to you." 

The answer startled YoungSaeng a bit, and he leaned back against the far wall. After a deep sigh, he nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Alright, I understand," he said quietly, looking towards the closed door. It was going to be a quiet few minutes then, as he thought about JongWoon's words.

JongWoon was silent after that, closing his eyes. There wasn't anything else that could be said, but he was glad YoungSaeng wasn't pushing him into doing anything; just being this close to the younger man was a little dizzying.

Finally there was a light knock on the door, and JongWoon opened his eyes again, glancing at YoungSaeng before pulling open the door and shuffling back to his seat. 

It was a moment before YoungSaeng followed after him. Head down, he walked back to his seat a bit subdued. It's not that he'd ever been denied before, and really that wasn't the issue, it was the way in which it was done. He'd have to think on that more later.

"It's your turn," KyuJong said lightly and YoungSaeng looked up. HyungJoon had reattached himself to JongWoon, an arm around his shoulders. Nodding, YoungSaeng took the bottle and spun it, watching it spin around until it stopped. On HyunJoong. YoungSaeng frowned, looking up at the Captain. He could see KyuJong tense slightly out of the corner of his eye.

"Veto," HyunJoong said without hesitating; that had been why he'd saved his veto and tolerated going in there with JungMin.

"Your spin then, Captain," JungMin said, a pleased smirk on his lips. He did glance at YoungSaeng in slight confusion though; usually the older man was more than happy to be stuck in a closet making out, the subdued expression different.

Nodding, HyunJoong finished his drink before spinning the bottle. After a few turns, it slowed to a stop on...KyuJong.

JungMin managed to suppress the cackle of glee. They had no vetoes left. 

Relieved when HyunJoong vetoed, YoungSaeng looked over at the pilot. The younger man looked panicked, but he slowly got to his feet. Not before downing another shot of alcohol though. Swallowing roughly, KyuJong turned and headed for the closet, not even bothering to wait for HyunJoong.

HyunJoong avoided looking at the others as he got up, pausing before following KyuJong to the closet. JungMin snickered quietly as the door closed after them.

Turning away from the door, HyunJoong looked at the pilot in the near-darkness, not sure what to say. 

Crossing his arms over his chest, KyuJong looked down and to the side. Their last conversation hadn't gone very well and he still wasn't sure where they stood. "So... maybe next time we don't let JungMin and YoungSaeng choose the game," he spoke up after a quiet few seconds.

The older man's lips quirked to the side. "Probably a good idea." He looked at KyuJong's face, not sure what to say. It was only seven minutes, right? HyunJoong leaned against the wall, quiet for another moment. "I...apologize for my outburst earlier." 

KyuJong blinked and looked up at HyunJoong before shaking his head. "No, you don't have to apologize. I shouldn't have pressed so much. You don't owe me any explanations or anything," he said quietly, shrugging a little.

"I should have explained better, though," HyunJoong sighed softly, biting his lower lip. "I was frustrated, and what came out wasn't...entirely the truth." It was hard to say. 

"What do you mean?" KyuJong asked, his brow knitted and head tilted to the side. His chest constricted painfully, panic that maybe HyunJoong didn't mean to say he liked him. "Do.. do you not like me then?"

"That isn't it," HyunJoong said quickly, swallowing a little as, in the dark closet, he turned a little red. "That wasn't where I lied." He looked down and to the side. "I...I do trust you. Far more than anyone else. I'm just..." he sighed. He was just afraid, remembering clearly what had happened the last time he'd trusted someone. 

"Scared?" KyuJong supplied. He sighed heavily, hugging his chest a little tighter. The nervous knot wouldn't go away, even with HyunJoong's assurance. "I understand. After what happened with JaeJoong, I can see why you're hesitant. I'm sorry that I pushed you, that probably wasn't helping."

HyunJoong wet his lips a little, swallowing nervously before glancing at KyuJong in his side vision. "I would like to...give this a try, though. I do like you. But it might take me a while to work up to something...more solid. I'm sorry." 

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to HyunJoong," KyuJong said, shaking his head. "If that includes not.. being with me, then so be it. I can accept that."

The Captain closed his eyes for a moment. "You're not listening to me."

Opening his eyes again, he placed his hands lightly on KyuJong's shoulders, looking straight at him. "I _do_ want to be with you, KyuJong," he admitted softly. 

KyuJong's eyes widened slightly at that, looking into HyunJoong's eyes through the dim light. It took a moment before he could respond, wasn't there seven minutes up yet? "I want to be with you too Hyun," he replied.

HyunJoong couldn't help the small smile that curved his lips, not looking away. "Would it be all right, if we were to try?" It would be slow at first, it showed in his eyes he wasn't entirely confident, but he would give it a try. 

Nodding slowly, KyuJong uncrossed his arms, reaching out hesitantly to put his hand on HyunJoong's chest, sliding up to his shoulder. "Yeah, I'd like to try," he said softly.

Smile widening, HyunJoong lifted one hand a little from the pilot's shoulder to brush locks of hair out of KyuJong's eyes, fingers trailing along his cheek. There was a slight pause before he leaned in, brushing his lips against KyuJong's. 

Eyes slipping closed, KyuJong returned the kiss. It wasn't like the last one, hard and demanding, but what he had thought a real kiss from HyunJoong would be; soft, and tender. His hand slid around to the back of HyunJoong's neck, as his head tilted to the side.

HyunJoong slowly eased his arms down to wrap around KyuJong's waist, keeping the younger man close as he closed his eyes as well. He moved his lips slowly against KyuJong's, enjoying the easy contact. There was no rush, the arms around KyuJong's body becoming a little more solid as he got used to the idea and stopped worrying about kissing. 

Sighing softly into the kiss, KyuJong's other arm wrapped around HyunJoong's shoulder, pressing his hand slightly into the man's back. It was what he had wanted from the beginning, just to kiss HyunJoong, to hold onto him like this. Being close like this, meant more to him than all the times they'd slept together, and his heart fluttered in his chest.

There was no concept of time, the two completely caught up. HyunJoong deepened the kiss slowly, not doing more than kiss and hold the younger man. One hand ran up and down KyuJong's back slowly, before settling with fingers curled loosely into his hair.

Finally HyunJoong broke the kiss, pulling his head back just enough to look at his pilot and boyfriend, eyes tracing over his face in the dark.

That was when he realized it was very quiet. "...Seven minutes must be up by now?" he blinked at KyuJong in confusion. 

KyuJong's eyes opened slowly when the kiss ended, a little lost as to what he was saying. "Hm?" he ran his hand through HyunJoong's hair until it clicked what the other was saying. "Oh.. yeah.." he nodded, looking to the closed door. "It's been a lot longer than seven minutes," he agreed, swallowing roughly as he reached down and opened up the closet door. The mess hall was empty. "Did.. they forget about us?" he blinked.

"If you can forget on purpose, then I guess they did," HyunJoong said wryly. He stepped out of the closet, waiting until KyuJong was out as well before closing the door. When he looked at the clock, he realized they'd been in there for nearly half an hour. 

"I guess the game's over then," KyuJong shook his head, heading over to the table. "They could have at least cleaned up a bit," he said, picking up bottles. He was avoiding looking at HyunJoong, still trying to process what had happened in that closet.

Chuckling a little, HyunJoong went to help clean up, bringing the shot glasses to the kitchen and starting to wash them. "What are you doing after this?" he asked after a moment. 

"Um.. probably going to bed," KyuJong said, dumping the empty bottles in the trash. "I'm enjoying this little break from having to be on duty every few hours," he chuckled, wiping down the table. "You?"

"Same, the rest of the work will have to wait until the morning," HyunJoong chuckled tiredly. "Everyone's probably going to be bored out of their minds by the second day," he mused; they were used to busy schedules. 

"I guess YoungSaeng and JungMin will be wanting to fit in some extra training time then," KyuJong sighed heavily, leaning up against the cleaned off table. His lips pursed and eyes narrowed. "You think they planned this? Us being in that closet together like that?"

"I'm pretty sure shapeshifting doesn't include moving things telepathically, but I can guarantee everyone disappearing after was no coincidence," HyunJoong sighed. 

"Should have known something was up," KyuJong shook his head, pushing off from the table to slowly head towards the door. "Speaking of though, what did you and JungMin do in there? He was looking a little pleased with himself when he came out."

"Just talk," HyunJoong shrugged, finishing up washing and drying the shots to place them away. "The game was....interesting, but I think we really shouldn't let those two choose the game anymore." 

KyuJong leaned against the wall, waiting for HyunJoong to finish up. "Perhaps Jenga next time then? Without the alcohol?" He wanted to ask what HyunJoong and JungMin had talked about, but wasn't going to push his luck on that.

"I don't think we're getting out of alcohol, but that wouldn't be so bad," HyunJoong chuckled, closing the cabinets before going to the door. "HyungJoon and JongWoon will be knocking down the tower every four turns." 

"And what would the punishments be for knocking the tower down?" KyuJong mused, watching HyunJoong approach. "Gecko sitting?"

"That might be akin to torture for HyungJoon," the older man smiled, pausing at the door before stepping out into the hallway. "KyuHyun seems to have far too much fun tormenting him." 

Following him out into the hall, KyuJong walked towards their rooms with his hands in his pockets. "I feel bad for HyungJoon, it's bad enough JungMin picks on him, but now he's got KyuHyun as well."

"KyuHyun doesn't seem to pick on HyungJoon for long if JungMin's there though, he has no patience for the Geckos," HyunJoong chuckled, walking along beside KyuJong. 

"He doesn't mind Zhou Mi though, it's just KyuHyun that gets under his skin," KyuJong mused, looking over at HyunJoong. "Especially if he's picking on HyungJoon."

"Don't see why, he has just as much fun doing the exact same." HyunJoong headed up the stairs, not seeing any signs of the others. They must have already gone off to bed. 

"Dunno, I gave up on trying to figure JungMin out," KyuJong said. "Or YoungSaeng for that matter, but I haven't really spent any time with him."

"He's not any easier," HyunJoong shook his head.

They had reached the crew quarters. Stopping for a moment, HyunJoong turned to KyuJong and leaned over to place a light kiss on KyuJong's lips. "Sleep well," he quirked a small smile before heading to his room. 

"You too," KyuJong watched him go, smiling to himself before he disappeared into his room.

JungMin peeked out of the crack in the door to see both of them head into their rooms. Grinning widely, he shut the door and went back to the bed, dropping down beside YoungSaeng. "We've got progress! Told you shoving them in the closet would do it!" 

"Took them long enough," YoungSaeng sighed, shaking his head a little. Knees drawn up to his chest, he was looking down at the blankets, wiggling his toes a bit. "Maybe now they won't be walking on eggshells around each other anymore and I can focus on other things."

"Like finding a new target?" JungMin dropped down onto his back, blinking at the older man. "What's got you down in the dumps? The negotiator not a good kisser?" 

"I wouldn't know, he declined," YoungSaeng said, stiffening slightly but shook his head. "I was thinking more of what to do about you," he mused, looking down at JungMin with a smirk, "and the engineer."

"Declined?" JungMin blinked in surprise at that, then instantly bristled at the switch in conversation. "Stop thinking about it. I thought we were dropping this?" 

"We were, until it took two knocks to get you two out of the closet," YoungSaeng said, resting his chin on top of his knees. "Human ears aren't the best, but I could have sworn I heard some panting. How good of a kisser is he?"

The redhead scowled at the other man and rolled himself onto his other side, slowly turning pink. "We are not talking about this." 

"Why not?" YoungSaeng asked, scooting over to drape himself over JungMin's shoulder. "You have no problem telling me if KyuJong is a good kisser, so why won't you give me any details?"

"KyuJong wasn't as happy to be rid of me," JungMin sniffed, trying to nudge YoungSaeng off of him. "I should be highly insulted. Now drop it." 

YoungSaeng's eyebrows went up, and he poked JungMin's cheek. "So that's it. He pushed you away and you're upset? Why would you be upset about Min? Unless you really _do_ like him."

"Ignoring you now." JungMin buried his face in the comforter, refusing to comment. 

"I don't know why you're so embarrassed about liking him, he's cute," YoungSaeng chuckled, wrapping his arm around JungMin's chest. "Does liking a human really bother you that much? What if he had liked you back?"

"I. Don't. Like. Humans." JungMin punctuated each word with a poke at the arm around him, muffled by the comforter. "Especially that human. And it's a good thing I don't have to worry about him liking me ba— liking me, because he's a complete chicken," the redhead huffed, squirming to be free. 

"You keep saying you don't like humans, but you like KyuJong," YoungSaeng said, tightening his grip on JungMin, squirming over to sit on his hip. "Why can't you just admit it to me? You think I'm going to make fun of you for it or something?"

"...Yes," JungMin grumped. "Either that or try to play matchmaker and I'm not sure which I'd hate more. Off." He flailed around on the bed. 

YoungSaeng gasped as if offended, knowing both were more than likely, but he wasn't budging from on top of JungMin. "You more or less just confirmed that, but I'm going to be nice and not make fun of you," he said with a cheeky grin.

"It'd be nice if you'd get off of me too," JungMin huffed, pulling his face out of the comforter to scowl at YoungSaeng, cheeks a light pink. "You got what you wanted, now are you going to tell me why you were all gloom and doom a minute ago?" 

Pouting, YoungSaeng rolled off to the side, facing JungMin. "No, I wasn't all gloom and doom, I was just thinking," he said quietly.

Relieved that they were moving away from HyungJoon, JungMin squirmed until he was curled up on his side properly, blinking at YoungSaeng. "About?" 

YoungSaeng was quiet for a moment, scooting up to curl against JungMin. "The negotiator, he said that he wouldn't kiss me because it wouldn't mean anything to me," he said. "It just, kind of surprised me is all."

JungMin wrapped his arm around YoungSaeng to hold him close, blinking at him. "Would it have meant something to you?" he asked, confused as to why YoungSaeng was acting this way. 

"I don't know," YoungSaeng admitted, his eyes lowered. "That's what I've been thinking about. I _should_ know, and it shouldn't mean anything to me. He's completely hopeless during practice, is frustrating beyond words out of practice, and yet I can't say that I don't like him because I don't know."

"It's possible to just be neutral?" JungMin looked down at him. "You don't have to like or dislike someone, and you haven't really spent much time with him." 

"I guess that's possible," YoungSaeng nodded, playing with the collar of JungMin's shirt. He sighed in frustration, looking up at JungMin with a pout. "I'm over-thinking this aren't I?"

"Just a little," JungMin chuckled. "I think you're just miffed someone said no to you," he grinned down at the older man. 

"Maybe a little," YoungSaeng sniffed, batting his eyes up at him. "I think I may need you to boost my confidence again."

"That I can definitely do," JungMin chuckled, cupping YoungSaeng's cheek and bringing him up into a deep kiss. They both needed a little distracting. 

*********************************26***********************************************


	3. Chapter 3

It was nearing the end of the first full day when SiWon had called them all back onto his ship for a meeting. They would be arriving at the station the day after next and although SiWon hadn't said what he wanted, YoungSaeng was sure it was to go over their story one final time just in case there was anything they had missed, so there were no surprises.

Even in the toughest of times people like that were looking for an angle. If there was any key information that had been left out that was brought up later, it would make SiWon look bad for not knowing.

Standing in the lift again, YoungSaeng was leaning against JungMin as they waited for the right floor to be reached. The two Geckos were squished off to one side. KyuJong had reluctantly agreed to go along, but was hovering close to HyunJoong, there was no way SiWon was getting him alone again.

JungMin tapped his fingers lightly against his pockets, glancing at the others and reading their expressions. KyuHyun looked bored; either that or contemplating mischief, so the redhead kept a close eye on him. HyunJoong was impassive as always, no telling what he was thinking. The way he occasionally glanced down at KyuJong though said more than his lack of facial expression.

Finally they reached the right floor, the two Geckos scampering out first. The group made their way to the same meeting room as before, told to meet SiWon there. HyunJoong knocked lightly on the door once they reached it. 

The door opened almost immediately, the winged alien standing there all smiles again. YoungSaeng could see his eyes had flitted over the group to land on KyuJong before backing up to let them in.

"Thank you for coming, I just wanted to go over a few more points," SiWon said, striding over to the table. He sat down on his stool, wings flapping and adjusting so he didn't tip over. Once everyone had sat down, he slid a datapad over to HyunJoong. "I had the report transcribed, if there's anything you can think of that was left out, please let me know."

HyunJoong pulled the datapad closer and looked over the information presented. Of course the part about JungMin and YoungSaeng being former assassins was left out, and he didn't plan on letting such information out if he could help it.

"It looks accurate," he said after scanning it through. "What will the procedure be once we reach our destination?" He slid the datapad back, looking up at SiWon with his hands clasped over the table. 

"When we get there, we'll be having a meeting with the boss," SiWon said, leaning forward a little in his seat. "It'll be up to him what happens from there; if he believes you that is."

"We weren't the ones bringing you the information, it's the Geckos," YoungSaeng said, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Of course, of course, minor details," SiWon waved away the concern. "There will also be discussion on what to do with you all after this."

HyunJoong looked at SiWon sharply at that. "On 'what to do with us'? What do you mean by that, SiWon sshi?" He was even warier than before now. JungMin straightened in his seat as well, watching the winged man carefully. 

"A human crew, on a human ship that's in very good condition is just too good to pass up when it falls into our laps," SiWon said, the smile still there. YoungSaeng knew that smile was anything but friendly. "Like I said, I'm sure the boss will want to discuss that with you when we get there."

"So we're prisoners then?" YoungSaeng asked slowly and SiWon turned that fake smile on him.

"No, of course not," SiWon shook his head. "You're guests. Guests that could be very useful to us, and for everyone out here."

HyunJoong was watching SiWon with slightly narrowed eyes; it was a tricky situation they'd fallen into. "I would like to tell you something SiWon sshi, and as Captain of your own ship I'd hope you could relate to this." He leaned forward a little.

"Whatever your boss decides, whatever we could be 'useful' for, my crew's safety is not to be taken lightly, human or otherwise." 

SiWon stared at HyunJoong for a moment, YoungSaeng worried about what kind of response that statement would earn. He mentally sighed in relief though when SiWon inclined his head.

"Of course Captain, I understand your concern," SiWon said, the smile back. "Neither you or your crew will be harmed. You have my assurances on that."

HyunJoong inclined his head a little in return, leaning back to sit up straight again. "Thank you." Not that he was particularly reassured; he'd have to keep a close watch on what was going on. "Was there anything else?" 

YoungSaeng didn't miss how SiWon's eyes had darted towards KyuJong before looking back at the Captain. "No, I think that's all for now. I will let you know when we get closer to the station," he said, getting to his feet.

As the others stood and started towards the door, SiWon held up his hand, getting YoungSaeng's attention. "Could you two stay for a moment?" he asked, motioning to JungMin as well.

JungMin glanced at YoungSaeng in confusion, pausing. What did he want them for?

Seeing the way HyunJoong was frowning, JungMin glanced at the Captain and nodded slightly to let him know it was okay. Meeting his eyes, the human sighed soundlessly after a moment and brought the rest of them to wait just outside the room. 

Waiting until the door was closed, YoungSaeng eyed SiWon suspiciously, his arms across his chest. "There something we can do for you?"

"I'm not going to draw this out any farther than I have to," SiWon said, his wings were twitching in irritation. "You may be on a human ship, with a human captain, but I'm doubting he's making the decisions," he said, an eyebrow raised. "The Shinbi aren't known for being submissive to other races so I'm pretty sure I'm right that the real authority on that ship is standing right in front of me."

"You make some interesting speculations," YoungSaeng said, glancing at JungMin before looking back at the winged man. "Go on."

"Knew it," SiWon snorted. "The human, KyuJong. I want him."

JungMin stared at SiWon for a moment before scowling. "No. You can't have him." He just didn't give up, didn't he? 

"Not to keep, just one night," SiWon said, rolling his eyes.

"He's not ours to give," YoungSaeng said with a frown. "And as far as we're aware, he's not available."

"I'm not interested in what sort of backwards relationships these humans have, I just want one night," SiWon said with a shrug. "I wouldn't hurt him any more than necessary, and honestly, if you want my good word with the boss in letting you all go, you'll have him in my quarters in an hour."

It took a lot for YoungSaeng to keep his temper in check, and he placed a warning hand on JungMin's arm. "We'll consider your request," he said sharply.

"Good, you can go," SiWon smiled, turning around and going towards a door on the far side of the room. YoungSaeng sneered darkly at the winged back and pulled JungMin towards the door.

JungMin growled as he was practically dragged. If YoungSaeng wasn't pulling him along he would have decked SiWon then and there. That was a flat-out threat, one they both knew SiWon would follow through with.

He was still fuming as they stepped out into the hallway, shoulders stiff and expression clouded. HyunJoong took one look at them and frowned, wanting to ask what had happened but here wasn't the best place. "Back to the ship?" 

"Yes," YoungSaeng nodded curtly. He made sure they had all gone first before following after. He couldn't help but glance over his shoulder at the closed door as they made their way back to the lift.

KyuJong could tell something was wrong while they were all crammed into the lift. YoungSaeng's usual expressionless face was dark, and made him more than a little afraid, the redhead's was no better. Frowning over at HyunJoong in confusion, he wondered what could have happened that had the two shapeshifters so angry.

Whatever it was, the two kept tight-lipped all the way back to the ship, and only when the airlock door was sealed and locked did YoungSaeng turn to HyunJoong. "We need to talk, alone," he eyed the Geckos who quickly scampered off.

"I'll be in my room," KyuJong said, glancing between the three before turning and heading towards the stairs.

HyunJoong looked at them both before he nodded, brow furrowed. "Let's talk in here then," he said, motioning to an empty meeting room across the hallway. JungMin followed him into the room, hands still clenched into fists at his sides.

The Captain closed the door behind them and looked at both shapeshifters, serious. "What happened?" 

YoungSaeng's lips pursed, crossing his arms over his chest as he glanced at JungMin then back at the Captain. "SiWon wants KyuJong for a night," he said, meeting HyunJoong's eyes. "He basically threatened that if KyuJong wasn't in his quarters tonight, he wasn't letting any of us go."

JungMin watched HyunJoong's eyes widen in shock, before the Captain's expression shifted into dark anger. "He isn't getting him," he snapped. "I hope you told him that."

"We did, he didn't listen, and gave the threat." JungMin fumed. "There's no way we're letting him have KyuJong." 

"We have to consider the possibility that he'll make good on that threat though Captain," YoungSaeng said softly, just as angry as HyunJoong, though he had more time to temper that anger. "There are... possibilities," he said, glancing at JungMin.

HyunJoong had to struggle to control his anger, drawing in a slow breath and leaning against the wall, head bowed for a moment. "Possibilities?" he asked, looking up at them again. JungMin was glancing at YoungSaeng beside him, brow furrowed. 

"One of us could go in his place," YoungSaeng said, looking back over at the Captain. "He wouldn't know the difference."

The Captain paused at that, frowning at them. "I don't like the idea of offering either of you up like that."

"That's appreciated Captain, but he's got more power than we do here," JungMin said, nodding to YoungSaeng's idea. As much as he didn't like it either. "It's either us or Kyu, and I think we'd all prefer that we go."

HyunJoong was still looking unhappy about the whole thing, but he knew there was no choice. Just the fact that SiWon would pull something like that set him on edge.

JungMin glanced to YoungSaeng. "I should probably go, shouldn't I?" He didn't say it in front of HyunJoong, not wanting to start something, but he would be able to imitate KyuJong's body the best having slept with him several times. 

YoungSaeng nodded, still watching HyunJoong. "You know his mannerisms better than I do," he said. He took a step closer to HyunJoong, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We wouldn't let him have KyuJong, this is something that we can handle better than he ever could."

Shoulders stiff, HyunJoong met YoungSaeng's gaze before sighing, reluctantly giving in. "I could never thank you both enough."

"Relax, you'll just owe us a favor one day," JungMin stretched before smirking darkly. "And I'll make sure to pull out a couple feathers for you while I'm at it." 

"I think it goes without saying, we don't tell KyuJong about this?" YoungSaeng said, squeezing HyunJoong's shoulder before stepping back. "He might not react to that very well."

HyunJoong nodded; the pilot would definitely not like any of this, nor approve of JungMin going in his place. "Thank you for informing me of this," he said quietly, drawing in a breath. "Hopefully we'll be let go after we report in." Because if he was around SiWon for much longer he might do something very un-Captain-like. 

"Well it's not like we would have done anything without your consent, despite what that feather for brains thinks," YoungSaeng rolled his eyes. "You should keep KyuJong suitably distracted tonight, so he doesn't notice that JungMin is missing," he said with a smile.

The corners of HyunJoong's quirked slightly. "I'll see what I can do."

"Maybe more of what you were doing for half an hour in the closet?" JungMin grinned, and jumped back out of the way before HyunJoong could land a good kick, pulling YoungSaeng out of the room. 

"You earned that one," YoungSaeng rolled his eyes. "Come on, we need to prepare," he said, taking JungMin by the elbow to go back to their room.

JungMin followed along beside him. "What, for temper management?" he sniffed. "I'll restrain myself from castrating him, I promise." Fingers crossed behind his back. 

"That, and to make sure you get the shift down perfect," YoungSaeng snorted. "And to practice the mannerisms. You have to be very convincing JungMin."

"I know that," JungMin pursed his lips. "I'm not new at this, Saeng. It'll be a carbon copy of him." They headed up the stairs to the crew deck. 

"I know you're not, but this is not something that you usually did Min," YoungSaeng said softly, looking over at him with worried eyes. "Are you going to be able to hold in your temper?"

JungMin met YoungSaeng's gaze, lips pressed together before he nodded. "For this, I'll manage." Maybe because he generally cared about this more than missions in the past. 

YoungSaeng nodded, his expression just as serious. "Good, we're counting on you," he said with a tight smile. "We probably don't have a lot of time to prepare," he sighed, opening up their door when they reached it.

"No, it'll be night soon," JungMin wrinkled his nose as he followed YoungSaeng inside the room. "Better get started then." 

************

"Ready?" YoungSaeng looked up at JungMin, his hand on the button to open the airlock. "Once out these doors, you're a meek scared human remember," he said.

"Yes sir," JungMin replied as he glanced down the hallway one last time to make sure KyuJong wasn't going to pop up out of nowhere. It wouldn't be very fun to explain why there was a double of him standing on their ship. Looking down at himself again to make sure the shift was flawless, JungMin stretched out his arms before sighing and facing the airlock. "Okay, ready." 

"Alright then, let's go," YoungSaeng gave him a tight smile before hitting the button to open the airlock. Taking JungMin's arm firmly, he lead him through the airlock, sealing it behind them and started down the corridor towards the lift. They'd been given instructions on how to get to SiWon's quarters already.

'KyuJong' kept his head down, shuffling along beside YoungSaeng with reluctance. JungMin was still upset about the whole situation, but he'd managed to calm himself down and wouldn't lose his cool. Hopefully this wouldn't last all night. 

Inside the lift, YoungSaeng relaxed his grip on JungMin's arm, glancing up at him occasionally. They didn't say anything though, just in case. When the lift stopped and the doors opened, YoungSaeng's grip tightened again and he pulled the other out into the hall, taking a left towards a flight of stairs. The stairs led to a small landing where there was only one door. Pursing his lips, he knocked lightly on the door and waited.

YoungSaeng couldn't even meet SiWon's eyes when he opened the door, the winged man shirtless, and looking 'KyuJong' up and down. "I see you changed your mind," he mused, opening up the door wider to let him in. 

"Will this take long?" YoungSaeng asked shortly. He wasn't going back to the ship without JungMin.

"Long as he cooperates, you'll have him back on board in an hour," SiWon said, holding out his hand for 'KyuJong' to take.

An hour...he could deal with that. 'KyuJong' glanced at YoungSaeng nervously before reluctantly reaching out and taking the offered hand, shoulders stiff. His expression was unhappy but resigned, giving away none of JungMin's real thoughts. Such as imagining snapping SiWon's large wings in two.

He was pulled into the dimly-lit room, looking back at YoungSaeng again before the door closed. 

Chewing on the inside of his cheek, YoungSaeng watched the door closely, not comfortable at all with JungMin being in there alone. He knew the younger could take care of himself, but he wasn't supposed to be himself, and that was worrying. Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned up against the wall next to the door to wait. He didn't know whether to be grateful or not for the thick walls and not hearing anything from inside.

The hour passed slowly, and having been used to long waits, YoungSaeng wasn't getting too impatient when that hour was up. He pushed away from the wall when the door opened slowly. His eyes flickered between 'KyuJong' and SiWon, the latter looking very pleased.

"There, that wasn't so bad was it?" SiWon was smiling smoothing back 'KyuJong's' hair. "And he wasn't even hurt too badly," the winged man chuckled before looking at YoungSaeng, not surprised the shapeshifter was still there. "He's all yours again."

'KyuJong' didn't say anything, stumbling a little as he returned to YoungSaeng's side. Obviously relieved to be back out, he didn't look up at either of them, finding it safer to just keep his gaze down rather than let something slip. 

"Have a good night," SiWon called when YoungSaeng had put his arm around JungMin's waist and led him slowly down the stairs. Sneering, YoungSaeng kept his eyes forward, even though he really wanted to turn around tear the idiot's head off.

Knowing JungMin probably wouldn't say anything until they were back on the ship, YoungSaeng just kept the supportive arm around him as they walked through the ship. Some of the crew were looking at the two of them suspiciously, some were making obvious gestures. Obviously SiWon hadn't made it a secret about what he had intended for KyuJong. The thought made YoungSaeng sick, and he would have to make it clear to the Captain that KyuJong should not leave the ship again until they were well away from SiWon.

Back on the ship, YoungSaeng closed the airlock door and looked up at JungMin, his eyes tight with concern. "You okay?"

"Just peachy," JungMin grumbled, shifting back as soon as the airlock was closed. The shift obviously hurt a little from the face he made, leaning back against the wall when it was over. "It really is a good thing KyuJong didn't go. Can we go lie down?" 

"Yeah, you need a medpack or anything?" YoungSaeng asked, taking JungMin's hand and leading him towards the stairs. He wasn't sure if he wanted details, knowing that it could have been KyuJong in that position instead.

"No, should be fine by morning." JungMin followed behind YoungSaeng gratefully. "You'll be happy to know I restrained from breaking his neck. Or not happy. I did manage one thing though." He pulled out a black feather from his pocket with a smirk. "Made sure it hurt the bastard too." 

Blinking a little at the feather, YoungSaeng chuckled, shaking his head. "I expected nothing less from you. I hope it was a blood feather too. That bastard tries to do anything else to KyuJong, and important contact or not and I will gut him with a spoon. Damned smarmy asshole," YoungSaeng rambled, swearing under his breath as they went back to their room. For all of his assurances of making sure JungMin held his temper, he probably would not have been able to if it had been him.

"Can I help?" JungMin asked. "I still call dibs on castration." He followed YoungSaeng into their room, dropping down onto the bed with a groan and wince. "Yes, castration definitely comes first." He started tearing the feather into pieces and dropping them into the bin beside the nightstand. 

Shutting the door, YoungSaeng walked over to the bed and sat down next to him. "Should I ask how bad it was?" he said softly, fingering a nasty looking mark on JungMin's neck. "I'm guessing he didn't take well to any struggling you might have done."

JungMin swatted at YoungSaeng's hand grumpily. "Don't ask, and no he didn't. I'm really happy we heal fast or I wouldn't be moving tomorrow." He dropped down onto his side on the bed after shredding up the feather. "Kyu's not leaving the ship, right?" 

"No, and I don't think the Captain would have a problem with that at all," YoungSaeng shook his head, laying down next to him. He watched JungMin for a moment before putting a hand on the other's arm. "I'm sure if KyuJong knew that you put up with that for him, he'd be at least a little grateful. That was a very selfless act JungMin, I'm proud of you. Two months ago you wouldn't have bothered to get involved."

The redhead's lips quirked slightly. "Yeah, well, as weird as it sounds I do have a heart sometimes. But Kyu probably shouldn't know, it's safest just to not involve him at all." He squirmed closer to YoungSaeng, wrapping one arm around the older man's waist. 

"No, he shouldn't know ever," YoungSaeng agreed, nuzzling lightly against JungMin. "I'd say we should tell the Captain you're back, but I'm hoping he's still keeping KyuJong occupied."

"Probably," JungMin murmured, closing his eyes. "He'll probably stop by after, we can just stay here." Not as if he'd be going anywhere for a while. 

"Okay, you should sleep," YoungSaeng nodded, leaning up to kiss JungMin on the forehead before settling back down against him. He frowned slightly, seeing a small feather stuck to JungMin's shirt, plucking it off and dropping to the side. They were lucky SiWon hadn't suspected anything.

**************************

Breath still evening out, HyunJoong brushed his thumb over KyuJong's hip lightly, lying down beside him on the pilot's bed. It was the first time he hadn't disappeared almost as soon as they were done, another change since they'd been shoved in that closet together. And now he wasn't saying anything, just keeping one arm around KyuJong's waist and nose buried in the younger man's hair. 

Sighing contently, KyuJong couldn't help but smile at being able to curl up against HyunJoong, enjoying the older man's hold on him. "This is kind of nice," he murmured, running a hand lightly up and down HyunJoong's arm, the skin still a little warm.

"It is," HyunJoong replied, eyes closed as he just relaxed. It was something he'd actually missed, though JaeJoong hadn't been one for cuddling. Then he banished the thought of his ex from his mind, focusing on KyuJong instead. There was no way he was letting SiWon touch the younger man; he would owe JungMin for this. 

Pressing a kiss to HyunJoong's chest, KyuJong looked up at him, trying to memorize those features while HyunJoong wasn't looking at him. He couldn't but think of how upset HyunJoong had looked when the older man had joined him after his talk with YoungSaeng and JungMin, nor how angry the two shapeshifters had looked. "What did JungMin and YoungSaeng have to say?" he asked quietly.

Opening his eyes a little, HyunJoong ran one hand along KyuJong's back. "Just let me know a few of their concerns, it's been settled already," he murmured. The Captain agreed fully with the shapeshifters in that KyuJong shouldn't know what had happened. Ducking his head a little, he pressed a kiss to KyuJong's forehead. 

"Ah, I see," KyuJong said, closing his eyes and nuzzling closer against HyunJoong. Resting his hand against the man's chest, feeling the heart beating under the skin, he couldn't help how happy he finally felt. "Thank you," he murmured, pressing another kiss to HyunJoong's chest, just shy of the collar bone.

The corners of HyunJoong's lips quirked slightly. "Don't thank me, it sounds weird," he chuckled, but pulled KyuJong a little closer anyways. "Getting tired?" 

"A little," KyuJong said sheepishly, with a slight blush to his cheeks. "I'm comfortable though. We don't have to move for a bit, right?" He was really enjoying not having to be on shift these past couple of days, especially now that HyunJoong wasn't running off right away..

"No," HyunJoong shook his head, before reaching over and pulling the blanket over them. "Here, get some sleep." He would have to check on JungMin and YoungSaeng later, but right now he just wanted to be with KyuJong. 

"I'll try," KyuJong smiled, not able to hold back a yawn though. He was more tired than he thought. HyunJoong's warmth and steady heartbeat helped to lull him to sleep, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

************************************27******************************************

"Do we have to do this?"

JungMin kicked his feet back and forth, sitting on a pile of containers in the cargo bay. They were waiting for the twins to show up to practice, something JungMin was _not_ looking forward to this time.

"Can we switch partners?" he gave YoungSaeng his best puppy eyes. "I'll take the failboat today." 

YoungSaeng glanced over at him with raised eyebrows, arms across his chest. "Why? Not looking forward to seeing the engineer? Have you two even looked at each other since you made out?"

"...No," JungMin huffed. "He runs away from me." Not that he'd been going out of his way to talk to HyungJoon either. "Come on, you wanted to switch before, remember?" 

"Because you were beating the poor thing black and blue, and the Captain was getting worried about his engineer's health," YoungSaeng chuckled. "I think you should just suffer and make him look at you."

"But I don't want to," JungMin tried not to whine. "Please Saengie, just for today?" He knew the older man wouldn't switch with him, he was enjoying this too much, but it couldn't hurt to keep on pestering until the other two showed up. 

Sliding off the container, YoungSaeng moved to stand in front of JungMin, his hands resting to either side of the other's legs. "If I were to agree, what would I get in return?"

JungMin pursed his lips at YoungSaeng. "A less frustrating training session? What else do you want?" 

"Hmm.. I don't know yet, let me think about it, I'm sure I'll have something next training session," YoungSaeng mused, his lips curled into a smile. He heard the hatch open above them, two hushed voices echoing around the hold. "For today though, you'll just have to suffer through it."

The redhead whined at that. "Saeng~!" He had to shut up once he heard voices approaching, glaring at the other shapeshifter.

JongWoon approached the stairs first, holding on to HyungJoon's sleeve and pulling him along behind him. "Sorry we're late," he apologized nervously. 

"It's fine, we were having a conversation anyway," YoungSaeng said, pushing away from JungMin and turning to look at the two. HyungJoon was fidgeting nervously behind JongWoon, trying to look anywhere but at the redhead. "Can we get started now then?"

The negotiator nodded, nudging HyungJoon towards JungMin before going to YoungSaeng. "Same thing as before?" he asked nervously, stretching out his arms. JungMin hopped off the containers and strode to the other side of the cargo bay, not looking back at them. 

"Yup, same thing," YoungSaeng nodded pulling his overshirt off and tossing it to the side, leaving the tank top underneath on. Now that they were actually trying to spar, the fabric of the overshirt was too constricting. 

HyungJoon was balking at being pushed, not wanting to go. At the look from YoungSaeng though, he shuffled over to the other side of the cargo bay, arms across his chest. He didn't look anywhere near JungMin, really not wanting to do this at the moment.

As JongWoon and YoungSaeng started their session, JungMin looked over at HyungJoon, who was keeping a good space between them. Pursing his lips, he gave a highly frustrated sigh before finally turning around and striding over, one hand on his hip. "Well, let's go. You still remember those attacks from last time?" 

Stiffening when addressed, HyungJoon's eyes darted to the redhead then away. "Yes, fine, let's get this over with," he muttered, dropping his arms to the side. He didn't move any closer though, and frankly didn't want to. 

The memory of being locked in the closet with JungMin was still fresh in his mind and every time he saw the other, he was reminded of that short time. As well as the kiss, that he had enjoyed, that probably could have gone further if they hadn't been on a timer.

Waiting, JungMin scowled after a moment. "Well, are you going to attack me? Or do I have to dump you on your ass a few times as a warm-up?" He didn't like this any more than HyungJoon did, and it was obvious that HyungJoon didn't want to be here at all. Not that JungMin cared what HyungJoon thought. 

"Wouldn't be any different if I tried now would it?" HyungJoon snapped back, glaring at the redhead before looking away. "You and I both know this is a waste of time."

"Yes, because teaching you how to not be pirate bait is such a waste of time," JungMin growled, moving closer and getting into HyungJoon's face, eyes silver with annoyance. "Unless you're looking forward to being gutted, we're going to practice, got it?"

"Doesn't look like practicing to me," KyuHyun's voice drawled from the catwalk above. 

"No one asked you," HyungJoon sniped, glad for being able to look away from JungMin to the Gecko above. After a moment, he turned back to JungMin, lips set in a thin line. "For all the good this practice has done me, I probably couldn't even take on the Gecko."

"Hey, I'll have you know, we're good fighters," KyuHyun huffed, before smirking as he hopped over the catwalk railing and lowered himself down to dangle from the lowest bar, dropping to the cargo bay floor. "But I can spar with you if you want, give you a break from grumpy."

The shapeshifter twitched. "No, you're leaving right now," he scowled, temper rising. "Scram."

"See, grumpy," KyuHyun sniffed before looking to HyungJoon. "Well, what about it?" 

His jaw working, HyungJoon looked at JungMin for a moment before turning to the Gecko. "Fine. Let's spar."

JungMin stared at them both as KyuHyun made his way over before turning and stomping away to the edge of the room, clearly angry.

KyuHyun stretched out quickly before getting ready, grinning. "Ready or not, here we go!" And he lashed out with a quick punch to HyungJoon's stomach. 

HyungJoon was just as angry as JungMin, and unlike when he was sparring with JungMin, HyungJoon didn't care about not hurting the Gecko. All the frustration from all the beatings, and the comments, and yes, even the kiss, worked its way through HyungJoon's body to his fists. Easily snagging KyuHyun's wrist, he twisted out of the way, countering with a quick jab to KyuHyun's back. Hooking his foot around KyuHyun's ankle, he jerked up on the Gecko's leg and pushed him over.

KyuHyun used his tail as an extra point of balance, rolling away from HyungJoon before he could hit the ground and getting both feet back under him. In a flash he was back, kicking at the back of HyungJoon's knees to knock him off balance, yanking on the back collar of his shirt. 

Grunting at the hit, HyungJoon went down ass over tea kettle, slamming down hard on his back. He glared up at the Gecko, reaching out to snag KyuHyun's tail and tug on it sharply.

The Gecko went down with a shriek, hands out to avoid landing on his tail. Quickly he rolled himself over until he was on top of HyungJoon, pinning him down with a mischievous grin. "Gotcha." 

"Get off me," HyungJoon scowled, pushing at the Gecko, who was surprisingly much heavier than he looked. "What is it with you? You like me or something?" he bucked up, trying to throw KyuHyun off.

"Why do you ask?" KyuHyun yelped as he was nearly thrown off, wrapping his tail around one of HyungJoon's legs to keep himself in place and make knocking him off harder. "We're just sparring. Unless _you_ like _me_ ," he teased. 

"No! I do not like you," HyungJoon protested, "I like-" he caught himself before he could finish that, his eyes widening. "Get off!" he shouted, pulling his fist back to land a hit on KyuHyun's jaw.

KyuHyun yelped as he jerked back, detaching himself from HyungJoon to roll away. JungMin watched them both warily, confused by that almost-outburst. 

"Stupid blue Gecko, stop pestering me, stop hitting on me," HyungJoon scrambled to his feet, kicking KyuHyun in the ribs. "I don't like you!" he continued, completely flustered. Whirling around, he glared at JungMin, stomping his way over to the redhead. "As for you!" he said, as he approached. "Stop hitting me, stop kicking me, stop torturing me," he all but shouted, pulling back his fist when he got close enough to hit him in the cheek.

Startled, JungMin didn't duck back in time to avoid the punch, staggering back into the container. One hand went to the cheek that had been hit, looking at HyungJoon in surprise. JongWoon had stopped trying to attack YoungSaeng, staring over at them in shock. 

Far too gone in his anger to notice anything, HyungJoon glared at JungMin, fists clenched at his sides. "Why are you always hitting me, huh? Is that all I am to you? Your punching bag?"

YoungSaeng stood next to JongWoon, arms crossed as he watched the two. "Looks like the engineer finally snapped," he murmured.

The shock lasted another moment before JungMin's eyes narrowed, jaw clenching a little. "I hit you outside of practice because you're annoying, and if you're going to flinch away from me anyways then I might as well give you a reason to," he snapped. Lowering his hand from his cheek, he pushed at HyungJoon's shoulders, shoving him back a little.

"I hit you _in_ practice because you don't fight me back seriously unless you're angry. How am I supposed to keep you from getting killed if you won't even take practice seriously?! You think people out there are just going to spin you in circles until you react? They're going to _kill_ you unless you start attacking properly!" 

HyungJoon stumbled back a step when he was pushed, still glaring at JungMin before he stepped forward again and pushed JungMin back. "I do take practice seriously!" he argued, getting even angrier. "Maybe I just don't want to hit _you_!"

If JungMin hadn't been angry, that would have startled him greatly, but he wasn't thinking about that at the moment. "Well I hate to tell you, but you're going to have to hit me, that's the whole _point_ of training! And I'll do whatever I have to do to get that kind of reaction out of you, because you know what?"

He stepped forward again. "I know how to take a hit with minimal damage, in or out of practice, and I heal fast, but _you_ ," he stabbed one finger against HyungJoon's chest. " _You_ can't afford even one mistake out there, and I'm not letting you out into a fight until I am convinced you aren't just going to end up dead in ten minutes!" 

"So what was I doing then against those two officers huh? Playing with them? I can hit if I need to!" HyungJoon poked him back. "And maybe you're not seeing it but I _am_ learning, and I'm not going to let you bully me around anymore. I don't like when people bully me, especially people I like!"

About to retort, that he really couldn't judge how well HyungJoon was learning when _he wouldn't fight him_ , JungMin's voice cut off at that last line. "...Wait, what?" 

HyungJoon blinked, unaware of what he had just said until JungMin asked. He paled, eyes widening at his own admission. "Uh.. um..." his brain wasn't working, he couldn't think of anything to cover that up and was now stuck staring at JungMin, mouth opening and closing like a fish.

"He said he liked you!" YoungSaeng called over, chuckling to himself as he grabbed JongWoon's arm and started to lead him toward the stairs. "I think practice is over for the moment," he said to the negotiator.

"U-uh, yes," JongWoon stuttered a little, just as surprised at the admission. "I guess, we'll just...uh..." He was being pulled along towards the stairs, getting that YoungSaeng wanted those two alone. The negotiator managed to grab KyuHyun's tail on the way by, dragging the Gecko along with them until KyuHyun got himself back to his feet.

Seeing they were leaving, JungMin cast YoungSaeng a wide-eyed look, before looking back at HyungJoon, not quite believing he'd heard what he did. "You..." This was a little much, the shapeshifter rubbing one hand over his face. 

"I know, it's stupid of me," HyungJoon bristled, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away. "Can you just forget it, and not use it as another reason to beat me up?"

A little calmer now, JungMin frowned, and it wasn't obvious if the pink in his cheeks was from the new information, or the punch. Sighing, he kept his hand over his face for a moment before lowering it, placing his hands on his hips. "Okay, listen," he said, voice a little quieter than before. One issue at a time; he'd figure out what to do about HyungJoon liking him after. "If you want me to go nicer, you need to put up a serious effort in sparring. It doesn't matter if you want to hit me or not, I can't evaluate how well you're learning if I have to beat a decent reaction out of you every time." He blew his hair out of his eyes in frustration. "I'd rather you actually try hit me like you're supposed to in practice, than send you out into a fight because I think you're ready and have you die," he said softly. "Understand?" 

HyungJoon listened, not wanting to look over at JungMin as he talked. Lips pursed, he finally nodded after a moment. "Okay, I understand. I _do_ take practice seriously. I just... I get flustered."

JungMin looked away as well. "You're going to have to try not to be," he said quietly, closing his eyes for a moment. "Feelings, whatever they are, can't come into practice." HyungJoon's feelings or his own. The shapeshifter sighed, shaking his head. "Would it help if I were to shift into someone else during practice?" 

Chewing on his lip as he thought about that, HyungJoon shrugged. "Maybe, probably, I had no problems hitting that damned Gecko."

"I noticed," JungMin snorted, before rubbing one temple. "You...you did good there. A few techniques could have been improved, but it's better than I thought. We'll try that next time then." 

"Okay," HyungJoon nodded, hugging his arms to his chest. "I'm sorry... about... you know, blowing up at you. You're just trying to help."

"It's fine," JungMin shrugged. He bit on the inside of his cheek, looking at a point on the wall. "It's...new for me, getting along with humans. I'll try to be nicer. You're not that bad of a human," he admitted, as much as he was going to say right now. 

"Gee, thanks," HyungJoon rolled his eyes. He looked around at the empty cargo bay. "I guess practice is over then, if that's.. okay with you?"

"Hey, considering the humans I've spent my life around, that's all you're getting for now," JungMin sniffed. "And yeah...we'll pick up again next time. Now if you don't mind, I have a Gecko to kill, snarky bastard." He headed towards the stairs. 

Waiting until JungMin was out of the cargo bay, HyungJoon slumped over on top of a container, repeatedly hitting his head on the plastic top. "Stupid stupid stupid, me and my stupid mouth," he whined. JungMin probably thought him a hopeless idiot, and was going to laugh at him with YoungSaeng behind his back. 

Why did he say anything about liking the redhead? It's not even something he'd thought about very often, so why did he blurt it out? In front of-- HyungJoon's head snapped up. He'd said it in front of JongWoon as well. "Crap." Scrambling off the top of the container, he bounded up the stairs. JongWoon wouldn't be mad at him right? They were just friends, that was all. Scurrying through the corridors until he reached their room, he swung the door open and looked in.

JongWoon looked up from where he was sitting on their bed, blinking at HyungJoon. He gave a small smile. "Hey...you okay?" He got up worriedly, going to HyungJoon and pulling him into the room. 

"Um.. yeah.. I think so," HyungJoon nodded, making sure the door was closed before he let himself be pulled in. "It all just kind of got to me, sorry."

"It's fine," The older man smiled, bringing HyungJoon to the bed and sitting down. "Did you...talk it over with him?" he asked nervously; he hadn't seen HyungJoon that angry before. 

"A little bit," HyungJoon shrugged, looking down at his hands in his lap. "I think practice will probably go a little better now," he said, glancing up at JongWoon out of the corner of his eye. "Um.. about what I said.. about me liking JungMin... you're not, upset about are you?"

JongWoon was silent for a moment. "A little," he admitted. "But just because you never mentioned this to me before. It's not like we're sleeping together because we're...actually together or anything, we're just friends," he looked away. "So it's fine." 

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything," HyungJoon said quietly, looking back down at his hands. "I was kind of trying to deny it, you know? I mean, why the hell _do_ I like him? All he does is beat me up and make fun of me." He sighed heavily and turned his body to look at JongWoon straight. "You're my best friend, I don't want you to be mad at me over stupid redheads."

Looking back at him, JongWoon smiled. "I'm not mad at you, Joon." He scooted closer and hugged the younger man, resting his chin on HyungJoon's shoulder. "We'll always be best friends, right?" 

HyungJoon nodded, wrapping his arm around JongWoon's waist and hugging him, resting his forehead on the other man's. "Of course we'll always be best friends, I love you as much as I love my own brother, you're like more than family to me."

JongWoon smiled at that, closing his eyes. As long as he had that, then he was more than happy. "If you need to talk to anyone, about this or anything else, you know you can always talk to me right?" he said softly, rubbing his hand along HyungJoon's back. 

"I know, thank you, I don't know what I'd do without you," HyungJoon said, hugging him a little tighter. "I'm glad things didn't get weird between us."

"I'm glad too," JongWoon murmured, returning the tighter hug before pulling back just enough to look in HyungJoon's eyes. "Though we should probably...you know, stop sleeping with each other if you really do like him," he said quietly. 

"Probably," HyungJoon nodded, smiling sadly at him. "But it's not like he likes me back or anything, he seemed I don't know, weirded out when I said it. He was more concerned with practice than whatever it was I had to say," he shrugged, his eyes lowered.

JongWoon played with the ends of HyungJoon's hair. "I don't really know him that well so I can't say anything...but the whole reason for the fight starting was practice, right? Did you at least talk that over with him?" 

"Yeah, that at least we got figured out," HyungJoon nodded. "He's going to change into something else when we practice, maybe like a pirate or a Gecko or something. Cause I just have a hard time hitting _him_ you know?"

"Hopefully that helps," JongWoon nodded. "Though if it does work, does that mean you only like him cause he's cute?" he asked the younger man, blinking. 

"Well, no, I mean he's not _that_ cute," HyungJoon said, blinking back at JongWoon. "I don't know why I like him, I thought I said that already? Yeah, he's cute, and a good kisser, but if that's really the only reason why I like him then I should really just get over it."

"Yeah," the negotiator frowned, scooting back onto the bed. "Okay, then what do you think about him, besides those?" 

"Well, honestly I try _not_ to think about him," HyungJoon said, flopping over onto his back. "He's a bully, and has done nothing but pick on me since he showed up. Though I'd rather it be him than KyuHyun, who also seems to have it out for me."

JongWoon laughed. "JungMin doesn't like KyuHyun picking on you. It's like he's called dibs or something. And bullying put aside, his method of training does seem to be working, cause you're getting much better. And you can't say it's sparring with me, because you don't even have to do anything half the time for me to land on my ass." 

"It is working, I just haven't been able to show him properly," HyungJoon sighed, closing his eyes. "Other than punching him in the face today, which in retrospect was probably a very bad idea on my part. It felt good though."

"You didn't seem to have a problem with hitting him there," JongWoon smiled sheepishly. "If the shifting idea doesn't work, we can always try switching partners for a bit?" 

"We can try that, I guess, maybe you'll have better luck with JungMin," HyungJoon said, looking over at him. "Or maybe not, YoungSaeng has more patience than JungMin."

"YoungSaeng's nearing the end of his patience with me," JongWoon laughed nervously. "Maybe a switch of partners would be a good idea." He paused then, looking back at the younger man. "What do you think they look like? Really?" 

"I dunno, Captain said not to ask them, but, I'm really curious," HyungJoon said, chewing on his lip. "We should ask them anyway. What's the worst that could happen, they'll say no?"

"Yeah," JongWoon nodded. "Maybe we can ask next time, if we get through practice okay? Do you think they look...really really different?" He leaned back to lie down on the bed, blinking up at the ceiling. 

"Maybe they just look like blobs of goo or something," HyungJoon shrugged, scooting up next to JongWoon and leaning his head on his friend's shoulder. "I honestly have no idea what they would look like."

JongWoon shook his head, eyes wide. "Oh God, I hope they're not," he groaned. "Now I really, really want to know, I'm never going to be able to get the mental image out of my head now." 

"Sorry, but you asked," HyungJoon poked him in the side. "Guess we'll just have to wait and find out." He paused and rolled over onto his side, propping his head up with his hand. "You think the Captain's asked yet?"

"...Probably," JongWoon grumbled, twitching at the poke. "He probably has, and just hasn't told us." He pouted at HyungJoon. "I am glad that he and KyuJong are together now though, things were pretty....weird there for a bit." 

"Did you see any of that coming? I didn't think HyunJoong was even _considering_ starting up something with someone else after the JaeJoong mess," HyungJoon shook his head. "I'd like to know how the shapeshifters knew about if before us."

"I have no idea," JongWoon shook his head. "HyunJoong doesn't talk to people, even when he should...but if he's moved on enough to try again, then I guess we just hope for the best," he smiled at his friend. "Kyu's not like JaeJoong, at all." 

"No, Kyu's nice, I like Kyu, Kyu will be very good for HyunJoong," HyungJoon said, smiling back. "I'm happy for them, they both seem to be in better moods now, which is good."

"Very good," JongWoon nodded before closing his eyes. "At least we'll be able to focus more on other things now...such as what's going to happen when we get to wherever we're going." 

HyungJoon sighed heavily, curling up around a pillow. "I'd like to know how we got all wrapped up in this. Is it so much to ask to just find a nice planet to hide out on for a while?"

"Guess it is, everything seems to be going to hell out here," JongWoon said quietly. "Not sure which situation is better, the one out here or the one back home." 

"If we went back home, they'd have us captured in a week, and we'd spend the rest of our lives in jail," HyungJoon replied. "I'd rather have a chance of being free out here than to go back to that. Especially if what they say is going on is true."

"Yeah," JongWoon murmured. "The Federation being part of something like this...what do you think all the people back home would say if they knew? Would they support the Federation? Aliens aren't all bad...some of them anyways." 

"I don't think most people would be happy about it," HyungJoon shook his head. "It's one thing if we were being threatened or attacked, but the Fed is trying to force people from their homes. I don't even understand why either. Federation territory was plenty big enough for everybody."

"Federation doesn't like aliens though," JongWoon murmured. "Remember all the old stories, genocide and all that? Maybe that's what they want...no other races." 

HyungJoon opened his eyes and looked at JongWoon, his expression concerned. "That could never happen though. We've seen a lot of different races out here, there's no way the Federation would be able to take them all out....right?"

"Who knows," JongWoon sighed, opening his eyes as well. "We've seen a lot of races, yes...but we don't know how many of each race there are. The Federation must feel they have _some_ advantage." 

"I guess so," HyungJoon sighed. "I just don't want to be in the middle of it. We never did anything wrong."

"No, but did they?" JongWoon scooted closer to HyungJoon, pulling him against him. "Looks like we're going to be stuck no matter what..." 

"Yeah, guess so." HyungJoon wrapped an arm around JongWoon's waist, nuzzling against him. "Let's get some sleep. Beats staying awake and worrying."

"Sleep sounds good," JongWoon nodded a little with a yawn, curling up against him and closing his eyes. For now, at least, they were safe. Freaking out could wait until tomorrow. 

*******************************28********************************************

The afternoon of the third day they'd been riding in the Valis ship, SiWon had contacted them. They would be arriving at the Valis home base within the hour and wanted them ready to go once they'd landed. That meant they would wait for SiWon at the airlock and he would escort them.

"Why can't I go?" KyuJong had his arms crossed, leaning against his cabin door and looking at HyunJoong in confusion. He didn't understand why he'd been able to go along the first two times, but was being told to stay on the ship now. "I thought SiWon wanted everyone there?"

"We need someone to stay with the ship," HyunJoong replied, not telling the real reason why KyuJong couldn't come. There couldn't be the chance someone said something about 'KyuJong' going to SiWon's cabin at night...and HyunJoong didn't want KyuJong around SiWon at all. "I need JongWoon there as our negotiator, and he's refusing to let go of HyungJoon. Keep an eye on things here, okay?" 

KyuJong frowned at him before sighing heavily. "Okay, fine, I'll stay, doesn't mean I'm happy about it though," he said, uncrossing his arms and moving away from the door. "Just be careful okay?"

"Of course," HyunJoong smiled. "You too." He touched KyuJong's arm, and leaning over to kiss him lightly. "We'll be back in a few hours," he murmured, leaning back. 

Smiling back, KyuJong nodded. "You better be, cause I'm not sure I can take on a whole station to come find you."

" _Captain, we're ready to go._ " YoungSaeng's voice called over HyunJoong comm device.

"I'll be there in a minute," HyunJoong replied into the device, before smiling at KyuJong. "See you soon." Turning, he headed towards the airlock where the others were waiting.

By the time he'd gotten there, JongWoon was shifting nervously from foot to foot and looking like he might just pass out. "Breathe hyung," HyunJoong chuckled, before looking at YoungSaeng and JungMin. "Let's get this over with." 

Nodding, YoungSaeng looked at the two nervous humans, frowning slightly before opening up the airlock. Having those two along would be interesting to say the least. When the airlock slid open, SiWon was waiting on the other side for them, all smiles. It took a great deal of restraint on YoungSaeng's part not to deck him right there. He could tell the bird man was looking for KyuJong amongst them.

"Pilot not joining us?" SiWon asked with a pout, looking to HyunJoong. "Is he not feeling well?"

"No, and he will be remaining here," HyunJoong said firmly, managing to keep his anger in. He was thankful when neither JongWoon nor HyungJoon said anything about the explanation; they both knew KyuJong was fine.

The crew stepped out of the airlock, HyunJoong locking it behind him and making sure the security was fully in place, just in case, before turning to SiWon. "Lead the way SiWon sshi," he inclined his head. 

"Too bad, I wanted to thank him for the other night," SiWon sighed, but turned away and started down the corridor. YoungSaeng's fists clenched at his sides, waiting until the three humans had started after him before taking the rear with JungMin

HyungJoon looked at JongWoon in confusion as they walked, wondering what the alien meant. He was so wrapped up in his confusion, he wasn't even staring or noticing that SiWon had wings.

JongWoon returned the confused look with one of his own, before shrugging; it probably wasn't a good idea to ask now. Especially once he noticed, for all HyunJoong's stoic appearance, the hands clasped behind his back were slightly white-knuckled.

They headed down the corridor, JungMin keeping a close eye on the crew they passed. Some of them were sneering at the three humans, mostly HyungJoon and JongWoon, but didn't try to approach. Now it just had to stay that way, which wasn't very likely. 

SiWon led them to the ship's airlock which was a few levels down. It wasn't even obvious that they had left the ship once they were through, the station and the ship were similar in style and had been kept up well. The winged alien didn't say anything to the group as they made their way through countless corridors and courtyards, taking flights of stairs until they reached a lift. That lift took them to a short hallway with only two doors. SiWon opened the door to their right and stepped in first.

The others filed in, and YoungSaeng saw it was some kind of waiting room with couches and chairs. "Take a seat, I'll go let the boss know you're here. Could take a minute," SiWon said and left through another door.

JongWoon watched him go, glancing at HyungJoon nervously. "So I guess we just...sit and wait?" He slowly lowered himself into one of the chairs. JungMin didn't sit down, standing between the chairs and one of the doors. His lips were pursed as he eyed both doors, obviously not liking this. Especially when he saw the small button cameras in the corners of the rooms. There were probably microphones as well. 

HyungJoon sat down next to JongWoon, not sure why he'd been dragged along on this, but he didn't like the idea of JongWoon going anywhere without him. "I hope this doesn't take long," he murmured, glancing around the room.

Unable to sit still, YoungSaeng paced around the room, looking at the door and then at JungMin as he passed. He wanted off of this station and away from these people as soon as possible, and it was obvious the Captain did as well.

After what seemed an eternity, the door opened and SiWon motioned for them to come in.

HyunJoong walked to the door, having remained standing as well. JongWoon got up and pulling HyungJoon forward with him, letting go of his friend after a moment to draw in a breath, standing straight. Once again the two shapeshifters took up the rear as the group filed into the room.

There was a large desk taking up one side of the room, chairs situated around it. The man at the desk was bronze-skinned, head tilted slightly to one side as he observed the group. "So this is the human crew?" he inquired, looking to SiWon for confirmation before inclining his head towards the chairs. "Have a seat." 

Waiting until everyone else was seated, YoungSaeng took a seat at the far edge of the row, the closest to SiWon who was sitting in the corner behind the desk. YoungSaeng did his best not to look in the winged alien's direction, the longer he looked at him, the more he wanted to kill him. Obviously that wouldn't be a good idea right now in front of the Valis boss.

Crossing his arms over his chest, YoungSaeng leaned back in his chair to wait. The Captain would look to him for help if he needed it.

Once they were all seated, the Valis boss looked at each of them in turn before settling on HyunJoong. "You are the ship's captain?"

"That is correct," HyunJoong nodded.

"My name is YunHo. I've read over the brief sent in advance, and the claims you make are very serious," he said, eyes slightly narrowed. "I hope you understand the gravity of this situation."

"We would not be here if we didn't believe it was important for you to know about this, sir," HyunJoong replied. "KyuHyun sshi and Zhou Mi sshi have the evidence that the Federation is working with Sylar and supporting them." He nodded towards the two Geckos. 

"I will personally vouch for KyuHyun and Zhou Mi," SiWon said, leaning forward in his seat. "If they said it's true, then it's true."

YoungSaeng eyed the winged man before turning back to YunHo. He hadn't missed the fact that he only vouched for the two Geckos, and not for the rest of the crew, despite putting them all on the chopping block for the Gecko's information.

Nodding slightly, YunHo returned his sharp gaze to the crew. "That leaves us with a whole other problem. I will have to contact my counterparts in the other factions...the Federation has more power than any one faction on it's own. As much as factions dislike to collaborate, it might be needed in this case."

He sighed. "As well, I received a report from outside two hours prior. Darven's attempt to reclaim their territory failed, and the whole factions been wiped out." 

"Not entirely unexpected," SiWon shook his head. After a moment he leaned forward to whisper something in YunHo's ear, gesturing with a hand towards JungMin and YoungSaeng. The latter's eyes narrowed, and he caught the word 'Shinbi'.

YunHo's eyes narrowed as he looked towards the two. "Well, this is certainly interesting." He leaned forward, elbows on the desk. "Would you care to explain why the Shinbi would be involved, and on a human ship no less?" His eyes darkened. "Is the Shinbi collaborating with the Federation?"

JungMin's eyes flashed before he managed to control them. "The Shinbi collaborate with no one, much less the Federation." 

"Let's put it this way, YunHo," YoungSaeng said coolly. "Neither the Federation, nor the Shinbi know of our involvement. Our business being on a human ship is our own."

"They were Federation assassins but are on the run," Zhou Mi piped up, cringing and hiding behind KyuHyun when YoungSaeng turned a glare on him. So the Geckos had been spying, probably on the rest of the crew since the shapeshifters could see them.

"Assassins?" YunHo's jaw clenched slightly, staring at the two Shinbi for a moment. "How did this happen? There must have been a collaboration between the two races."

"There wasn't," JongWoon said, and shrank down in his seat slightly before straightening. "The Shinbi have no knowledge of this, and it wasn't voluntary. In fact the entire reason why our ship is out here is because they don't want to work with the Federation. We have no involvement in either of the races' situations."

"Whatever our prior occupation was, it's not who we are now," YoungSaeng said firmly, meeting YunHo's eyes. "The only reason we let KyuHyun get in contact with you is because the information was important, and affects us all. This crew has no ties with any faction or government and are just trying to find a place to live in peace." 

YunHo met YoungSaeng's eyes for a long moment, searching for a lie. Finally he leaned back. "Unfortunately, such places will be very difficult to find for the next while. It is only a matter of time before all the neutral governments are pulled into the conflict as well, especially if Sylar keeps growing." He sighed. "We will need to prepare."

"When will my ship be free to leave?" HyunJoong asked, having a sneaking suspicion that this wouldn't be the case, but asking anyways.

"Oh, you won't be leaving for a while," YunHo looked at them, blinking. "A human ship on our side will come in handy, especially with two Shinbi on board." 

"Remember we came to you of our own volition," YoungSaeng said softly, folding his hands together and setting them on the table. "We do not want to be in this conflict any more than we have to be."

"No good deed goes unpunished, shifter," SiWon sneered, meeting YoungSaeng's glare.

"Whatever happens, I don't want him anywhere near us," YoungSaeng said, pointing at the winged man. "Or I will rip his wings off and feed them to him."

The corners of YunHo's lips quirked slightly. "Very well, we can accommodate that much." He looked to HyunJoong. "Captain, after this meeting you will bring your ship to dock in the station directly. Speak with our mechanics for any repairs. Supplies and the like are also available. We will need to plan our next steps carefully, but you will be treated as guests."

Guests that couldn't leave. But JongWoon liked YunHo a little more than this SiWon guy, he seemed nice enough. Though to be the boss of a large criminal faction, you couldn't be completely nice. 

YoungSaeng looked around at them all before looking back at YunHo, leaning in a bit. "Sir, would the Captain and I be able to speak with you alone?" his eyes flickered at SiWon who was looking more than a little flustered.

YunHo looked at the shapeshifter for a moment before inclining his head. "Of course." He looked at the others. "Please feel free to wait in the room outside my office. SiWon, you are dismissed for now, I will be in contact with you in a few hours," he said. "One of my men will escort them back to your ship." 

It looked as if SiWon wanted to protest, his wings twitching irritably as he stood. He glared at YoungSaeng, brushing his wing against YoungSaeng's arm as he passed by. The others filed out afterwards, and YoungSaeng was glad JungMin was with the wonder twins while they were waiting, just in case SiWon wanted to start something with the humans.

Once the door was closed and it was just the three of them, YoungSaeng looked at YunHo with a frown. "We may not be here willingly, but while we are here, I want your assurance about something," he started, glancing at HyunJoong before continuing. "While on our way here there was an incident with our ships pilot. SiWon demanded we hand him over and threatened our lives if we didn't. That sort of thing can _not_ happen again."

YunHo looked at them both, HyunJoong's expression impassive but his eyes giving away his anger. The Valis boss leaned back in his seat, tapping his fingers against the armrest. "Very well. SiWon doesn't always understand the gravity of the situation...it would be in everyone's best interest if your ship was under my hand, not his." He smiled at them both.

"It's clear we're not being given much choice in the matter," HyunJoong said, eyes narrowed. "But my crew's safety is not to be compromised, in any way."

"Yes, that is understood," YunHo nodded. "And for that reason, you are being removed from SiWon's command, and are to report directly to me. That is the most I am able to do for you until you have proven you can be of worth to the Valis." 

"Thank you, we do appreciate that," YoungSaeng nodded, leaning back in his chair. "It's not that we don't understand what's going on or don't want to help, we just want some modicum of control about our situation. We need an agreement between us that after this is over, we are not subject to you or any other faction and are able to go our own way. If so, we would be more... cooperative."

YunHo was silent for a moment, tapping his fingers lightly. His gaze on them was calculating, but different from SiWon, like he was taking in a much larger picture than promotions, keeping appearances, and sleeping with humans.

Finally he smiled. "Give us your full assistance, and if we are successful in pushing Sylar and the Federation back, then you have my word of honor that your ship and crew will be free to leave. If we do not succeed...I can not promise you anything."

HyunJoong nodded. "Thank you." If they did not succeed, YunHo would have much, much more to worry about than them. 

"We understand," YoungSaeng nodded, slowly getting to his feet. "Can we go? We have plenty to discuss amongst ourselves now."

HyunJoong stood and inclined his head politely before leaving the room. SiWon was gone, JungMin looking like he was holding his temper.

JongWoon gave a sigh of relief as HyunJoong and YoungSaeng reappeared, the door closing behind him. "Can we go back now?"

"In a minute, someone will be here," HyunJoong sighed, looking at YoungSaeng. 

Moving to JungMin's side, YoungSaeng smiled briefly at him before looking around. It was a short wait and the door opened revealing a waif-like frail alien, beckoning them out into the hall. YoungSaeng waited until the others had gone out first, following along behind with JungMin. "We won't be dealing with that bird brained idiot anymore," he murmured to the redhead as they walked.

"Good riddance," JungMin grumbled. He wanted to ask what they'd discussed with YunHo, but that was best left until they were on the ship.

By the time they got back to SiWon's ship, JongWoon was thoroughly lost. He was also somewhat getting used to seeing strange aliens around them, enough to not blatantly stare anyways. Their alien guide left them, and KyuHyun and Zhou Mi took up leading them back to their own ship in the hangar bay. 

There were some hard stares from SiWon's crew as they passed, some looking more hostile than when they had passed through previously. It was obvious SiWon had said something to his crew about them, and thankfully they wouldn't have to be around them for much longer.

Back on the safety of their ship, as soon as the airlock was sealed, YoungSaeng whirled on KyuHyun, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him into the wall. "You've been spying on us Gecko," he snarled. Zhou Mi squeaked and started to scamper away.

JungMin snagged Zhou Mi by the tail and pulled him back. "Where do you think you're going? You're the one who opened your mouth."

KyuHyun winced at the collision with the wall, hands up. "I wouldn't say _spying_ exactly...listening. Okay, okay, but what are we supposed to do if no one's telling us anything?" 

"Telling you things requires trust, we don't trust you when you _spy_ on us and blabber out information to people," YoungSaeng said, glaring over at Zhou Mi who tried to scramble behind JungMin to get away from the glare. He looked back at KyuHyun, eyes narrowed. "Why are you two still on board anyway? I thought you would be wanting to stay on SiWon's ship now."

"We like this ship better," KyuHyun wrinkled his nose. "SiWon's been weird lately. And his crew keep using us as target practice," he sniffed. They'd been threatened by almost every member of HyunJoong's crew, but it had just been threats. 

"Weird how?" YoungSaeng frowned, relaxing his grip on KyuHyun a little to let him at least stand on his own two feet. He suppressed a sigh when Zhou Mi started prattling in another language, still clinging to JungMin's back and peeking over the redhead's shoulder with wide eyes. "What is he saying?"

"Just...weird," KyuHyun frowned. "He locks himself up in his cabin for hours and hours alone, and he's definitely not doing any paperwork. And he's not been as friendly." He shrugged.

"Get out from behind me," JungMin grumbled, pulling Zhou Mi out in front of him. HyunJoong was watching them with a light frown. 

Zhou Mi attached himself to KyuHyun's side and YoungSaeng let the latter go completely. "He doesn't seem to like me much anymore either," the taller Gecko said.

"Well lucky for all of us we're getting out of this ships hold then, someone should go find the pilot and let him know," YoungSaeng said, glancing at HyunJoong. 

HyunJoong nodded. "Let's get away from this ship as soon as possible." He turned and walked down towards the crew quarters, wondering if KyuJong was in his room.

He wasn't. Knocking before opening the door to find the room empty. HyunJoong paused before figuring he was on the bridge, or maybe in the mess hall. Turning, the Captain walked towards the stairs to the bridge. 

Having been bored while the rest of the crew was off the ship, KyuJong had decided to go through some old communications logs to eliminate some of the clutter in their ships memory banks. The ship being docked inside another ship had recorded and stored all incoming and outgoing transmissions from the larger vessel. He had the time go through and delete it all now so had been in the middle of doing that when he noticed a very odd pattern.

There were some transmissions that were going to one place, but then directed to another, the transmissions encoded and scrambled. What made them so odd was who they were from, and where they were going. KyuJong was trying to decode the messages, figuring that someone would want to know what these messages said. Hunched over the communications terminal, his fingers tapping on the keys and working at the code, not noticing anyone coming onto the bridge.

HyunJoong stepped onto the bridge, blinking as he saw KyuJong working on something. "We're back," he said quietly, walking over to see what the younger man was up to. "What are you doing?" 

Nearly jumping out of his skin when HyunJoong spoke, KyuJong managed not to shriek but looked up sharply with wide eyes. "Huh? What?" he stuttered before it clicked what was said. "Uh, oh, yeah, I was looking through communication logs, we've been recording all the transmissions coming in to the Valis ship," he said, turning back around. "You should look at this though, something's not right about it."

Blinking at the reaction, HyunJoong tilted his head to one side before pulling up a chair, sitting beside him. "What's not right about it?" he asked, leaning over to see what KyuJong was looking at. "Does the Valis know we've been receiving this?" As far as he knew, they weren't supposed to be able to pick up on the other ship's communications...trust Tablo to put something like that in the ship. 

"If they did, they'd be better about covering their tracks," KyuJong said, bringing up a screen that had the list of transmissions. "Okay, here's all the transmissions that have been going to and from the station, no big deal, standard," he said, pointing those ones out. "Now, each one that's from the bridge is marked, and the content is normal. It's these ones here that are just odd," he said, pointing out a couple others. "They're from the Captain's quarters, heavily encoded, and they bounce around like ten different arrays. Normally you bounce off a couple in a relatively straight line, but these go all over the place and they'd be hard to track on an older system. But look where they go," he said, glancing over at HyunJoong.

Following the lines of code with a frown, HyunJoong's eyes widened slightly. "...Wait..." Wasn't that...clean in Sylar territory?

He got up and went to pull down one of KyuHyun's edited maps to be sure, unrolling it across the table and looking for the coordinates. It was. "...How long has those messages been going for?" he asked, looking up at KyuJong. 

"The first transmission that was sent from here was... three days ago," KyuJong frowned at the time stamp. "Right after our first meeting with SiWon, and then the next.. was shortly after the second meeting," he blinked when the screen refreshed and there was a new message being sent out. "Oh, another one, it's not encoded yet," his fingers flew over the terminal. "Downloading it before it gets scrambled, it'll just look like it's been downloaded to their files," he said, grinning when it was done and opening up the file. "Woah.."

HyunJoong let go of the map and strode over to see, leaning over KyuJong's shoulder. Reading the first few lines, his eyes hardened before he reread them, then continued on carefully. The more he read, the less he liked. "This is..."

This was a full report of everything just discussed in the meeting with YunHo. Going to...Sylar. "This one's from the Captain's quarters as well?" he asked sharply. 

"Yup, is this what was discussed with the boss here?" KyuJong asked, not recognizing the name used over and over again. "SiWon's double-crossing the Valis?"

"It looks like it..." HyunJoong drew in a slow breath. "Okay, we're getting off this ship, right now. YunHo sshi arranged for us to dock on the station directly." He squeezed KyuJong's shoulder lightly. "We're going to do that, and then we need to report this in." 

Nodding, KyuJong backed up all the messages and files into a separate file so they wouldn't get deleted. "Well I'd ask how the meeting went, but I guess I know now, except for whatever happened when he was shooed?" KyuJong said, sending a request to leave the docking bay. "He didn't seem pleased about that."

"No, he wasn't," HyunJoong sighed. He sat down and started undocking procedures, getting the engines warmed up. "YunHo is easier to talk to than him at least, though we should still be on our guard...I'm sure he didn't get to that position by smiling and being polite." 

"Probably not, but if I don't have to see SiWon again that's fine by me," KyuJong said, scooting over to the controls. "It's probably going to be a while before out of the middle of this huh?"

"I'd say," the older man murmured. "It looks like we're going to be helping with whatever the Valis has planned. YunHo basically said that even if we were to leave now, the chances we would find a peaceful planet to settle on are close to nothing." 

"I don't doubt that," KyuJong nodded, watching communications for their permission to leave the hangar bay. "If it weren't for the Geckos, we'd still have been in Darven space when it got blown to pieces, and that was supposed to be a quiet system for to hide out in." They were given the okay to leave, KyuJong hitting a few buttons on the console and taking the controls. As much as he had enjoyed the break, he felt a hundred times better when they flew out into open space. Even if it was just to turn and dock on the other side of the station.

"I don't think there's going to be any quiet systems for a while," HyunJoong sighed, keeping an eye on the consoles as he sent a request to dock. It was accepted almost immediately. "He wasn't happy to let us leave...we shouldn't go anywhere without YoungSaeng or JungMin with us." 

"Wasn't planning on it," KyuJong nodded, slowly easing around to dock against the station. "How did HyungJoon and JongWoon fare outside the ship? I heard the last time didn't go so well."

"They were fine this time, I think they're getting used to the idea of being around aliens," HyunJoong replied, looking at KyuJong. "Not that they should go out too often." 

"I think they'd agree with you there," KyuJong chuckled softly, finishing docking procedures and power the engines back down. "Wonder how long we'll be here for."

"Unless they find us useful for something," HyunJoong sighed, standing and rubbing his temple. "I need to speak with YunHo about this, right away." He copied the messages to a datapad, tapping his fingers against the console as he waited. 

"You want me to call over there and get his attention?" KyuJong asked, scooting back over to communications. "JungMin and YoungSaeng should probably read all that beforehand too."

"If you could," HyunJoong nodded. "I'll be bringing this to JungMin and YoungSaeng right now. Tell YunHo we can be there in 15." Picking up the datapad, he turned and left the bridge, looking for the two shapeshifters.

Assuming they were in their room, he went to their door and knocked. 

Sitting up, YoungSaeng looked at the door with a frown and then down at JungMin with a pout. "Well I guess this will have to wait," he grumbled, climbing off of JungMin's lap and padding over to the door to open it. Seeing it was the captain, he smiled and leaned against the doorframe. "Yes?"

JungMin grumbled as he sat up, massive pout in place until he noticed the serious expression on HyunJoong's face.

"We've been receiving communications coming to and from SiWon's ships," the Captain said, looking down at YoungSaeng before holding out the datapad. "Those coming from the Captain's quarters were encoded, but this one just came through a few minutes ago, and was downloaded before it could be scrambled." 

Taking the datapad, YoungSaeng scanned through it, eyes narrowing the more he read. "But this is what happened in the meeting... wait, where was this going." He scrolled back up and growled a curse in his native tongue. "Are you taking these to YunHo?"

"Yes, KyuJong's sent a notice ahead," HyunJoong said. JungMin got up from the bed and strode over to see what was going on, reading over YoungSaeng's shoulder.

"What the _hell_..." JungMin's jaw clenched slightly. "We're going with you. How has no one picked up on this before?"

"Our ship's got the most advanced technology here, since Tablo remodeled it just before we left," HyunJoong shook his head. "The other ships or the station wouldn't be able to pick up on the communications." 

Getting his boots back on, YoungSaeng's expression was dark and angry. "JungMin, next time you see this asshole..." he shook his head slowly, not even able to speak the things he wanted to do to SiWon now. "Let's go."

JungMin pulled on his boots as well and followed them out into the hallway, just barely able to contain his own frustration. "Think that's what the Geckos were going on about?"

"Probably," HyunJoong sighed, going towards the airlock. 

"There is a real possibility that YunHo won't believe us," YoungSaeng said quietly, walking beside HyunJoong. "You think it would be wise to maybe bring one of the Geckos with us, so they can tell YunHo about SiWon's behavior?"

" _Captain?_ " KyuJong's came over HyunJoong's com device.

"We'll bring Zhou Mi," HyunJoong nodded, before picking up his com device and flicking it on. "Yes?"

"We need to get him to stop babbling in that other language first," JungMin rolled his eyes. 

"I think it's only when he gets really excited, or nervous," YoungSaeng snorted, stopping at the Gecko's room to knock on the door.

" _I got a hold of YunHo, he's sending someone down to escort you to his office_ ," KyuJong said.

"Good," HyunJoong nodded. "Thank you KyuJong, we'll be back shortly."

The door opened a bit, KyuHyun looking out at them in confusion. "Are you back to yell some more?" 

"No, something's come up," YoungSaeng said with a scowl. "Where's Zhou Mi?"

The lanky Gecko peeked out from behind KyuHyun, wide eyed. "What'd I do?"

"Nothing, we have to go see YunHo again and you're coming with us," YoungSaeng said, motioning for him to step out of the room. Zhou Mi seemed attached to KyuHyun though, eyeing them all suspiciously. 

"Why me?" Zhou Mi squeaked.

"Because?" YoungSaeng rolled his eyes, reaching out to take Zhou Mi by the arm and drag him from the room. Zhou Mi whimpered but didn't protest too much.

KyuHyun scowled at them all, until JungMin closed the door on him. "Come on, let's go," he sighed. "This is not going to be fun."

HyunJoong shook his head, turning to go back to the airlock. Entering the security codes, he unlocked it and swung the heavy metal open.

It showed that YunHo was taking them seriously when the escort arrived just as they were securing the airlock behind them. The alien clicked at them and turned to lead the way, the group following after. 

YoungSaeng followed behind the Captain and their guide, pulling the reluctant Zhou Mi with him through the corridors of the station. A few twists and turns and a staircase later, they were back at the waiting room they had left barely an hour before. The guide motioned for them to wait and disappeared into YunHo's office.

"How did KyuJong find these messages?" YoungSaeng asked HyunJoong quietly, keeping Zhou Mi from scampering off somewhere with a firm hand on his arm.

"Cleaning up our ship's memory bank," HyunJoong murmured in reply. "We can probably assume such messages were going through well before we arrived as well."

JungMin shuffled angrily. "Stupid birdbrain..."

The guide returned after a moment and motioned to enter, stepping back out of the way of the door. HyunJoong led the group back into the office they'd just left, seeing YunHo looking rather bemused at his desk.

Once the guide had left, closing the door behind them, YunHo inclined his head towards the chairs. "You have something important to tell me, not even an hour after our last meeting?"

"Our pilot was cleaning up our communication logs while we were gone," HyunJoong said, completely serious. "Our ship has the most recent technology, and has been picking up on communications entering and leaving SiWon sshi's ship since meeting it. There have been several encoded messages leaving the Captain's quarters...our pilot was able to catch one before it was encrypted." He slid the datapad to YunHo.

YunHo scanned through the message quickly, then his brows furrowed as he did a double-take, rereading what was on the small screen. Lips pressing together, his eyes hardened and he looked up at HyunJoong sharply. "This was leaving SiWon's quarters?" 

"If that's what the message indicates, then yes," YoungSaeng nodded, glancing at HyunJoong. KyuJong wouldn't have been able to falsify those records. "If you want to come and see the ships logs for yourself, you are welcome to do so."

YoungSaeng pinched Zhou Mi to start speaking, the Gecko shrieking and jumping up before he started babbling. "SiWon's been acting strange since we got back," the blue alien stuttered. "He.. he is constantly locked in his quarters, blows Kui Xian and myself off, and let his crew use us as target practice."

YunHo's expression darkened further at the testimony. Looking over the message again, and then scanning through the encoded messages to see they were all heading towards the same location, he placed the datapad down on his desk. "Captain, if I may hold on to this?"

"Of course," HyunJoong said. YunHo pressed a button on his desk, turning on a comm line. "I want Choi SiWon's ship seized and it's Captain brought for interrogation," he said sharply. "Keep the crew under close observation and don't let them leave the ship."

Releasing the button, he stood. "You'll have to excuse me, I have a traitor to deal with. I will be in contact with you again shortly, Captain."

HyunJoong stood and inclined his head before leaving, the others following after him. The guide was waiting to escort them back to their ship. 

"Is it just me, or did that go easier than expected," YoungSaeng murmured to JungMin as they followed the guide back through the station. "You think he suspected something?"

"Everyone suspects everyone," Zhou Mi put in, still hovering at YoungSaeng's side.

"Either way, it's hard to dispute evidence shoved under your nose like that," JungMin sighed. "We'll let him deal with that mess, we're away from that ship and that's all I care about."

They headed back to the dock, the guide leaving them at their ship's airlock. HyunJoong opened it for them and waited before closing the airlock again. 

Once they were in, YoungSaeng let Zhou Mi go who immediately scampered off towards the crew deck. He looked between the other two with a frown. "Well, now what?"

"Now it's out of our hands," HyunJoong sighed. "We'll just have to wait and keep an eye on the situation, as well as watch for more of those messages coming from anywhere else."

"We can definitely do that," JungMin nodded.

"See you both in a few hours then," HyunJoong turned and headed off towards the bridge, wondering if KyuJong was still there. He headed up the flights of stairs and through the hatch to spot the pilot still at the monitors. "We spoke with YunHo, he's bringing SiWon in for interrogation." 

KyuJong didn't respond to that, scowling down at the message he had just finished decoding. Or rather, that he'd spent the last ten minutes staring at in confusion. When he finally spoke, he turned slowly towards HyunJoong, his eyes narrowed. "I've been decoding these messages that he's sent, and I just finished the last one, before the one he just sent," KyuJong said tersely. "When exactly did I sleep with SiWon?"

HyunJoong blinked at the expression on KyuJong's face, before realizing what the younger man had said. SiWon had put that in one of the messages to Sylar? Probably bragging....the idea sparked HyunJoong's temper again, but he had to focus on KyuJong's question. They had all agreed not to tell the pilot, but there was no way to back out of explaining now.

" _You_ didn't sleep with SiWon...he only thinks you did," HyunJoong sighed, walking over to sit down in the chair beside him. "Remember when he pulled YoungSaeng and JungMin aside to talk in private? He threatened them with the ship's safety if they didn't bring you to him," he said quietly, anger at that fact obvious in his tone. 

Eyes widening, KyuJong slumped a little in his seat at hearing that. "So... then one of them?" he said quietly, looking down, not sure how to process that. "Why didn't you tell me?" he said softly, looking up to meet HyunJoong eyes after a moment.

"We agreed it was better if you didn't know," HyunJoong replied quietly. "It wasn't just my decision; they presented the idea of going in your place, as well as requesting you not be told." 

KyuJong nodded, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath. "I guess... I can appreciate wanting to protect me, it just, came as a shock reading that in the message," he said, opening his eyes and again and smiling at HyunJoong. "I owe them now, whichever one it was."

HyunJoong smiled a little in return; he owed them as well, for keeping KyuJong safe. "I probably shouldn't tell you which one it was. Either way, SiWon's hopefully out of the picture now." He stood up. 

"Hopefully. Just how mad was YunHo?" KyuJong asked, turning back to the console and back up all the files again.

"Very mad," HyunJoong replied, resting his hands on the back of KyuJong's chair. "He definitely didn't waste any time having SiWon's ship seized. We're probably going to hear from him soon." 

"I hope that means YunHo will at least trust us a little more now, since one of his right hand men ended up being a turncoat," KyuJong said, finishing up with the files and turning around to look up at him. "That why you didn't want me to go with you today, isn't it?"

"Yes," HyunJoong smiled a little. "Both to keep you from finding out, and because if he tried to speak to you I might not even try restraining JungMin and YoungSaeng from tearing him to pieces." 

Taking HyunJoong's hand, he squeezed it gently. "Well, I'm a little less irritated now that I know the real reason," KyuJong chuckled softly. "Because I honestly thought you had gone crazy thinking that JongWoon would be better in a meeting with aliens than me."

"Well, I have to give him credit for not getting us thrown out," HyunJoong chuckled, squeezing KyuJong's hand back. "Are you just about done here?" 

"Yeah, I made sure to back up all those messages and saved them to a datapad if you thought YunHo would want them," KyuJong said, getting to his feet. "So what's going on now? Just waiting until he gets to us?"

"Pretty much," HyunJoong sighed. "Later I might go for a supply run, but I think it's best to stay on the ship for a while." He leaned over to make sure security was in place, still holding KyuJong's hand lightly. 

"That's probably a good idea," KyuJong nodded, glancing through the window at the station off their bow. "I'm sure SiWon has friends aboard that won't be happy about him being taken into custody because of what a human ship has claimed."

"Nothing we can do about that," HyunJoong shook his head. Straightening, he looked at KyuJong. "I'll probably take a nap...you?" 

"Same," KyuJong nodded, adjusting the grip on HyunJoong's hand to lace their fingers together. "You mind a little company?"

"Not at all," HyunJoong's lips quirked into a lopsided smile as he felt KyuJong lace their fingers together. He was slowly becoming more comfortable with being in a relationship again, mostly thanks to KyuJong's patience. Heading to the hatch door, he walked leisurely beside the younger man, free hand in his pocket. 

KyuJong was more than a little surprised that HyunJoong was willing to walk through the halls of the ship holding hands Maybe they had reached a new dynamic in their tenuous relationship, but KyuJong wasn't going to complain. Not when it felt like the Captain was making more progress towards opening up to him.

It was probably good though that HyunJoong didn't know just deep KyuJong had fallen for him; not yet anyway.

**************************************29****************************************

JongWoon yelped as, for the tenth time that hour, he ended up on his rear with his hands pinned over his head, the exact opposite of what he'd been going for. "...Okay, what did I do wrong this time?" he sighed, wincing as he waited for YoungSaeng to let go of him. 

"Where to start?" YoungSaeng sighed, adjusting his grip on JongWoon's hands to haul him up bodily to his feet. "When you lunge, you hesitate, then you don't follow through," he said, taking a step back. "You get your feet all twisted up because you're not paying attention to where they're going. This seems to be a reoccurring issue with you, and I don't know how many times I've told you to pay attention!"

"I'm sorry!" JongWoon flinched at the snap at the end of YoungSaeng's words. This was why he'd never gotten into the military. "I'm trying, I swear! I'm not sure if I'm doing the lunge right at all." It should be simple enough, but not for him. It had taken forever to move on from holds to actual sparring, and he'd still yet to land a single hit. 

YoungSaeng rubbed at his temple, the annoyance clear on his face. "How about we just take a break? JungMin!" he turned away from JongWoon, stalking over to the other side of the cargo bay. "It's time for a break."

JungMin blinked, snagging HyungJoon in a hold to stop the sparring. He'd shifted into one of the pirates they'd first encountered to see if it made any difference in their practice. He was also making a conscious effort to yell and hit less. "Break already?" 

"If I don't stop now, I might snap the negotiator's pretty little neck, so yes, break," YoungSaeng ranted as he passed by the other two, going to sit down on containers as far from JongWoon as he could get.

HyungJoon looked wide eyed at YoungSaeng as he struggled to get out of the hold. He'd never seen YoungSaeng so irritated, the older being usually unflappable when it came to practicing with JongWoon.

JungMin shrugged, releasing HyungJoon after a moment and shifting back to his usual form. "Let's avoid snapping necks," he chuckled, going to sit next to YoungSaeng. "Not bad HyungJoon."

JongWoon dropped down to sulk on the stairs. He _was_ trying. 

Once JungMin let go, HyungJoon padded over to the stairs to sit down next to JongWoon. He winced a little when he put his arm around his friend's shoulder. "Not going well I take it?" he asked quietly, concern in his eyes.

"No," JongWoon pouted, hanging his head. "I _am_ trying, I just can't get it." He was even making YoungSaeng angry now. The shifter probably thought he was completely useless. "Please tell me your practice is going better," he sighed, resting his head on HyungJoon's shoulder. 

HyungJoon winced, not really wanting to say that his practice was doing much better now that JungMin was using different forms. "Umm....a little, yeah," he said after a moment. "You think there's anything that would help? I mean you do fine when it's just you and I"

"If by 'fine' you mean falling over every ten minutes instead of every five..." JongWoon wrinkled his nose before closing his eyes. "I don't know. The more I try to show him that I'm taking this seriously, the worse it gets." 

Chewing on his lip, HyungJoon watched his friend with a pained expression. He didn't know how to help JongWoon with this. Some people just weren't made for fighting and JongWoon was obviously one of those. "I think you're getting better though, we both are. We couldn't last five minutes before but we can at least stay on our feet most of the time. Would it help if maybe you and I showed them what we can do by sparring together?"

"I'll probably get nervous and trip over my own feet again," JongWoon shook his head. He wanted to keep sparring with HyungJoon as the one thing he was somewhat able to do, to preserve what little pride he still had. It was always like this. "I'll just keep on practicing and hope he doesn't try to kill me," he chuckled tiredly, lifting his head from HyungJoon's shoulder to look at the shapeshifters on the other side of the cargo bay. 

"I don't think he'd really try to kill you," HyungJoon said, rubbing JongWoon's back. He looked over at the shapeshifters as well, and it looked like YoungSaeng was calming down, the older man leaning against JungMin and talking quietly to him. "Hey, if I can do it against JungMin, you'll be able to pull it off as well. Would it help if he changed shape maybe?"

"Don't know," JongWoon shook his head. "Even if he were to change shape, it's still him, you know? I just can't seem to fight him, and it's not because I don't want to hurt him because I can't even attempt to hurt him if I can't land anything. It's like military training all over again." 

"Yeah, I can understand," HyungJoon nodded, his lips pursed as he thought about that. "Well we'll just have to get in some extra practice time you and I then. Maybe we can get Kyu to help out too. Would you be able to fight Kyu?"

"Guess we'd have to find out," JongWoon gave him a tight smile, before looking over at them. "At least your practice is going better. Doesn't it bother you, seeing him look like someone else?" He would have probably freaked out more to be fighting against one of them as a pirate. 

HyungJoon shrugged. "A little, but once we start I kind of forget about it. Yeah, he's still JungMin, but even how looks right now is just an illusion right?"

"True," JongWoon pursed his lips. Now he was curious again. "I really want to ask about that. But YoungSaeng might deck me if I go anywhere near him right now." 

"I want to ask too, we should know right? They're a part of the crew now, and I'd like to know before they just spring it on us one day," HyungJoon said, looking over at the other two. "Come on, we'll ask Min, he's in a good mood for once," he said, taking JongWoon's hand and pulling him up off the stairs to drag him over to the others.

"Wonder twins are coming," YoungSaeng sighed, burying his nose in JungMin's neck.

Chuckling, JungMin rubbed YoungSaeng's back, somewhat amused. They seemed to have switched places when it came to being annoyed at those two. He looked up at the two humans as they approached. "I don't think break's over yet." 

"We know, um, okay, so you two have been on board for a while right? I'd like to think we were all kind of sort friends, maybe?" HyungJoon said, glancing between the two. Okay, maybe not right at that moment based on the looks he was getting, but he ignored and pushed past it. "So, we were kind of wondering something, and you had said maybe later..." he trailed off.

"What are you getting at?" YoungSaeng sighed, not really in the mood for this roundabout talk.

"We...wanted to see what you really look like," JongWoon summarized, shuffling a little behind HyungJoon at the raised eyebrow he got from JungMin. "I-if it's okay."

Blinking at them both, JungMin tilted his head in thought before looking down at YoungSaeng. "Well?" They'd already shown the other two what their true form was, though he was somewhat apprehensive about the twins considering they were still getting used to different races, and still stared at the more obvious differences. 

YoungSaeng glanced between the two before he sighed and looked up at JungMin, his eyes turning mischievous. "Well, if they really want to see, I guess it wouldn't be so hard to show them. If they think they're ready."

"We're ready," HyungJoon nodded, eyes darting back and forth between the two.

Looking back at YoungSaeng, JungMin smirked a little before hopping off the container, stretching out his arms. "You sure?" he grinned at them, eyes silver. JongWoon nodded, shuffling back out from behind HyungJoon expectantly as he looked at YoungSaeng in front of him. 

Sliding off the container, YoungSaeng smiled lightly at JongWoon. "Do your best not to scream," he said to the two.

HyungJoon blinked at that, immediately taking JongWoon's hand. "Why would we-" his eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat. If he could have screamed, he would have. 

YoungSaeng's skin seemed to ripple, his clothes melted away into his skin as it darkened into black oily scales and he grew at least two handspans. The man's head shifted to one side as more heads popped up out of his shoulders that were widening, arms lengthening, fingers pushing out to end in claws. There were at least four heads, but probably more, long and diamond shaped like a dragons with mouths lined with razor sharp teeth. Two of YoungSaeng's heads let out a scream that had HyungJoon covering his ears.

This is really what they looked liked? HyungJoon was too shocked to even pass out, just staring wide eyed at the creature in front of him.

JungMin had turned into the exact same thing, one of his heads craning forward. JongWoon flailed and fell over onto his rear, feet tangling under him as he hurried to back up from those very sharp-looking fangs, accidentally dragging HyungJoon down with him. The floor shook slightly under them as the creature JungMin had turned into came closer, snarling, and the negotiator instinctively closed his eyes.

There was a huff of air through his hair, then nothing for a second. A strangled snort was the next thing he heard, and it didn't sound very eight-headed-dragon-like. JongWoon peeked through his fingers, expecting to see long fangs inches from his face.

His eyes met with those of the man crouching right in front of him, wide grin in place and silver eyes dancing. He was like moving glass, see-through but for the way the light reflected off his skin and a faint almost-mist under his skin.

JongWoon stared with his mouth wide open, and JungMin snorted again before completely losing it, falling onto his side in hysterics. 

Having been able to keep his eyes open, well after falling over when JongWoon pulled him down, HyungJoon had watched JungMin's transformation into what he was seeing now. "Wait..." he whispered, looking over at YoungSaeng who was slowly shrinking down as he moved towards them, taking on the see through glass quality as well, only with a green tint that he could see in the lines and curves of his features.

"Woah..." HyungJoon breathed, slowly getting to his feet. YoungSaeng was chuckling at the two, and it sounded like the laugh was reverberating in a tin box. "This... this is what you really look like?" he asked, reaching down to help JongWoon up to his feet.

"Yes, this is what we really look like," YoungSaeng spoke slowly, his words harshly accented. He turned to look down at JungMin, the sound he made towards the other man was obviously in a language HyungJoon couldn't hope to understand, all swirls and elongated breaths.

Whatever he had said, JungMin obviously understood, the strange laughter dying down as he climbed back up to his feet, still grinning.

JongWoon stood up as well, wide eyes looking from one Shinbi to the other. They looked like their human forms, just...made of glass. It looked like glass anyways, or clear water. "So...what was...that dragon-thing?"

"Just having fun," JungMin snorted, and he had to speak carefully too, nearly becoming tongue-tied. 

"A species we ran across once, someone had it as a pet," YoungSaeng said, looking between them with those strange silver eyes. "Are you down gawking at us now?"

"Yeah, yeah," HyungJoon nodded. "Um.. thank you, really, we know you didn't have to do that."

"It's fine," YoungSaeng shrugged, the color returning to his form again. When he closed and opened his eyes, the brown eyes staring back at HyungJoon. "We aren't in our real form often, so we're still getting used to it ourselves."

Watching YoungSaeng shift back with wide eyes, JongWoon nodded slightly in understanding. They were actually...incredible-looking. Beautiful even. "Why weren't you in your real form often?" he asked.

"Because the Federation didn't like it when they couldn't understand what we were saying," JungMin said, and at the lack of echo, the negotiator looked at him to see he'd shifted back as well, blinking the silver out of his eyes. "Or like much of anything to do with our real form," he snorted, hopping back up onto the container and swinging his feet. 

"Where do your clothes go?" HyungJoon asked, having thought about the way YoungSaeng's clothes seemed to melt into him.

"Anything that touches our skin can shift with us," YoungSaeng said, leaning up against the container next to JungMin. "It's matter manipulation." He looked around beside him and saw a wrench, picking it up, he held it out in his hand. HyungJoon watched as the wrench seemed to melt and was sucked into YoungSaeng's palm. When the wrench disappeared, he wiggled his fingers and held up his hand to show them.

"Wow," HyungJoon just shook his head. "So you could do that with the collars then too?"

"Yes, when we weren't in Federation territory, or when we were on a job, we hid the collars inside our forms," YoungSaeng nodded, the wrench appearing in his hand again. "Our "handlers" wanted to see the collar when we were in transport or not on a job though, gave them peace of mind I guess."

"Manipulating too much matter isn't very comfortable though," JungMin pursed his lips. "Drains more energy and slows us down, so they never gave us bulky clothing to wear. Kinda sucks when it's freezing."

JongWoon shivered a little. "So I guess you hid your weapons that way too?"

"Best way to get past metal detectors." 

"But, if you could make the collars disappear, then wouldn't they not work anymore?" HyungJoon blinked, a little confused about that.

"The collars... are of Shinbi origin," YoungSaeng said slowly, looking down with narrowed eyes. "There are other creatures on our home planet that could shift as well, and the collars were devised to use on some of these animals to domesticate them. Like for pets or work animals. They work even when they're not visible. Which is why we didn't think you would be able to get them off HyungJoon."

"Oh..." HyungJoon's eyes widened. "You mean.. wow, I knew they were some high tech stuff but, how did the Federation get them?"

"Same way they got us, theft," JungMin rolled his eyes.

JongWoon bit his lower lip, looking at their expressions and nudging HyungJoon lightly. Maybe they should stop with the questions for now. JungMin and YoungSaeng still weren't very open in talking about what had happened, much less with them. "Thank you for showing us, it's really cool," he smiled at them, somehow a little more at ease now. 

Jumping a little at the nudge, HyungJoon nodded in agreement. "Yeah, thank you, really."

Sighing, YoungSaeng looked over at JungMin then at the two humans. "Well I don't think we're going to get any more practice in now, we can pick this back up later," he said quietly. He was still annoyed at JongWoon, and the two probably were probably going to be distracted now anyway.

JungMin nodded. "We'll get back to practice tomorrow or something, it's not as if we're going to be going anywhere anyways." There was still no word from YunHo.

Watching the twins leave, he leaned back against his hands and looked at YoungSaeng. "Well, they took that better than expected, after the initial shock," he chuckled. 

"They did," YoungSaeng nodded, his eye on the closed hatch they had gone through. "They do seem to be adjusting, albeit slowly compared to the Captain and KyuJong. Need to break them of the staring habit though." He turned to look over at JungMin, meeting his eyes with a smile. "HyungJoon seems to be doing better."

"Yeah, it seems easier for him to try beating up a pirate so we're going to stick with that," JungMin shrugged. "As long as I can check how well he fights I really don't care which form I have to take." Now he could actually focus on areas that needed to be improved rather than how to get HyungJoon to actually try hitting him. 

"That's good, at least one of them seems to be doing better," YoungSaeng sighed, shaking his head. "As hard as the negotiator tries, he just ends up falling just short of being able to do anything," he said, smiling sadly at JungMin. "I didn't mean to snap at him today, he wasn't doing _as_ horrible."

"You've been getting testy at him," JungMin chuckled. "Bad day?" He hadn't seen YoungSaeng lose his temper like that in a while, aside from the incident with SiWon. 

YoungSaeng pursed his lips, sighing deeply as he looked at JungMin. "You're going to think I'm silly, but I still haven't been able to ignore what he said to me," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

JungMin blinked at him, raising one eyebrow. " _Still_? That was ages ago. It bugs you that much?" It wasn't like YoungSaeng to overthink things like that. 

"Yes, it bugs me," YoungSaeng rolled his eyes and looked away. "And it bugs me, that it bugs me, because it shouldn't," he sighed and leaned against JungMin's shoulder. "He doesn't want to kiss me unless it meant something to me. How do I know it wouldn't?"

"Because kissing random people _doesn't_ mean anything to you?" JungMin looked down at him, wrapping one arm around YoungSaeng's shoulders. "Why would that change?" 

"But he's not really random though, is he?" YoungSaeng said softly, looking up at him. "It's not that kissing doesn't mean anything to me, because it does, I enjoy kissing you, it's that I disassociate the intent behind it. But that's the problem, I don't think I _could_ with him."

JungMin blinked owlishly at YoungSaeng. "What are you saying, Saeng?" His brow furrowed slightly. "Do you _like_ him?" The idea was almost too far-fetched to be considered. 

"... I don't know," YoungSaeng shook his head, turning his head to rest his cheek on JungMin's shoulder. "That's what's so maddening about it. There's no reason for me to like him. Sure he's cute, but he's a walking disaster and can't even defend himself properly. Why would I like anyone like that?"

"No clue, and he definitely doesn't fit into your description of 'rich alien who wants to pamper you'," JungMin remarked; not that he was one to talk. "So what, you think if you kiss him you'd be able to tell if you like him or not?" 

"Maybe," YoungSaeng shrugged. "I don't think I'd get the chance since he said it would have to mean something for him as well, which doesn't seem like it's going to happen. I'm trying not to dwell on it Min, but seeing him everyday and practicing with him is making it hard to do so."

The redhead pursed his lips, looking down at YoungSaeng. "...Why don't you make him your next target?" he asked. "Failboat can't be completely oblivious to you, you're pretty cute." He pinched YoungSaeng's cheek teasingly. "Get him to want to kiss you." 

YoungSaeng swatted at the hand pinching his cheek, but he thought about that. Maybe spending more time with the negotiator would help him with his dilemma; kiss or no. "He'd be a challenge, that's for sure," he said, but nodded slowly. "I think I'm up for it."

"Thought you would be, you love challenges," JungMin chuckled quietly, rubbing YoungSaeng's arm. "What now though?" It was going to be a boring next little while until they heard from YunHo. 

"Distract me from thoughts about silly failboats?" YoungSaeng said sweetly, looking up at him and batting his eyes.

JungMin's lips curled into a smirk. "Why certainly." He ducked his head to nip at YoungSaeng's lower lip teasingly before hopping off the container. "Let's move somewhere more comfortable, yes?" 

Pushing away from the container, YoungSaeng took JungMin's hand. "Yes, or we'd be giving KyuJong a show on the security feeds," he chuckled, heading for the stairs.

************************************

Finishing off checking the list of supplies for when they next left the ship, HyunJoong stretched out his arms with a sigh. He felt less tired than usual; there wasn't as much to do on board with them docked at the station, and there was only so many times he could check all their systems and paperwork in a day. Which meant a proper amount of sleep, at least for now, a fact he was definitely enjoying.

It also helped that occasionally KyuJong would join him, sometimes just to sleep, something he'd missed. 'Occasionally' was happening more and more often, the amount of times he turned down KyuJong's offer lessening.

Glancing at the clock, HyunJoong stood from his desk and decided to check over the security logs at the bridge. That was still something he checked over regularly, especially since as far as he'd heard, things with SiWon still hadn't been resolved. The last thing they needed was one of his crew sneaking on board.

The Captain left his quarters, heading up to the bridge and humming softly under his breath. He could hear chatter from the mess hall, probably the Geckos. They were looking like a more permanent fixture to the crew than originally thought, still with them despite being able to leave now with little consequence.

Heading into the bridge, HyunJoong blinked to see KyuJong there. "Didn't your shift end already?" He strode over to the monitors. 

Looking up from the monitors, KyuJong smiled at him and shrugged. "Yeah, but it's not like I have much else to do at the moment," he said. "It's a good time to go through the ships memory and clear out any junk. Doesn't seem like it's been done in years. There's so many logs and miscellaneous reports in here from before you were even Captain."

"Doesn't surprise me," HyunJoong chuckled, sitting down next to him to go over the security files. "This used to be one of Daniel hyung's ships, but since it wasn't tied in with his more shadier activities he probably didn't care whether the ship was wiped clean or not. It'll take a while to get rid of all that stuff, how long have you been at this?" 

"Too long," KyuJong said, rubbing at his eyes. "Going a little cross-eyed actually, was going to head to my quarters for a nap once I had this file cleared out. What are you doing up here? I thought you were working?"

"Finished going through all the supply lists, just came up to check the security logs," HyunJoong replied. He looked up at the window, seeing the side of the station rather than the stars. "Pity we couldn't find a way to dock backwards, at least we'd have a better view than a metal wall." 

"Yeah... that's why I just look up," KyuJong said, pointing to overhead window as he scooted his chair underneath it and leaned back. "I don't think I could ever get sick of looking at the stars."

The older man chuckled, looking back at him. "Most people do, especially those brought up on solid ground. I remember lots of complaints about wanting to see blue skies with clouds." 

"Well in case you haven't noticed, I'm not most people," KyuJong said, smiling broadly. "Seeing the stars, reminds me of my dad. We'd spend hours together on the bridge, him flying, me just staring off into space."

"Your dad had his own ship?" HyunJoong asked, turning his chair around to look at KyuJong without hurting his neck, looking at the smile on the pilot's face. 

"Yup, well, my mom did, my dad was the pilot until she died, then he became Captain and I became pilot," KyuJong said, his smile fading slightly. "It was a passenger transport. We flew all over Federation space."

HyunJoong tilted his head to one side at the information, frowning slightly to hear KyuJong had lost his mother. "If you were pilot on your family's ship, why did you apply to become pilot of the _Proteus_?" he asked, eyes on the younger man. 

KyuJong was quiet for a moment, before he sighed sadly. "My dad died about four months ago," he said softly. "It was expected that I would take over the ship, but about a week after he died, the Federation took the ship. Said my parents had leased the ship from the government, but never paid off the debt. They didn't even let me offer pay it off myself. That was about a month before I came on here. I'd tried working on another ship, but they had me doing maintenance, and that just wasn't for me."

The other man's gaze saddened at that information. He knew well the attachment one got to a ship that was theirs, much less a ship that had belonged to his parents. The Federation had essentially taken away everything KyuJong had in taking away that ship. "I'm sorry to hear about your parents, and your ship," he said quietly. "What was it's name?" 

" _Pandora_ ," KyuJong said, smiling softly. "My mother named it after the Greek myth. She was a nice ship, but she's probably in some space junkyard now, not doing anything but sitting and rusting out on the inside." Turning to look over HyunJoong, KyuJong smiled at him though his eyes were a little glassy. "I think it was for the best though. If I had to choose, I'd rather be here."

Meeting KyuJong's gaze, HyunJoong sighed softly, reaching out and rolling KyuJong's chair closer. "You shouldn't have had to choose," he replied quietly, looking into his eyes with one hand lightly on KyuJong's arm. 

Putting his hand over HyunJoong's, KyuJong shook his head. "No, but I'd still rather be here. I like this ship, and I like everyone on board... even the Geckos."

HyunJoong had to chuckle at that. "Now that they've stopped making a racket, yes." He turned his hand around to squeeze KyuJong's lightly. "I'm glad you're here too," he murmured after a moment. 

"Of course you are, who else is willing to fly through an asteroid belt for you?" KyuJong chuckled, his eyes dancing.

"No one who would enjoy it nearly as much as you did," HyunJoong smiled in amusement. 

"It was fun... for the first half hour or so," KyuJong shrugged. "This may not be what I signed up for Captain, so we may have to renegotiate my employment contract."

HyunJoong raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe the contact had a limit to the amount of asteroids you could fly through," he mused. "It was a rather 'take things as they come' contact." 

"True, and I'm not complaining, I just want to make sure I'm getting the fair end of the deal," KyuJong said, scooting his chair a little closer. "Would you say I'm getting a fair deal here? Captain?"

"I always try to be fair," HyunJoong smiled, keeping his light grip on KyuJong's hand as he leaned closer. "Do you think I'm being fair with you?" 

"Maybe, but I just want us to be on the same page here," KyuJong said, eyes wandering over HyunJoong's features. "I think you're being very fair so far."

"So far?" Leaning in a little more, HyunJoong's breath ghosted lightly over KyuJong's lips. "I should be careful not to change that then." 

KyuJong's eyes slid down halfway, his head tilting a little. "Unless you plan on changing it for the better, so I can leave off that 'so far'."

HyunJoong's lips quirked to one side in a smile, before he leaned forward and pressed their lips together in a soft kiss, the hand that wasn't holding KyuJong's resting lightly on the younger man's knee. 

Returning the kiss, KyuJong sighed softly, leaning back into him as his hand came up to frame HyunJoong's cheek.

The older man tilted his head slightly to deepen the kiss, eyes closing. He found he enjoyed KyuJong's kisses a lot, taking in his taste as he parted his lips after a moment. 

Parting his lips as well, KyuJong wrapped one arm around HyunJoong's neck, enjoying the slow passionate kiss. After a few minutes of the kiss that was becoming a little more heated, he pulled back, resting his forehead on HyunJoong's. "Should I lock the hatch?" he asked quietly, playing with a lock of the other's hair.

Opening his eyes again, HyunJoong breathed in slowly, lips curling upwards. "Probably a good idea," he murmured, thumb slowly stroking KyuJong's knee. He felt better than he had in ages, enjoying KyuJong's presence. 

Pressing a quick kiss to HyunJoong's lips again, KyuJong scooted over a little and reached towards the console to hit the locks. Hearing the rewarding click, he turned back and smiled at HyunJoong. "You know, this is a little awkward like this," he said, motioning to the chairs they were sitting in before sliding over to sit in HyunJoong's lap. "This may work better."

Back pressed into the chair, HyunJoong had to agree, one arm around KyuJong's waist to keep him steady. "Definitely more comfortable," he chuckled, looking up at the pilot. His free hand cupped KyuJong's face lightly, thumb running over a soft cheek as he drew the younger man down to resume the kiss. 

KyuJong smiled down at him before he was pulled into the kiss, his hands resting lightly against HyunJoong's chest. He intensified the kiss almost as soon as their lips touched; parting eagerly and his head tilting to the side.

Doing the same, HyunJoong slipped his tongue into KyuJong's mouth and deepened the kiss. As it became more and more heated, the hand against KyuJong's cheek slid up and into the pilot's hair, fingers curling around the soft strands. 

Moaning softly into the kiss, KyuJong wrapped an arm around HyunJoong's shoulder, the other sliding up to the side of his neck. He had a brief thought about doing something similar with a certain redhead not that long ago, but banished that thought quickly. It wasn't like the Captain really would do more than just kiss on the bridge.

Breaking away just enough to breathe, HyunJoong returned before long, addicted to the younger man's taste. No longer needing to make sure KyuJong wasn't going to fall, the hand at his waist ran up and down KyuJong's thigh slowly. 

Shivering slightly at the hand on his thigh, KyuJong pressed closer to HyunJoong, his arm tightening it's grip on his shoulder as the other slid over to duck into the collar of his shirt, resting on his back. The kiss deepened further, KyuJong's mouth moving against HyunJoong's.

HyunJoong moaned into the kiss, pressed back into the chair as KyuJong moved closer. The hand on KyuJong's thigh moved up slowly, skimming over his jeans and fingers brushing along the skin just under the edge of KyuJong's shirt. 

Nipping at HyunJoong's lower lip, KyuJong broke away from the kiss to press kisses down the man's neck and back up to the underside of his jaw. He shuddered at the feeling of HyunJoong's fingers along his skin, groaning softly as he gave HyunJoong's skin a shallow bite.

Head falling back against the chair at the kisses and bites, HyunJoong made a low noise in the back of his throat, lips parting to breathe. The hand in KyuJong's hair slid away to brush along the side of the pilot's neck, fingers moving further up his shirt to press his palm against KyuJong's stomach. 

Arching into the hand, KyuJong bit down again on HyunJoong's neck before pulling back to stare down into HyunJoong's eyes. His eyes half lidded and breathing heavy, he smirked slightly as he unwound his hands from around HyunJoong to reach back and pull his shirt up and off. If HyunJoong wanted to touch him, it would probably be easier without any fabric in the way. Leaning down again, he pressed his lips to HyunJoong's in another deep kiss.

HyunJoong returned the kiss without hesitation, eyes closing. Taking full advantage of KyuJong's shirt being off, he ran both hands along the younger man's torso, fingers tracing along the warming skin.

Suddenly there was a loud beeping in their ears, the warning for an incoming call resonating through the bridge. 

Startled, KyuJong broke off the kiss to stare wide eyed at HyunJoong before looking over at the console, then back. "YunHo?" he whispered, scrambling to get his shirt from off the floor and stand up at the same time, only managing to fall backwards and land hard on his butt instead.

"Must be," HyunJoong murmured, trying not to be annoyed; of course the call had to come in now. Once he was sure KyuJong was okay, he leaned over and pressed the button to accept the call. "Yes?"

 _"Good day Captain,"_ YunHo's voice came over the speakers. _"Could you and your crew meet with me in three hours?"_

_HyunJoong glanced at KyuJong. "Certainly," he said. "Is it necessary for all my crew to attend?"_

__"It would be preferred, I will have someone escort you to my office."_ _

_"We will be there then, YunHo sshi," HyunJoong said._

__"All right."_ The line cut out. _

_Still on the floor, KyuJong was putting his shirt back and shaking his head in amusement. "Well at least it wasn't a video call," he chuckled, looking up at HyunJoong. "So, three hours?"_

_HyunJoong nodded, holding out his hands to help KyuJong back up. "I'll have to let the others know, but that still leaves us with lots of time."_

_Taking HyunJoong's hands, KyuJong got back up to his feet. "It does," he said with a small smile, not letting go of HyunJoong's hands. "Maybe we can spend that time somewhere a little more comfortable?"_

_"Don't see why not," HyunJoong smiled in return, squeezing KyuJong's hands lightly and leaning over to kiss him before bringing him towards the hatch._

_***********************************30******************************************_

_"It's about time," YoungSaeng grumbled after shutting off the com device, HyunJoong having just told them about the meeting that was to start soon. "I was going a little stir crazy with all this waiting around," he said, getting up from where he'd been seated on the bed to grab his boots and pull them on. "Wonder what happened to SiWon?"_

_"Don't know, don't care, hope he was shot out the airlock." JungMin watched YoungSaeng from where he was sprawled out on his stomach on the bed for a moment before climbing to his feet. "What are the Valis going to want with us now? YunHo seems a little more trustworthy than SiWon, but you know how these people are."_

_"He's kept his word so far, we haven't been bothered by anyone else," YoungSaeng said, leaning against the wall next to the door and waited for JungMin. "I'm sure we'll be sent off on some small stupid little mission first..... or he'll throw us right in the middle of Sylar territory. Whichever."_

_"I don't think HyunJoong would like that very much," JungMin snorted. "And they're definitely not ready for something like that." He pulled his boots on and stretched before going to the door. "Well, let's get this over with."_

_"No they're not," YoungSaeng nodded, pushing off the wall and opening the door the step out into the hall. Looking around, his lips twitched at seeing HyunJoong and KyuJong coming out of the Captain's quarters. "They seem to be getting on fine now," he murmured to JungMin._

_JungMin chuckled, eyeing them. "I'd say more than 'getting on fine'," he rolled his eyes, leaning against the wall. "We should get the Geckos." He walked to their door, rapping on it to get their attention as HyunJoong and KyuJong approached._

_YoungSaeng had to bite his tongue from retorting to JungMin's comment as the other two were close enough to hear. "So, will the wonder twins be joining us as well?" he asked, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed._

_"YunHo said he wanted the whole crew," KyuJong shrugged, looking over at HyunJoong. "I assume that means HyungJoon and JongWoon as well?"_

_"Yes, they should both come along as well," HyunJoong nodded. "They managed not to get themselves into trouble last time." He knocked lightly on their door just as KyuHyun poked his head out of his and Zhou Mi's room. The Gecko yelped as JungMin, not paying attention, rapped him on the head, KyuHyun quickly retreating back into the room._

_"Oops." JungMin blinked at the door._

_YoungSaeng snorted at the yelp, lowering his arms and starting for the hatch to the airlock. "Quit playing with the Gecko's Min, hurry up," he said as he walked past._

_"I'll see if the other two are in their room then," KyuJong said with a smile, backtracking a bit and knocking on the door. A moment later HyungJoon opened it up and peeked out._

_"Time to go already?" HyungJoon pouted._

_"Yes, hurry up," KyuJong smiled and nodded, turning back to rejoin HyunJoong._

_"I'm not playing with them," JungMin huffed. "Yah, we have to go!" he called, knocking again._

_"Step away from the door or we're not coming out!" KyuHyun yelled back._

_JungMin rolled his eyes. "It was an accident," he threw his hands in the air before following YoungSaeng. Only once he was halfway down the hallway did the door open again, KyuHyun poking his head out again before stepping out. JongWoon shuffled out of his and HyungJoon's room, blinking at what was going on._

_Seeing as they were being left behind, HyungJoon took JongWoon's hand and pulled him hurriedly down the hall, pushing past the Geckos who had finally both come out of their room._

_"YunHo didn't give any indication about what this meeting was about?" YoungSaeng asked HyunJoong as they moved through the cargo bay towards the airlock._

_"No," HyunJoong shook his head. "The call was very short." He guessed they'd find out soon enough._

_"Do we need to say anything?" JongWoon asked, catching up with HyungJoon._

_"Unless he asks you a question specifically, you should be able to get away with not saying anything," HyunJoong chuckled, looking back at his negotiator and engineer._

_"Good," HyungJoon breathed a sigh of relief. "But why do we all have to go?"_

_"Probably because YunHo wants to meet the entire crew and tell us all our fate, judge our reactions, and then laugh at us later," YoungSaeng said with a smile._

_JungMin snorted at the look of horror on JongWoon's face. "Hey, he wasn't kidding. These powerful types like taking in others' misery."_

_JongWoon hid behind HyungJoon a little as they stopped at the airlock, HyunJoong opening it for them._

_"Don't worry JongWoon, I laugh at us all quite frequently," YoungSaeng said lightly, smiling at the negotiator._

_"That doesn't really help," HyungJoon frowned at the shapeshifter, reaching behind him to drag JongWoon back up next to him. "Just ignore them," he said quietly to his friend._

_When they were all through the airlock and the door sealed and locked behind them, YunHo's guide showed up. This one looked like he was made of some kind of rock, his limbs and joined grating every time he moved. They followed the rock alien through the ship and back to the waiting room outside of YunHo's office._

_"I'll be happier when we're not seeing this room every few days," YoungSaeng murmured to JungMin._

_"You were just complaining about being stir crazy," JungMin chuckled. But he felt the same way, he'd be much happier to be gone from the Valis station. As long as they weren't all being sent off to die._

_They weren't kept waiting long, the rock alien opening the door to YunHo's office for them. They filed in, YunHo filing some papers away in his desk before looking up at them._

_"Have a seat. I trust you haven't had any problems while you've been stationed here?" YunHo asked, looking at them._

_"No," HyunJoong shook his head; though that could have just been because they hadn't left the ship often._

_This being the first time KyuJong had met YunHo, he felt at ease around him almost immediately. Or at least, better than he had around SiWon. Sitting down next to HyunJoong, he kept quiet during the conversation, not able to add much._

_"So why are we here YunHo?" YoungSaeng asked, wanting to cut right to the chase. "I take it this is not about SiWon?"_

_"SiWon has been dealt with," YunHo shook his head. "Thank you for the information you brought. You won't be troubled by him again."_

_If being 'dealt with' meant what it usually meant, JungMin thought, then SiWon was dead. Good riddance._

_"I have been in touch with my counterparts in the other factions," YunHo continued, leaning forward. "Valis is prepared to make the step to unite the different factions together for this cause, but apart from Merin, the other factions aren't taking to the idea. Politics between us is tricky, there is a lot of bad blood to work around. It will take a while to agree on anything, but doesn't mean we have to wait on them for everything."_

_"What is it you want us to do?" HyunJoong asked quietly, sharp eyes on the Valis boss._

_YunHo's lips quirked slightly. "Nothing too dangerous, so you don't need to worry for now Captain. I'm not about to send you all into Sylar territory to be killed. However this _will_ bring you close to their borders, which is why I need you on this and not some of my own. Sylar is more likely to leave a human ship alone."_

_He placed a hologram projector on his deck and tapped it's surface, a projection of a map appearing in the air above it. "This is a reconnaissance mission. Valis has a treaty with one of the planet colonies in the Persius system, for protection against pirates and other factions. There are a few of our men stationed there. Three days ago, we lost contact with the colony completely."_

_YoungSaeng frowned at the mission details. It may not be jumping right into the hornet's nest, but they were close enough to throw stones at it. "You think Sylar is trying to expand into the Persius system now? They're stretching a little thin in that sector as it is."_

_"We're hoping it's not the case, since their numbers are so small there, but if so we need to nip this in the bud before it becomes a problem. As well, I have a duty to those people to find out what happened, whether it's just a faulty array or otherwise." YunHo looked at them all. "I'm not expecting you to jump into a fight. You have the station's coordinates, at the first sign of Sylar ships you are to go to warp and head right back here."_

_HyunJoong frowned lightly. "It could turn dangerous if Sylar ships are in the area."_

_"Yes it could be, but there isn't a system in the galaxy that isn't at least a little dangerous right now."_

_"Hopefully it's just a faulty array then," YoungSaeng nodded, glancing over at HyunJoong. Ultimately it was his decision (not that they had much wiggle room here). He turned back to YunHo with a frown. "How long do we have to prepare before we need to leave?"_

_"You have ten hours before I need you on your way," YunHo replied. "That should be more than enough to restock and prepare." He looked to HyunJoong. "Captain?"_

_Thinking about that, HyunJoong tapped his fingers lightly against his knee. He didn't like being so close to Sylar territory, but they'd been that close before, and YunHo had made it clear he didn't expect more than a report from them. He would be able to keep his crew safe with that._

_"All right, we will take a look," HyunJoong nodded, looking up at YunHo._

_The bronze-skinned man smiled. "Good. I will have the colony's coordinates sent to your ship's navigation." He looked at them each in turn, his gaze landing on the two Geckos. "I don't believe either of you are on the crew rosters?" he frowned lightly. "Will you be remaining at the station, or do you have arrangements to stay with this crew?"_

_Zhou Mi shrunk down a little in his seat, glancing around nervously at the question. "Um... well, we don't know," he said sheepishly glancing at HyunJoong out of the corner of his eye. "We asked for sanctuary, to hide from HeeChul..."_

_"They just never got added to the crew roster," KyuJong spoke up in the Gecko's defense. "They agreed to be helpful, so they were going to stay on board, right Captain?"_

_"The decision for them to stay on board was recent," HyunJoong nodded. Up until very recently, they had been under the impression the two would jump to SiWon's ship after a while. "But they are welcome to stay as part of the crew."_

_YunHo nodded in understanding. "Very well. Was there any questions?" He looked at them all._

_"I have just one question," YoungSaeng said, leaning forward a little. He looked at JungMin in amusement before turning back to YunHo. "Do you know who GyuRi is?"_

_JungMin managed not to groan, eyeing YoungSaeng beside him._

_YunHo blinked at them, head tilted slightly to one side. "Yes, I've met GyuRi before. Why?"_

_"We're looking for her," YoungSaeng said, his lips twitching in amusement. "If you could spread the word out that JungMin is looking for her, it would be appreciated. She usually turns up when she hears JungMin's name."_

_The Valis boss looked amused. "I will see what I can do."_

_JongWoon blinked at HyungJoon beside him, looking over at the two shifters. Who was GyuRi?_

_"So that's all?" HyunJoong asked._

_"Yes, I will expect to hear from you soon, Captain," YunHo nodded with a small smile. The group stood to leave, filing out of the office to where the rock alien was waiting in the room beyond._

_Following their guide back to the ship, YoungSaeng looked up at JungMin, a smile on his face. "So wonder how long it will take GyuRi to find you this time," he said in an amused face. "It was what, three days the last time?"_

_"Why are we making this into a game of hide and seek?" JungMin groaned, giving YoungSaeng the evil eye. "She's never going to leave me alone."_

_"Who's GyuRi?" JongWoon asked, looking back at them in confusion._

_"GyuRi is an old friend of ours, or rather, of JungMin's," YoungSaeng chuckled, linking his arm with JungMin's. "She was a contact on a job, but she fell pretty hard for Min."_

_HyungJoon bit his lip, trying to keep from laughing. "And what does JungMin think of her?" he asked, risking a glance backwards._

_"JungMin thinks she is a pest," JungMin huffed, cheeks puffed out indignantly._

_"I think I like this GyuRi person already," KyuHyun grinned._

_"Don't let him fool you, he treats her like a sister sometimes," YoungSaeng chuckled, poking JungMin in the side._

_"Never anything more than a sister?" KyuJong asked, having heard a bit of the conversation. He was a little amused at JungMin's irritation about this GyuRi person._

_"No!" JungMin shuddered in horror. "No, no, no and no!"_

_"I think that was a very clear answer," HyunJoong chuckled._

_YoungSaeng was having a hard time walking he was laughing so hard. "One time, we were staying at this little hole in the wall inn way out in some backwater system that didn't even have a proper name," he said, leaning against JungMin as they walked. "JungMin mentioned GyuRi once, in passing. Three days later we open up the room door to find her sprawled out on the bed."_

_KyuHyun snickered. "She sounds like some obsessive lover."_

_"Not obsessive lover, just plain crazy," JungMin grumbled, poking YoungSaeng's side._

_"She's fun," YoungSaeng squeaked at the poke, but didn't stop giggling. "I bet she'll turn up here by the time we get back from the mission."_

_"You don't think she'd try and go to the planet to meet us there?" KyuJong asked._

_"No, she's crazy, but not that stupid," YoungSaeng shook his head. "GyuRi dabbles in a lot of things, but if things get to be too much she disappears."_

_"Can't wait to meet her," HyungJoon grinned._

_"You'll change your mind the second you do," JungMin warned, sniffing and ignoring YoungSaeng with his arms folded over his chest._

_They reached the ship, HyunJoong opening the airlock and closing it behind them. "So who's volunteering for the supply and fuel runs?" he asked, leaning against the wall._

_Quirking his lips from side to side, YoungSaeng's eyes settled on JongWoon. "I'll go get supplies, the negotiator will go with me," he said._

_"Uh, I'm going to the bridge to get our course set," KyuJong said with a smile, brushing HyunJoong's arm lightly as he passed._

_Looking around, the two Geckos seemed to have disappeared as soon as the door closed. HyungJoon deflated. "I guess I'll get fuel," he mumbled._

_"I'll go with you then," JungMin shrugged, stretching out his arms._

_HyunJoong gave JongWoon a list of supplies. "Try not to break anything this time," he chuckled, and the older man flushed a little in embarrassment._

_"Or step on any tails," YoungSaeng said, grabbing the negotiator by the collar and pulling him through the airlock HyungJoon had just opened._

_Watching the two go, HyungJoon blinked up at JungMin. "YoungSaeng's not going to kill him and leave his body somewhere, is he?"_

_JungMin snorted. "No, just chew him up a little. Come on, let's go." He headed out the airlock, hands in his pockets as he looked around for where the fuel station would be._

_YoungSaeng let up on his grip of JongWoon's collar the further they got into the station, his eyes darting around in case of any trouble. "Just watch where you're going and try not to make any enemies, you think you can do that?" he murmured to the negotiator._

_Swallowing, JongWoon nodded. "Yeah, I'll be careful," he said quietly, biting his lower lip and following beside YoungSaeng, trying not to fall too far behind. At least seeing different races didn't scare him as much as before, and he was careful for tails now, stepping over a long dinosaur-like tail as they got into a more crowded area._

_They were lucky that YunHo was providing for their supplies, as they were running out of money and what little currency they did have was mostly Federation dollars. That didn't get you much, if anything out here. Getting what they needed at the major supply shop, YoungSaeng was respecting the nervous human a little more. He hadn't stared or stepped on anyone since they'd started and YoungSaeng was breathing a little easier once they started back towards the ship._

_As they were reaching the corridor to go back to the docking ring, YoungSaeng's eyes narrowed and his hand slid around JongWoon's arm. "Don't be alarmed, but we're being followed. Let's hurry back to the ship."_

_Eyes widening slightly, JongWoon swallowed thickly and nodded. "O-okay." Why were they being followed? YunHo had said they would be left alone._

_Their pace quickened, and JongWoon had to resist the urge to look behind them, sticking beside YoungSaeng and feeling a prickling at the back of his neck._

_They were getting close to the right corridor when two men stepped out in front of them, blocking their path. Scowling, YoungSaeng came to a stop, glancing behind to see three others had followed up behind. YoungSaeng wasn't sure what their race was, but they sure were ugly. Pig nosed and thick bodied, they made horrible grunting noises._

_"You two are from that human ship aren't you?" One said, the obvious ringleader the way the others grunt/laughed._

_"Not any of your business," YoungSaeng said, pulling JongWoon closer._

_"I'd say it's our business, since it was that _human_ ship that got SiWon killed," the leader growled._

_"No, bird brain's idiot self got him killed," YoungSaeng rolled his eyes._

_JongWoon tried not to stare, looking from one person to the other and trying to keep track of where they each were. Five of them, and it didn't look like they were going to just let them go. They must have been part of SiWon's crew._

_"SiWon was not an idiot, and you're going to pay for his death," snarled the leader, and the one to JongWoon's side stepped forward, making a swipe at the human. JongWoon yelped and jumped away, eyes wide._

_Pushing JongWoon down onto the ground, YoungSaeng grabbed the arm that was reaching for the human. A simple twist of his wrist and a hard tug had the pig nosed alien squealing and down on his knees. YoungSaeng slammed his elbow hard down into the crook of the alien's thick neck, snapping the shoulder and neck._

_With one down and out, YoungSaeng whirled around, watching each of the four others as best he could. He had no time to signal the ship or get any kind of help, and JongWoon was pretty useless as it was._

_"Human wants to play," the leader gurgled, pulling out a long blade._

_"Not human," YoungSaeng's eyes flashed and he lept at the alien, his form shifting in the air into the wolf. Colliding with the alien, YoungSaeng's jaws snapped in it's face until he managed to get in a good solid bite on it's neck and rip._

_"Yah, shifter!" came a squealy grunt behind him, YoungSaeng bounced away from the body, spinning around and snarling. One of the other's had JongWoon by the throat._

_While YoungSaeng was distracted, the two other aliens charged at him with blades of their own, ready to sink them into the wolf's fur._

_JongWoon was struggling to be free, but when he was lifted off the ground it turned into a struggle to breathe instead. Gasping, he tried to land a solid kick, the pig-like thing holding him laughing at the useless fight._

_Until JongWoon somehow hooked his feet around the alien's legs to yank hard, the two of them falling over to the ground. Yelping in pain as he was punched on the side of the face, JongWoon grabbed the offending hand and pulled as he rolled off from on top of the alien, dragging him onto his side and trying to pin him down._

_Trying to focus on the two attackers and not JongWoon's gasping breaths, YoungSaeng easily darted out of harms way, using the walls to bounce off of to get behind the attackers. Quick and nimble to the pig aliens slow and bulky, YoungSaeng was easily able to hamstring the one and knock him down into the other. While they were busy trying to disentangle themselves from one another, YoungSaeng shifted back into his human form, picking up one of the fallen blades as he strode over to the mass of aliens on the floor._

_"Tch, his friends are idiots too," YoungSaeng sneered, gripping the one on top's head, stabbing into his neck and yanking the blade across. He peered down at the one on the bottom, who was gurgling and frothing up blood. When they had fallen, he'd fallen on top of his own blade. Turning around, his eyes narrowed at JongWoon and the attacker he was dealing with._

_JongWoon had quickly realized trying to pin down an alien much stronger than him wasn't working, knocked off from on top of the creature. Seeing the flash of a blade, he barely got out of the way in time, landing a solid kick against the alien's elbow to make him drop the long dagger._

_The human reached the blade faster than his opponent, panicking and lashing out blindly when he felt a meaty hand close around his throat again. Red splashed and the alien gave a loud gurgling squeak, blood pouring from the gash across his face and through his eye sockets._

_Staring and trembling, JongWoon yelled in alarm when the alien reached for him again, stabbing the creature in the neck this time. The pig slumped over his lower body, dead._

_Having just caught the last bit of that struggle, YoungSaeng exhaled in relief seeing that JongWoon was okay. That and the negotiator had taken the alien down all by himself. Dropping the knife he had picked up, and went over to JongWoon's side. "You okay?" he asked softly, not wanting to startle JongWoon._

_Unable to stop staring, JongWoon swallowed painfully before pushing the alien off his legs with shaking hands. "Y-y-yeah," he mumbled, but he looked nothing short of traumatized. As white as a sheet except for a reddened cheek where he'd been punched, and slowly forming bruises around his throat, blood stains all over his clothes and hands. Trembling, he tried to stand once his legs were free, nearly pitching forward onto his face._

_Wrapping a secure arm around JongWoon's waist, YoungSaeng held him up, concern in his eyes. "Hey look at me, not at them. Just keep your eyes on me okay?" he said softly._

_JongWoon forced his eyes away from the dead alien and the growing puddle of blood, gaze lifting to YoungSaeng's slowly. After a moment he managed a small nod, shaking as he tried to stop himself from looking back down, in too much shock to even be ill._

_"Let's get back to the ship, get you cleaned up," YoungSaeng said with a smile. "Just keep your eyes on me," he gave JongWoon a reassuring squeeze before starting down the hall again. There were gawkers who had been watching the fight, but were scattering when the two started to walk slowly. Glancing now and then at JongWoon to make sure he was holding up okay, YoungSaeng could see the shock still registering in his eyes. Killing someone for the first time was always a huge moment, and JongWoon likely wouldn't ever forget what had happened._

_YoungSaeng was grateful when he saw JungMin and HyungJoon up ahead, the latter's eyes going wide and rushing towards them. "JongWoon?! What happened? Are you okay?"_

_Hearing his best friend's voice, JongWoon looked away from YoungSaeng to see HyungJoon hurrying towards them, JungMin right behind him. Trembling with wide eyes, it only seemed to sink in what had happened when the younger man was right in front of him. Vision blurring with tears as he shook harder, JongWoon wrapped his arms around HyungJoon tightly and buried his face in the engineer's shoulder, a choked sob escaping._

_JungMin looked from YoungSaeng to the negotiator and back, eyes worried. "Fight?" he asked quietly._

_Nodding YoungSaeng backed up a pace and drew JungMin to the side. He watched HyungJoon hold onto JongWoon tightly, rubbing his back and murmuring supportive words to him. After a moment, YoungSaeng laid a hand on HyungJoon's shoulder, the younger looking up at him._

_"Let's get him back to the ship," YoungSaeng said softly, they weren't that far. HyungJoon nodded and started to lead JongWoon towards the airlock._

_Following behind slowly with JungMin, YoungSaeng's lips quirked. "He killed one, all by himself," he said softly to JungMin._

_JungMin smiled a little sadly. "Well, looks like working with him wasn't as useless as you thought," he murmured, looking at the two in front of them. He wished that hadn't had to happen though; he remembered what the first time killing was like, and they'd been expecting it; JongWoon was a civilian. "I don't think you're going to get any practice out of him today though."_

_"No, he deserves a break, maybe a couple days off," YoungSaeng nodded, his hand finding JungMin's and squeezing it lightly. "I'm proud of him though, even if we might catch hell from YunHo about leaving a bloody mess in the halls."_

_"We can give him hell right back, he could have lost one of his precious humans with not getting the word out enough," JungMin grumbled. "What was the fight about?" They had to walk slowly, JongWoon not going very fast and none of them up for pressing him._

_"Friends of SiWon's not liking that he got his feathered ass toasted," YoungSaeng snorted. "They made the mistake of thinking I was human."_

_"And you made sure they won't ever make that mistake again," JungMin concluded, running his thumb over the back of YoungSaeng's hand. "I'll be glad when we're gone from here."_

_"Me too," YoungSaeng nodded. HyungJoon and JongWoon had reached the airlock up ahead of them, the younger leading his friend into the ship. "Maybe we should start on weapons training soon," he said, looking up at JungMin._

_"Might be a good idea," JungMin sighed. "Plastic weapons first though, before we know they're not going to stab themselves." They followed HyungJoon and JongWoon inside, the redhead turning to close and secure the airlock behind them._

_YoungSaeng nodded, leaning against the archway, still watching HyungJoon and JongWoon as they went up the stairs to the crew deck. "The guy was at least a head taller than him with a knife, I couldn't get to him, I had three guys on me. I'm... still amazed he did so well."_

_"Maybe he's like HyungJoon, he didn't do well with me but he was fine against the Gecko," JungMin shrugged. "Probably not a good idea to ask him anything right now though." He didn't expect to see the negotiator for a while._

_"No, I don't think I'll bring it up for a long while," YoungSaeng said, moving away from the airlock. "I should go tell the Captain what happened, before he hears about it from YunHo."_

_"Probably a good idea," the redhead said quietly, following him with his hands in his pockets. "I guess I'll be in our room."_

_"Alright, I'll be back in a bit," YoungSaeng smiled at him before climbing up the stairs and heading to the bridge once he was through the hatch. Peeking his head into the bridge, he saw both HyunJoong and KyuJong working. "Hey, we're all back, supplies should be delivered soon," he said, coming onto the bridge and shutting the door._

_HyunJoong looked up from the console, turning towards the door. "That's good," he smiled a little, resting his elbows against his knees as he looked at YoungSaeng. "Everything went well?"_

_"Um... not really no," YoungSaeng shook his head. Crossing his arms, he leaned up against the door and sighed. "The negotiator and I ran into a bit of trouble. Some of SiWon's friends looking for a fight."_

_"Is JongWoon okay?" KyuJong looked up, his eyes wide in worry._

_"He's.. he will be," YoungSaeng said, wincing a little._

_"Will be?" HyunJoong slowly stood up, eyes serious. "What do you mean by that, YoungSaeng? What happened?" Was JongWoon injured?_

_"He killed one of them, a knife to the face and throat," YoungSaeng said softly, meeting HyunJoong's eyes, his own pained and concerned. "He's going to need a bit of time to get over that. He's fine physically."_

_Worried about the older man, HyunJoong drew in a slow breath. JongWoon wasn't a fighter, they all knew that. He was a negotiator, and a medic (who got sick at too much blood), but not a fighter. It would definitely take a while for him to get over killing someone. "HyungJoon's with him?" he asked quietly._

_"Yes, we met him and JungMin outside the ship. I imagine they're in their room now," YoungSaeng  
nodded, looking down. "If I could have prevented him from having to do that, I would have, but there were five of them. He did good though, I think my training did help."_

_Nodding slowly, HyunJoong sighed. "I'm sure it did. JongWoon's stronger than we give him credit for, he'll be fine." He smiled at the shapeshifter. "Thank you for bringing him back safely."_

_"It was my pleasure," YoungSaeng said softly, inclining his head. "If you need me though, I'm going to take a rest," he said, opening the door and slipping back out into the hall._

_KyuJong blinked at that reaction from YoungSaeng, looking at HyunJoong in confusion. "Isn't JongWoon the one who irritates him the most?"_

_"I thought so," HyunJoong frowned a little, looking at the closed hatch before sitting back down next to KyuJong. "I wouldn't expect to see either JongWoon or HyungJoon again today," he said quietly, looking at KyuJong. "We've still got time before liftoff, it would be a good idea to get some rest as well." They'd be back on regular shifts once they were traveling again._

_Nodding, KyuJong looked back at the console before starting to shut it down. They'd got their course laid in and were ready to go once it was time. "Rest sounds good. Didn't get much of a nap earlier," he chuckled softly, turning the chair around and getting up. Stretching out his arms he looked down at HyunJoong. "Am I sleeping in my own bed though?"_

_"That's up to you," HyunJoong chuckled quietly, standing as well after shutting off his own station. "I wouldn't object to company," he said, straightening and looking at KyuJong beside him, head tilted slightly to one side._

_KyuJong pretended to think about that as he looked around. "Hmm, I guess I wouldn't mind sleeping in your bed. It is nicer than mine. Perk of being the Captain I take it?"_

_Smiling, HyunJoong headed towards the hatch. "Being Captain has to have some perks. So you've just been sleeping in my cabin for the last while because I have a nicer bed?"_

_"I might like it's owner too, but don't tell him," KyuJong said with a smile, following after him through the hatch._

_"I'll keep it a secret," HyunJoong chuckled, slowing to walk alongside KyuJong through the hallway._

_Grinning, KyuJong found HyunJoong's hand and laced their fingers together lightly, hoping that was okay. "Good, sometimes that Captain can be a little... prickly," he teased._

_"Prickly?" HyunJoong pursed his lips a little in thought. "I don't believe I know this Captain you're speaking of."_

_"No? Well, he's been getting better," KyuJong said with a shrug. "I think he's taken a new lover, that may have helped a little."_

_HyunJoong's smile widened, the expression so much easier to come to his face now than before. "I shall have to congratulate him then."_

_"I may have to as well, though I'm having a little trouble thinking of what I could do to congratulate him," KyuJong mused, his lips pursed as if in thought. "You have any ideas?"_

_The older man chuckled. "Hm, I'm not sure...maybe you could pass the idea on to this new lover that he could always stay in the Captain's quarters more permanently," he mused. "If he's always there anyways."_

_KyuJong's eyes widened and he stopped in the middle of the hall, staring at HyunJoong. Did HyunJoong just say he could move in with him? "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"_

_Stopping as well, HyunJoong looked back at KyuJong, blinking. Maybe that hadn't been the proper thing to suggest? "You're always in my cabin anyways, it was just an idea," he said, uncertainty entering his eyes as he tried to judge KyuJong's reaction to that. "If you would prefer not to, that's fine too."_

_"No, I want to, I will, as long as you think you're ready for that," KyuJong said, his eyes shining and smiling. He hadn't thought HyunJoong would be ready for something more serious for a while._

_Looking back at him, HyunJoong met KyuJong's eyes and gave a lopsided smile, turning back towards him. "I wouldn't have made the suggestion otherwise," he replied softly._

_Smiling back, KyuJong stepped closer to him, bringing a hand up to his cheek before he leaned in to give him a kiss. "Okay, I'll stay with you from now on," he said softly when he'd pulled back a little, looking in HyunJoong's eyes._

_"I wouldn't want it any other way," HyunJoong murmured, smiling as he rested their foreheads and noses lightly together, hands lightly at KyuJong's waist. "Let's go get some sleep."_

_KyuJong nodded, giving him another kiss before starting back down the hall. His hand found HyunJoong's again, squeezing lightly as he pulled the Captain along to their room._

_*****************************************31**********************************_

_Their ten hours were up before long, the crew getting ready to leave. KyuHyun had mapped them out a relatively safe course to the colony, avoiding troublesome factions. HyunJoong had their instructions from YunHo on display, going through them to make sure they weren't forgetting anything._

_Everyone was on deck helping, except for the 'twins'. No one had seen HyungJoon or JongWoon since the incident, their door remaining closed, and since they weren't specifically needed it was an unspoken agreement to let them rest._

_"All set?" HyunJoong sighed, sending out the request to undock and turning around to look at the others. KyuHyun gave a thumbs-up from the table, pinning down the edges of the map for reference._

_"Let's get as far from this place as possible, for at least a short while," YoungSaeng said, buckled in but leaning against JungMin. He was watching Zhou Mi fidget nervously in his seat, his tail was wrapped around KyuHyun's leg._

_KyuJong didn't say anything, focusing on getting the engines primed and checking sensors for any other ships moving around, but he nodded that he was ready._

_Tapping his fingers against the console, HyunJoong looked up as permission to undock came in. "Okay, let's get back out there," he nodded to KyuJong with a smile as he took up the co-pilot controls. KyuHyun moved to sit next to Zhou Mi for their departure, squeezing the other Gecko's shoulder lightly._

_JungMin pursed his lips, watching them all as he rubbed his hand along YoungSaeng's arm. It felt different without HyungJoon hovering around KyuJong's chair, poking at everything and annoying their pilot._

_"Yes, sir," KyuJong said with a smile, taking the controls again and releasing the docking clamps. The ship eased slowly away from the station, reversing until they had enough space to bank slowly to starboard. KyuJong sighed in relief when the stars were in front of them again and at a slow thrusting speed they maneuvered out of orbit of the planet._

_Having arrived in the hangar bay of another ship, they hadn't seen the system they had passed through on their way in. YoungSaeng watched out the window at the planets they passed by, his eyebrows raising a bit seeing it was a binary star system._

_It didn't take long and they were out of the system, KyuJong turning on the auto-pilot and turning a bit in his chair. "And we're off."_

_"Great," JungMin grinned, relieved to be back out in space. Like YoungSaeng, he'd been feeling uneasy on the station, especially after the encounter with SiWon's crew. "How long before we reach the colony?"_

_KyuHyun got up and went to put in their new course, tail waving. "About a week."_

_"Just how far is this colony from Sylar space then?" KyuJong asked, scooting over to look at the maps._

_"Not far enough it seems," YoungSaeng said with a sigh. He glanced over at the seats that JongWoon and HyungJoon usually sat in when on the bridge. He hoped the negotiator was doing okay._

_"Umm...I think I'll go get some dinner started then," Zhou Mi said, getting to his feet. "Mess hall in thirty? Yes?"_

_"Dinner sounds good," KyuJong looked over at the nervous Gecko with a smile._

_HyunJoong nodded at Zhou Mi as well, looking towards KyuHyun. The Geckos were starting to fit in rather well, despite being annoying at times._

_KyuHyun pursed his lips, finishing with the map and leaning back. "We'll be leaving Valis space in four days, the colony is in supposedly neutral territory between Valis and Sylar," he said, tracing out their path. "Apart from pirates, we should be clear of problems until we get too far from Valis borders._

_"But there's supposed to be Valis presence in that system yes?" YoungSaeng frowned. "Well either way we're going to have keep our eyes open, especially if there's pirates."_

_"We won't be making the same mistake as last time," KyuJong said softly._

_"That system has Valis support despite being outside their borders, some sort of treaty," KyuHyun shrugged. "I'm not clear on the details. Anything else you need me for?"_

_"No, we're set for now," HyunJoong replied, and the Gecko left to follow Zhou Mi to the mess hall. The Captain looked at the others. "We'll take shifts in pairs as usual, who wants first shift?"_

_"I'll take first shift," KyuJong said, glancing out the window. "I've missed the stars."_

_YoungSaeng stretched his arms out over his head. "Anything you need me to do then Captain? I think I may go lay back down for a bit," he said._

_"No, get some rest," HyunJoong smiled at the shifter, moving to a console to check the ship's status. JungMin stood up as well, figuring he might as well follow._

_Heading out the hatch, YoungSaeng waited for JungMin before continuing on towards the crew deck. "I don't like this mission one bit," he said softly._

_"No?" JungMin glanced at YoungSaeng beside him, hands in his pockets. "I thought you'd be happy to get out of the station, and it looks like something we can handle."_

_"I'm happy to be out of the station, but I don't like going in somewhere blind like this," YoungSaeng said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Especially on transport ship that hasn't ever seen a real fire fight."_

_JungMin nodded in understanding. "Nothing we can do about that though, these are civilians. Maybe we can gather enough favor with YunHo to get better upgrades; the stuff they have now is better than the mining lasers before, but we need more fire power."_

_"And shields," YoungSaeng agreed. They were passing by HyungJoon and JongWoon's room, the shapeshifter's eyes on the door. "Sometimes I forget just how..sheltered civilians can be," he murmured._

_"Yeah..." JungMin glanced at the door as well, shrugging a little. "But I'd rather they were civilians than military, you know?" he mused once they were past the door. "Military are pains in the ass. Civilians are just clueless."_

_"And civilians can be trained, military are too strict," YoungSaeng nodded, opening up their door when he reached it. Pulling off his boots, he padded over to the window to look out, leaning his hands on the sill. "I can't help but wonder if some of those missions we went on out here were the prelude to this mess."_

_"Maybe." JungMin closed the door behind them, kicking off his boots and leaning against the door. "Most likely. But we hardly had any choice in the matter, and didn't have the bigger picture."_

_"No, but it makes my skin crawl that we could have helped this in any way," YoungSaeng said, shaking his head. "Killing stupid politicians because they get too greedy is one thing."_

_"Everyone gets greedy eventually, even the people we worked for," JungMin shrugged. He pushed away from the door and walked over to YoungSaeng, wrapping his arms around the older man's waist from behind. "How 'bout this; we find anyone we used to work under in Sylar space, we kick their ass. Sound like fun?"_

_Chuckling, YoungSaeng leaned back against the younger man, resting his arms on the others. "Sounds like my kind of fun," he said, looking up at JungMin with a smile. "You always know how to make me see the bright side."_

_JungMin grinned down at him. "Someone has to stop you from going all gloom and doom." He ducked his head to kiss YoungSaeng on the lips._

_Returning the kiss, YoungSaeng nipped playfully at JungMin's lower lip. "Hey, gloom and doom helps keep me grounded," he chuckled, turning around in JungMin's arms to wrap his arms around the man's neck. "If I always thought things would turn out for the best, I would be severely disappointed."_

_"True," JungMin chuckled, hooking his fingers into YoungSaeng's pants to keep him close. "But if you're _always_ gloom and doom, you'd be a wet blanket," he teased. _

_"And that's why I have you," YoungSaeng smiled, leaning up to kiss JungMin softly on the lips again. "I don't know what I'd do without you."_

_Chuckling, JungMin kissed him back. "Lucky for you, you don't have to worry about that then." He drew YoungSaeng away from the window and sat down on the bed, pulling the older man into his lap._

_Settling in JungMin's lap, his knees pressed against the mattress, YoungSaeng played with the locks of red hair. "But what would happen if you met someone, and left me all by myself?" he asked, twining the hair around one finger._

_"Because that's going to happen," JungMin snorted, wrapping his arms properly around the older man's waist. "Hate to tell you but you're stuck with me."_

_"But what if that engineer finally comes around, and likes you back?" YoungSaeng whispered, not able to meet JungMin's eyes. "What if you don't need me anymore?"_

_About to retort that that was never going to happen, JungMin blinked at how YoungSaeng wasn't looking at him and realized he wasn't just teasing. "...Hey," he sighed, tucking his fingers under YoungSaeng's chin and making the older man look up at him. At the same time, he shifted into his true form, the dim light in the room reflecting off his glass-like skin._

__"I'm always going to need you, okay?"_ he told YoungSaeng in their own language, soft breaths and echoing almost-whistles. _"Only you understand."_ _

_Feeling tears welling in his eyes, YoungSaeng shifted as well before they could fall. He looked at JungMin with his silver eyes, smiling softly. _"I couldn't get through this without you,"_ YoungSaeng responded. His hands came around to frame JungMin's jaw, fingers smoothing over the glass-like skin. _"Can we stay like this?"_ he asked, his fingers were slowly melting against JungMin's cheeks._

_JungMin smiling, one hand lightly against the middle of YoungSaeng's back and the other running through see-through strands of hair. _"Yeah,"_ he murmured in return, leaning in to kiss him softly. _

__"Thank you,"_ YoungSaeng whispered in the kiss, his hands had all but disappeared into the side of JungMin's cheeks. Their lips molded together, indistinguishable where one started and the other ended._

_The hand in YoungSaeng's hair had meshed with the strands, the other sliding under the older man's shirt. They both needed this, JungMin pulling YoungSaeng closer as their bodies slowly melded together._

_******************_

_In their room, HyungJoon was curled up around JongWoon protectively in bed. After having to help him bathe all the blood off and change into clean clothes, HyungJoon hadn't left JongWoon's side the entire time. The older man hadn't said much the entire time, and HyungJoon didn't want to press any kind of conversation on him if he was still in shock._

_HyungJoon kind of understood what the older man was going through, after getting some sketchy details about JongWoon having killed someone, but that didn't stop him from worrying. He had never seen his best friend like this before, and after having slept a good chunk of the day, HyungJoon knew JongWoon was awake, and tried to be as comforting a presence as he could._

_JongWoon was lucky his sleep had included no dreams; they would have surely been nightmares. He just couldn't get the image of the dead alien out of his head, and he had to open his eyes before long in the hopes of finding something else to focus on. What he saw was a fabric right in front of his nose, face pressed against HyungJoon's shirt in the same position they'd been in for hours now. He'd cried at some point, but HyungJoon's shirt was dry by now, if not slightly crumpled from staying in bed most of the day._

_Finally he lifted his head slightly from HyungJoon's chest, tousled hair and red-rimmed eyes as he looked up at his best friend._

_Feeling JongWoon shifting against him, HyungJoon opened his eyes and looked down. Smiling softly, he rubbed his hand up and down the others back soothingly. "Hey," he murmured, shifting down a little so they were more face to face._

_JongWoon watched HyungJoon move down. "Hey," he whispered in return. After a moment he realized he could hear a familiar, steady hum through the ship. "We're moving?"_

_"Yeah, we left the station a little while ago," HyungJoon nodded. "I guess we're on our way to that planet. We've been in here a while."_

_Nodding slowly, JongWoon curled his fingers into HyungJoon's shirt. "Thank you," he said quietly, not meeting the younger man's eyes._

_"Any time," HyungJoon said, leaning in to kiss JongWoon on the forehead. "How are you feeling?"_

_"Better," JongWoon replied quietly, closing his eyes at the tender kiss before opening them again. "I'm glad now I never made the cut for the military," he murmured, shivering._

_"Me too," HyungJoon squeezed him a little tighter. "Did you want to talk about it at all? It can help."_

_The older man swallowed a little, looking down and nodding a little. "...There were people following us," he mumbled after a moment, gaze on HyungJoon's collar. "People from SiWon's crew."_

_"Oh... I guess they liked that SiWon guy then," HyungJoon frowned. He and JungMin hadn't run into any trouble like that, and he wished it had been them instead of the other two. "So what happened?" he asked softly, eyeing the bruises on his friend's neck._

_JongWoon chewed on his lower lip, closing his eyes. "They wanted to fight...actually I think they wanted to kill us, but YoungSaeng fought them. One of them grabbed me to get YoungSaeng's attention...and I fought back. He pulled a knife and I-I made him drop it, and got to it before he did." His voice became quieter and quieter, tears in his eyes._

_Pain in his eyes, HyungJoon smiled sadly at his friend. He was a little relieved that JongWoon had been able to fight back, but from where the story was leading it wasn't good. "You killed him then," HyungJoon said softly. JongWoon had been covered in blood, but didn't have much more than a couple scratches on him. He hugged JongWoon tighter. "I'm sorry."_

_Sniffling, JongWoon held on to HyungJoon tightly, eyes squeezed shut. "He was going to k-kill us, I shouldn't be so upset," he whimpered into HyungJoon's shirt. "B-but..."_

_"But you did what you had to do, and that meant killing him," HyungJoon nodded, cuddling JongWoon close. "You took a life, it's a big deal."_

_Nodding, JongWoon drew in a shaky breath. "I hope this is all finished soon," he whispered. "I don't want to fight."_

_"I don't either," HyungJoon agreed. He'd killed that officer before, and never wanted to do it again. They just weren't cut out for this kind of life. "But I'd rather it was him than you."_

_Giving a trembly smile, JongWoon sniffled and buried his face against HyungJoon's collar again, just soaking in his best friend's presence as much as he could. "Thank you," he whispered again. He really didn't know what he'd do without HyungJoon._

_Pressing kisses to the top of JongWoon's head, HyungJoon held him as tight as he could. "Look at it this way, maybe YoungSaeng won't be so irritated with you during practice now," he said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood._

_JongWoon gave a watery chuckle. "Maybe. I'll probably still trip over my own feet more than anything." Evaluations of any sort didn't go over with him. "I didn't ask YoungSaeng if he was okay," he realized, opening his eyes again._

_"I'm sure he's fine, he looked okay," HyungJoon said, rubbing his back a little before pulling back. "Did.. did you want to go see if he was okay?"_

_The negotiator didn't feel like moving really, but he did want to see if YoungSaeng was okay; he'd taken on four of them by himself. Drawing in a breath, JongWoon nodded, looking up at him. "Should probably get out of bed eventually," he murmured, giving a tiny smile._

_"Okay, but we can come right back if you want," HyungJoon said, returning the smile. "Come on, let's get up," he slowly sat up and scooted off the bed before turning and holding out his hands for JongWoon._

_Sitting up as HyungJoon did, JongWoon moved over to the edge of the bed and took his friend's hands, standing. The bruises from the fight hurt, mostly his throat and his cheek, but otherwise he was okay. "Think they're in their room?" he asked quietly, having no doubt JungMin was with YoungSaeng._

_"Probably, we can try there first," HyungJoon said, still holding onto JongWoon's hand. "We should do something for those bruises afterward," he frowned._

_"It'll be fine, we shouldn't wasting supplies for small things," JongWoon said quietly. After a moment he moved towards the door, not letting go of HyungJoon's hand._

_"If you're sure," HyungJoon frowned, but followed after him out the door and into the corridor. They walked down to the shapeshifter's room, HyungJoon rubbed JongWoon's arm in support while he knocked._

_The door opened a small bit, YoungSaeng peeking out with tired eyes. "Yes?" he asked softly, looking between them._

_JongWoon looked up at YoungSaeng when he answered, seeing the exhaustion in the younger man's eyes. Swallowing, he kept his grip on HyungJoon's hand. "I...just wanted to see if you were okay," he said quietly, meeting his eyes. "You weren't hurt, right?"_

_YoungSaeng looked at JongWoon for a moment, his expression unreadable before he opened the door a little more and leaned against the doorframe. "No, I wasn't hurt," he said softly, shaking his head. "Are you okay?"_

_"Getting there," JongWoon gave a small, tight smile, looking down for a moment before back up. "Thank you for everything," he said quietly, trying for a better smile. "We'll let you sleep now." He tugged on HyungJoon's hand slightly._

_Watching them go for a moment, YoungSaeng sighed and stepped out of the room. "Wait... please," he said. HyungJoon stopped and turned to look back at him. "Can I speak to him alone for a minute HyungJoon?"_

_"Uh.." HyungJoon blinked and looked at JongWoon before nodding. "Um, okay, I'll be in the room okay?" he said, giving JongWoon's hand a squeeze before slowly walking back._

_Blinking, JongWoon looked back at HyungJoon leaving before turning to YoungSaeng, confused. What did YoungSaeng want to talk to him about?_

_Waiting until HyungJoon was gone, YoungSaeng shut the door to his and JungMin's room. Folding his arms over his chest he looked at JongWoon for a moment, taking a deep breath. "I'm glad you're okay, and... I'm proud of you for being able to take on that alien. I may have been hard on you during practice, but I can see you really were learning." He looked down at the floor before speaking again. "I hope that you never have to do that again."_

_That made two of them, but JongWoon chose to focus on the rest of YoungSaeng's words. Looking down at the floor as well, he drew in a breath before looking up at the younger man. "Thank you for helping me," he said quietly. "I...I don't want to be completely useless. And I'm glad you're okay too." He bit his lower lip, swallowing as he looked at YoungSaeng. "It...doesn't get any easier, does it?" he asked softly after a pause._

_YoungSaeng's lips thinned a little and he shook his head. "No, it doesn't," he replied. "We just have to cope as best we can." Taking a step towards JongWoon, YoungSaeng put his hand on the other's shoulder. "If you want to talk about it, I'm willing to listen. What you did today... was traumatic, and I understand completely. You're not completely useless."_

_JongWoon gave a shaky smile, eyes slightly glassy as he looked at YoungSaeng. "Thank you," he said quietly, drawing in a breath. "I'll be...okay for now. But thank you, really...it means a lot."_

_"You're welcome," YoungSaeng returned the smile. "I'll try not to snap at you during practice anymore, whenever we get back to that," he said, bringing his hand from JongWoon's shoulder to fuss with the man's hair that was going in every direction. "I think dinner is going to be done soon, will I see you in the mess hall?"_

_The older man turned slightly pink at the hand fixing his hair, swallowing and nodding a little. "…Yeah, I’ll be there," he replied._

_"Alright then, see you in a little while," YoungSaeng said, patting him on the shoulder before turning and disappearing back into his and JungMin's room._

_Watching him go, JongWoon stood there for a minute looking at the door before turning and heading back towards his and HyungJoon's room. He felt a little better after checking on YoungSaeng, as well as after hearing YoungSaeng didn't think him completely useless._

_He opened the door to the room, slipping back inside and closing it behind him._

_Looking up when JongWoon came back in, HyungJoon looked wide eyed up at him. "What was that about?"_

_JongWoon gave a small smile, going back to the bed and crawling up next to his friend. "He doesn't think I'm useless," he said softly, relief in his voice as he buried his face against HyungJoon's shoulder._

_HyungJoon blinked at that, his arms automatically going around JongWoon's waist. "Of course you're not useless," he protested, but seeing as how that had made JongWoon feel better, he held onto him tightly. "Well I never thought you were useless anyway."_

_"Thank you," JongWoon smiled a little more, scooting close and just resting. Being considered useless or troublesome was something he tried hard to avoid, but always happened anyways no matter what he did._

_"He said there'll be dinner soon," he murmured after a moment, peeking up at HyungJoon. "I think I'll be okay."_

_"You sure? I can just bring it back for us," HyungJoon said, looking down at him in concern. "You know the Captain's going to want a report about what happened."_

_Drawing in a breath, JongWoon nodded. "I know," he replied quietly. "It'll be fine." He needed to keep pulling his weight, even if he would probably have nightmares for a while._

_"Well.. don't push yourself," HyungJoon sighed, hugging him tightly. "I'm sure HyunJoong will understand. You want to go head down to the mess hall now then?"_

_"Yeah," JongWoon nodded again, hugging HyungJoon back. After a moment he slowly let go and climbed back to his feet, brushing his hair down a little and smiling gratefully at his best friend._

_Getting to his feet as well, HyungJoon put his hands in pockets and smiled back. "Well let's go then. If you get overwhelmed or anything just say so and we can come right back here."_

_"I will," JongWoon nodded, drawing in a breath. He did stick close to HyungJoon as they made their way to the door and out into the hallway, looking around for any of the others. They were probably already in the mess hall._

_Walking beside JongWoon, they reached the mess hall door, opening it up to let his friend go first, HyungJoon saw that JungMin and YoungSaeng were already there sitting at a table while Zhou Mi was still bustling around the kitchen._

_YoungSaeng looked up when the two entered, smiling softly at JongWoon before returning to his conversation with JungMin._

_"Captain and Kyu not coming down?" HyungJoon asked when they sat down at the table._

_"KyuJong is on duty, I'm sure the Captain will bring him something to eat later," YoungSaeng said softly, resting his head on JungMin's shoulder. HyungJoon could tell the older man wasn't quite there at the moment, his eyes far away and expression dim. He wasn't about to pry though, and focused on JongWoon._

_Nodding slightly, JongWoon looked down at the table, not sure what to say so just keeping his silence. JungMin rubbed YoungSaeng's back slowly, eyeing the other two across from them. He could sense KyuHyun watched them from the kitchen entrance, probably wondering what was with the gloomy atmosphere._

_The silence was thankfully broken by Zhou Mi emerging from the kitchen with a large pot of soup. The Gecko was chattering away in that language HyungJoon couldn't understand and the engineer had no idea who Zhou Mi was talking to so animatedly._

_"Well it looks good Mi," HyungJoon cut in on the babble with a smile. The blue alien smiled at him and dished out bowls for everyone._

_Thanking the Gecko quietly when he was given his bowl, JongWoon stirred it around with his spoon before taking a careful sip. It tasted good too, warming him as he slowly relaxed a little more. KyuHyun wandered over to sit with them, taking his own bowl. The Gecko seemed thankfully to have caught the hint of not mentioning anything about the fight to them._

_"So how long will we be traveling?" JongWoon asked quietly after a moment._

_"We're a week away from the colony," KyuHyun shrugged. "If we keep a good time."_

_"Guess it's a good thing we got those upgraded sensors," HyungJoon said, thinking about what YunHo had said and what they were supposed to be doing out there. "We'll be able to see any of those Sylar ships well before they see us."_

_"Hopefully there's no faction ships out there at all," JungMin grumbled. But the chances it was just a faulty array was slim. A faulty array could be worked around._

_"The colony's pretty cut-off from everyone, not many trade with it," KyuHyun commented. "If there are _any_ ships in the area I'd be worried." _

_"Odd that a colony is in such an out of the way spot between two rival factions," YoungSaeng said softly, eating his soup slowly. "It's not a mining colony is it?"_

_"Yeah, it is," KyuHyun nodded. "Which is why they have a deal with Valis for their protection, only Valis can't protect them from much if communications are down."_

_"A mining colony that close to Sylar... I'm surprised they lasted this long honestly," YoungSaeng sighed, shaking his head. "Depending on what they're mining, that's too big a carrot for Sylar to resist."_

_"Well it wasn't a problem until Sylar started expanding like a balloon," KyuHyun rolled his eyes. "The closest faction was Valis by a landslide. And as much as they must have wanted to, you can't really move a whole planet."_

_"Well you can, but it's expensive and difficult," YoungSaeng shrugged. "I just don't like going into situations like this. There could be any number of reasons why the colony lost contact. Sylar being just one."_

_"Whatever is going on over there, we'll find out," JungMin said, keeping his arm around YoungSaeng as he ate. "And we'll either deal with it, or head back to get someone else to deal with it. It'll be fine."_

_YoungSaeng nodded, falling silent after that. He set down his spoon and hid his face against JungMin's shirt when he was finished eating. He hadn't slept well when he tried for a nap earlier, and was exhausted._

_JungMin rubbed YoungSaeng's arm. "Want to go back to the room?" he murmured to the older man, just about finished his soup. None of them were up for talking much anyways._

_"Yeah," YoungSaeng responded, looking up at him with a soft smile As much as he liked the others, he'd much rather just be alone with JungMin at the moment. He glanced over at JongWoon. That one he still wasn't sure what to do about._

_Nodding, JungMin finished his soup and pushed the bowl away, standing. "Thanks for dinner," he smiled at Zhou Mi, sticking beside YoungSaeng. JongWoon looked up at them as they were leaving._

_"Welcome," Zhou Mi called after them with a smile. HyungJoon had watched them go as well then turned to JongWoon._

_"You wanna get going too?" he asked softly, rubbing his friend's back._

_Looking up at his friend, JongWoon nodded a little. "Yeah," he smiled gratefully. His appetite just wasn't with him, despite the soup being very good._

_"Okay let's go," HyungJoon smiled, getting to his feet. "Thank you for the meal Zhou Mi, it was very good," he said, helping JongWoon to his feet and leading him to the door. "You need anything? Or you just want to go back to sleep?"_

_"Sleep would be good I think," JongWoon gave a strained smile. "You're...staying with me, right?" he asked quietly as they stepped out into the hallways._

_"Of course, I'm not going anywhere even if you try to shove me out the door," HyungJoon teased a little, taking JongWoon's hand as they walked._

_*****************************************32*************************************_

_The trip to the colony was still quiet four days in. JongWoon was up and about, going over supplies and the like, but was still being left out of practicing. He still had nightmares about the fight and wasn't sleeping well, and none of them really wanted to see how badly he would have to mess up to knock himself out._

_That didn't excuse the rest of them from practice, and they were steadily improving in technique. They all took practice seriously, not wanting to leave JungMin and YoungSaeng as the only two who could fight._

_HyunJoong wandered down the hallways towards the cargo hold, getting ready to practice. It was JongWoon and HyungJoon's turn to watch the bridge, leaving the others free to get some practice in before resting._

_"Hyun, wait up." KyuJong was trotting down the corridor towards him. When he caught up, he smiled at the other and took the man's hand. "Ready for another exciting afternoon of getting beaten up?"_

_Chuckling, HyunJoong's fingers curled around KyuJong's lightly as they walked, looking over at the younger man. "I suppose I am, it's either that or go over logs again. You'd think there'd be less paperwork to do when on the run. Rest after?"_

_"Sounds good to me," KyuJong smiled over at him. "I'm sure the logs can wait until we're on duty again. We've still got a couple days before we hit that system."_

_Nodding, HyunJoong returned the smile. "We're making decent time though, it'll probably be over before long." They were all nervous about this assignment._

_"You hoping same as I that we'll be able to turn tail and run before anyone sees us?" KyuJong asked with a soft laugh._

_"I'm hoping there's no _reason_ to turn tail, but yes, that would be the second best thing," HyunJoong chuckled. They were approaching the cargo hold. "The others seem to be recovering though." _

_"Yeah, JongWoon seems to be in better spirits, at least on the outside," KyuJong said with a frown. Opening up the hatch when they reached it, he stepped through and went to the railing of the catwalk. YoungSaeng and JungMin were already there, sparring as a warm up. "Is it just me, or does it seem like YoungSaeng was more bothered by what happened than JongWoon?" he asked HyunJoong in a whisper._

_Lips pursing in a small frown, HyunJoong nodded. "It seems that way." JongWoon had had several moments where he'd needed to retreat back to his room with HyungJoon, and there were the obvious nightmares, but he seemed to be recovering. YoungSaeng on the other hand had remained quiet and depressed since they'd left the station. "Wonder why."_

_"Dunno, JungMin's not really talking about it and I'm not going to ask." KyuJong shook his head as he turned and started down the stairs. Having watched the two shapeshifters spar many times now, it was impossible to tell which one of them were stronger. Neither seemed to give any ground and rarely landed hits on the other._

_It was absolutely fascinating to watch they way the two seemed to move, it was like a well choreographed dance, even if he couldn't follow all the moves. Not wanting to interrupt, KyuJong leaned up against one of the containers to wait until the two noticed they had arrived._

_A few minutes passed before there was a slight lull in the fight, the two shifters taking a small breather and circling each other. JungMin glanced over YoungSaeng's shoulder and saw the two watching from the side, lips quirking a little. "Hey," he waved, brushing red hair out of his eyes. "Enjoying yourselves?"_

_"Well, we know why you both always look so bored when training with us," HyunJoong chuckled._

_YoungSaeng looked over his shoulder at the two for a moment before he turned back. "We need to do that more often," he said lowly, a small smile on his lips. Never mind that they had been sparring a lot the past few days; it kept YoungSaeng's mind occupied and not on things he couldn't change. "Let us take a small break to catch our breath, then we can begin," he said, turning around to the other two. "Unless you two want to try and spar with each other while we do so."_

_Tilting his head slightly at that idea, HyunJoong turned to KyuJong beside him. "What do you think, want to give it a try?" He didn't want to accidentally hurt KyuJong though._

_"KyuJong's gonna wipe the floor with you," JungMin grinned, obviously taking pride in how well his 'student' was progressing._

_KyuJong blinked and looked at HyunJoong, giving a shrug. "Sure, why not?" he said with a grin, pushing away from the containers. "I'll try to take it easy on you."_

_Moving out of the way, YoungSaeng sat down on the floor and leaned up against a container. "The student is as cocky as the teacher," he mused._

_"He has reason to be," JungMin grinned as he sat down next to YoungSaeng, watching the two move more into the middle of the room. "You don't think HyunJoong's been getting better?"_

_"Oh, he has improved a great deal, but he doesn't need to gloat about it, and neither do I," YoungSaeng said lightly, resting his head on JungMin's shoulder._

_"Ready?" KyuJong was bouncing a little on the balls of his feet, grinning at HyunJoong._

_"Ready," HyunJoong nodded after loosening his shoulders a little, getting into position. After a moment of judging KyuJong's stance, he lashed out with a punch to the younger man's stomach._

_Dodging to the side, KyuJong grabbed HyunJoong's wrist and tugged hard to pull him through the motion. Pivoting on one foot, he swept out the other to slam into the back of HyunJoong's knee and followed through the motion with a hard shove to his back, sending him sprawling._

_HyunJoong hadn't been taken down by YoungSaeng so many times to not figure out a counter-attack. Not letting KyuJong pull away, he grabbed the younger man's wrist to pull him down with him while keeping himself from landing on his face. He maneuvered to pin KyuJong down, pulling the pilot's arm up and behind him._

_KyuJong winced at the angle his arm was in, but kept his focus. He really didn't want to hurt HyunJoong either, but they had medical supplies if things got too bad. Trying to judge where HyunJoong was on top of him, KyuJong bucked his hips up to jostle HyunJoong forward, bringing his head back sharply to collide the back of his head with HyunJoong's nose._

_Thankfully HyunJoong jerked his head back in time to avoid a broken nose, but the impact was enough to daze him for a few seconds, instinctively leaning back and easing up a little on the arm in his grip._

_That was enough for KyuJong to wriggle out of HyunJoong's grip and flip over. Just as he was about to kick at HyunJoong's stomach with both feet, the speakers overhead crackled._

_" _Captain to the bridge!_ " HyungJoon called, sounding a little panicked._

_YoungSaeng was on his feet immediately, that hadn't sounded good._

_HyunJoong stopped sparring right away, nearly getting kicked. After quickly checking to make sure his nose wasn't bleeding from the impact, he got out his com device, glancing at the others. "On my way."_

_JungMin jumped up as well, blinking. "What is that about?" HyunJoong was already on his way up the stairs._

_Scrambling up, KyuJong was running after HyunJoong. If they were in trouble, he would need to be able to take over for HyungJoon. YoungSaeng glanced at JungMin before following after. "Let's hope it's not pirates again."_

_"Don't jinx us," JungMin replied, hurrying along. At least it didn't feel like they were being boarded again, the ship running smoothly as usual._

_They reached the bridge in under a minute, HyunJoong looking between HyungJoon and JongWoon as he came up behind their seats. "What's wrong?" The negotiator was looking a little pale._

_"Um.. we're getting a distress beacon, passenger transport under attack," HyungJoon said, immediately getting up when he saw KyuJong coming in behind HyunJoong. "We're flying right at them."_

_"Under attack by who?" KyuJong frowned, taking over the controls and going over the sensor logs. "We'll be on them in less than five."_

_"They said... pirates," HyungJoon gulped, looking at HyunJoong with wide eyes._

_"...Told you not to jinx us Saeng," JungMin groaned, leaning against the table. "What in the world is a passenger transport doing all the way out here, there's hardly anywhere they could have come from and it's not a safe route."_

_"What are we going to do, Captain?" JongWoon asked nervously, looking back at HyunJoong. A passenger transport under attack...they couldn't just leave them, right?_

_HyunJoong pressed his lips firmly together, sitting down and going over the logs with KyuJong. "Can we get an idea of how many pirate ships there are, and their make?"_

_"We're almost in sensor range," KyuJong nodded, bringing up the display and typing a few things into the console._

_"The only thing out here is that colony," YoungSaeng said, crossing his arms over his chest and waiting._

_"Okay, I've got two ships coming up on sensors," KyuJong said, leaning in. "One is obvious transport, the other... I have no idea, Saeng?" he looked up at the shapeshifter who was behind him. YoungSaeng leaned down to look. He made a snorting noise and shook his head._

_"Those aren't pirates, they're scavengers," YoungSaeng muttered. "That's a scout ship, they have limited firepower and can't move very fast. Pirates who fly those only go after weak ships like transports."_

_JungMin rolled his eyes. "Okay, so we've got a transport under attack by pests. They've probably already boarded the ship, and those ships usually have small crews of pirates, about the same amount as last time."_

_"Do you think the passenger ship came from the colony then?" JongWoon asked quietly, looking back at them._

_HyunJoong nodded. "There's a good chance so. We might be able to figure out what's going on with the colony...if we get them away from the pirates safely." He looked at YoungSaeng. "Is it doable, that's the question?"_

_"Easily," YoungSaeng smiled at HyunJoong. "Transport ships like that should have secondary airlocks. Get us attached, JungMin and I will go over and assess the threat, maybe drag the Geckos along for a bit of spying. If they're as stupid as the last ones they won't even be checking their sensors and won't see us coming."_

_The Captain met YoungSaeng's eyes, then nodded. "All right, then that's what we'll do. KyuJong, move in carefully." He took up co-pilot controls, strapping in._

_"What do we do?" JongWoon asked, looking nervous._

_"You're all on standby until we figure out what's going on," JungMin shook his head, going back to the hatch. "C'mon Saeng, let's grab the Geckos and get ready."_

_"Oh, Captain, we'll be raiding the weapons locker, just to let you know," YoungSaeng said on their way out of the hatch._

_"I don't think they've noticed us yet," KyuJong said, the two ships coming into viewing range. He'd turned off the auto-pilot and was easing the ship closer, going over the sensor readout of the transport ship for their second airlock. The transport was easily twice the size of the pirate ship and was blocking their approach. A few minutes and adjustments later they were docked with the transport ship._

_JungMin listened to the slight shifting in the ship as they docked, hurrying along the corridor with the other three towards the airlock. "Okay, so the ship's been boarded by pirates and taken hostage. We need to get in there and see what the situation is before we get rid of the pirates."_

_"You mean _we_ go in there and see what the situation is, don't you?" KyuHyun sighed. "Camouflage and all." _

_"If we could change into Geckos and do it ourselves we would, but frankly we're not up on our Gecko anatomy and don't want to spend twenty minutes getting it right," YoungSaeng said, rolling his eyes. At the airlock he stopped and took out his com device. "We're ready Kyu, can you get the other ship's airlock open?"_

_" _Already done, they didn't have them locked._ "_

_YoungSaeng closed the device and shoved it back in his pocket, looking at the two Geckos. "We'll make sure there's no one waiting on the other side first, then you two go. If you're not back in ten we'll assume you're caught, or dead."_

_"Gee, that's making us feel loads better," KyuHyun drawled, eyeing the airlock warily._

_JungMin motioned them both back before carefully opening the airlock, making sure to make the least amount of noise as possible. He slipped in with YoungSaeng, carefully checking the entranceway. It looked like the pirates weren't watching this part of the ship, probably occupied with where the passengers were._

_"Go," YoungSaeng spoke softly to the two Geckos when they saw the coast was clear, watching them fade away and slip off onto the ship. "How many you think?" he asked JungMin softly._

_JungMin tilted his head to one side, trying to listen. "A scout ship that small...maybe seven to ten?"_

_"Would be easy enough if there weren't passengers to worry about," YoungSaeng muttered. Back pressed against one wall to look down the corridor, he crossed his arms over his chest to wait for the Geckos to return._

_"Stupid passenger ships don't have any security," JungMin sighed, waiting as well._

_A minute later there was a ripple along the wall moving in their direction. "One of the kids is being held at gunpoint," KyuHyun whispered. "But the guy's hardly paying attention since the kid isn't struggling."_

_"How many are there, and where?" YoungSaeng replied, easing the handgun he'd taken from the weapons locker out of his waist band._

_"I saw three on the bridge, one crew," Zhou Mi whispered from the other side. "Two more circling the halls to check for more passengers. They're being held in the cargo bay."_

_"And that's where the kid at gunpoint's being held?" YoungSaeng asked, looking in the direction of Zhou Mi._

_"Yes."_

_"Back on the ship, lock the airlock, don't open it for anyone but us," YoungSaeng said, looking to JungMin and nodding before heading out into the hall._

_JungMin followed YoungSaeng. "So are we doing a Trojan Horse again? Posing as a pirate, or a passenger?" They needed to get to the kid being held hostage first, and the fastest way to do that was to go along with the innocent bystander story._

_YoungSaeng nodded, considering their options. "We find one of those pirates cruising the halls and hide in obvious sight. We'll figure out what to do when we know what's going on in that cargo bay."_

_"Sounds like a plan," JungMin grinned. Making it up as they go was how he liked doing things anyways. Drawing in a breath, he drew the knife and gun he'd grabbed into his skin, making them disappear._

_It didn't take long to find one of the pirates, footsteps echoing down a hallway in their direction. JungMin flashed YoungSaeng a grin before tucking himself into a closet, partly-open and as obvious as you could get without being flat-out in the hallway._

_YoungSaeng followed suit, waiting for the footsteps to get close enough until he darted into a room, making sure the door closed loudly enough to be heard. Crouching down in a corner of the storage room, the gun melted into his hand and disappeared. Drawing his knees up to his chest, he stared at the door to wait._

_The footsteps got louder, and just as he had hoped, the door swung open, the pirate filling the doorway, pointing a gun at him. "Yah, you! On your feet!" YoungSaeng scrambled to obey, his eyes wide in fear and trembling all over._

_"D-don't hurt us," he whimpered, shuffling closer to the pirate._

_"Us? Someone else in here with you?" the pirate snagged YoungSaeng's collar when he got close enough. YoungSaeng didn't say anything, his eyes going to the closet door JungMin was in._

_"Out of the closet or I'll splatter this one's brains all over the walls," the pirate pressed the gun to YoungSaeng's temple. Luckily, the safety was still on, something the pirate didn't seem to notice._

_Peeking out of the closet with wide eyes at the pirate's words, JungMin swallowed nervously and shuffled out of the closet, nearly tripping on the slight raise to the floor as he held both hands up to show he was unarmed. "I'm out, don't shoot him," he pleaded._

_"Get over here, now," the pirate motioned with the gun before returning it to YoungSaeng's temple. JungMin stumbled over to where he was told. "Start walking, both of you," the pirate shoved YoungSaeng forward to walk in front of him, keeping his gun leveled at them._

_Walking along with his head ducked, JungMin shot YoungSaeng a sideways look that conveyed his exact feelings on idiot pirates._

_YoungSaeng rolled his eyes out of view of the pirate but continued to walk, acting as nervous as possible. The pirate directed them through the ship to a hatch, pushing them through._

_"Found two more hiding in storage," the pirate called. YoungSaeng's eyes darted around the room, taking note of the positions of the other pirates in the room. Including the one that had a young kid in his arms, gun at his head._

_"Go sit with the others," the one with the kid snapped at them, and YoungSaeng quickly scurried over to take a seat at the edge of the group. Some of hostages in the room were looking at YoungSaeng and JungMin strangely, not recognizing the two of them._

_Following after YoungSaeng, JungMin glanced around as well. The passengers looked mostly civilians, a few miners and their families. Those miners who looked like they could fight were tied up and kept in view of the pirates. But other than that precaution, and keeping a kid as a hostage, the pirates looked like amateurs. One wasn't even paying attention._

_Looked like something they could take on no problem, but they needed to get the kid first...and stop the pirates from taking any more hostages. It would help if they could free some of the tied-up miners._

_Glancing over at JungMin out of the corner of his eye, YoungSaeng put his hand behind his back out of view of the pirates, the gun he'd been holding on to reemerging. The pirate with the kid kept looking around, not really paying attention to anything the hostages were doing, looking bored. It was almost too easy._

_It was then he felt something prickling the back of his neck, turning his head to the side he blinked. Someone was staring at him with a bright smile. Someone he recognized. Suppressing a groan, YoungSaeng nudged JungMin._

_Blinking (he'd been watching the other pirate, and looking for an opening), JungMin glanced towards YoungSaeng. When he saw where the older man was looking, the redhead managed not to snort. Well well. They'd found one of their contacts, though not in the way they'd expected._

_But maybe this could make an easy job even easier. JungMin's eyes flicked between YoungSaeng and the other man, one eyebrow raising._

_They could figure out why in the world Xander was on the passenger transport later._

_Xander was still grinning at them and YoungSaeng scowled, giving his head a small shake. If the idiot didn't stop staring at him they were going to draw attention which is what they didn't want. YoungSaeng wasn't entirely sure if Xander got the message but the other man turned away from them and raised his hand up into the air._

_"I thought we told you to be quiet?" the pirate with the kid sneered at Xander._

_"I just wanted to ask a question?" Xander said cheerfully. "Well actually several questions, and if I could just _ask_ them, then I'd leave you alone, but you're not even letting me ask. What's up with that?" Xander continued to babble, the pirate with the kid turned to face him, his back now to YoungSaeng and JungMin._

_JungMin fought to keep a straight face. Something you could always count on Xander for was a good distraction. But the other pirate was still looking far too wary (though he'd yet to take the safety off his gun, the idiot)._

_Until there was a light banging on a locker right beside the pirate, muffled sounds coming from inside. The pirate looked down at it with a scowl._

_And there was their distractions, the gun reappearing to slid into JungMin's hand hidden behind his back._

_Smirking, YoungSaeng slowly slid around to get around the hostages, shushing them as he crawled around on his knees. Xander still had the one distracted, arms flailing and getting more animated the longer he spoke. YoungSaeng raised the gun up and aimed, waiting. There were small gasps of alarm but the pirate didn't notice, trying to get Xander to be quiet by turning the gun on Xander instead._

_That was enough and YoungSaeng fired, hitting his mark. The side of the pirates head exploded, but not before he pulled the trigger of his own gun, hitting Xander._

_JungMin had lifted his gun and fired an instant after YoungSaeng, the second pirate dropping. Getting up and running over, the redhead made sure the pirate was dead and confiscated his gun, before turning to the hostages._

_"...Shit," he muttered when he saw Xander was hit. "Xander, you okay?" He pulled out his knife and tossed it to a woman sitting closest to the miners, motioning for her to cut them loose as he went to stand guard at the door._

_"Fine, fine," Xander got himself back up to a sitting position, shaking his head. The bullet hole in his chest was slowly closing over. "That still hurts like a bitch though."_

_"Lucky for you his aim was bad," YoungSaeng said, getting to his feet. The other hostages were still staring at them in shock. "There's still more on the ship, everyone stay here, and what is that _racket_ ," YoungSaeng glared at the closet door that had started up on the loud bangs again._

_"He knocked out a couple pirates before they cracked his head against the wall," one of the miners spoke up, wincing as he rolled a wretched shoulder. "Guess he woke up."_

_JungMin quirked an eyebrow, checking down the hallway before he strode back to the locker and undid the latch, pulling it open._

_A human-shaped fuzzball fell out onto the floor at the redhead's feet, bound and gagged. Getting a better look at him, JungMin saw it was one of the anthro races, shorter than him by nearly two heads with large ears and an equally large tail. "Well aren't you in a pickle," JungMin sighed, looking at YoungSaeng. "We need to get to the other pirates, now."_

_"Yes, let's," YoungSaeng nodded, giving the anthro on the floor a quick once over before looking over at Xander. "Keep everyone in here until we come back. You need a weapon?"_

_"Have I ever?" Xander grinned, bouncing over to help the bound up alien on the floor get free from his bindings._

_"We'll have to talk later about why it is you didn't do anything to the pirates beforehand," YoungSaeng shook his head, heading towards the hatch. "Time to be pirates?" he looked at JungMin with a smile._

_"Yup," JungMin grinned, stretching out his arms as he went to get his knife from the miners, twirling it between his fingertips. He checked outside the hatch to make sure there was no one, and stepped out into the hallway before shifting into the pirate he'd just killed. This would be over quickly. "I'll get the ones on the bridge, meet you back here in five."_

_YoungSaeng had shifted into the other pirate, rolling his neck a little before he nodded. "And I'll get the ones in the halls, then we go over to the pirate's ship and see who is left over," he said, turning and starting down the hall. He didn't move very fast, just a rolling gait so as not to look suspicious when he ran into the other two pirates._

_Finding the bridge, JungMin headed inside at an easy pace. He could see the crew member tied up and gagged in a corner, not even being watched. Not that the man looked like he was going to do anything, he looked rather petrified._

_"What are you doing up here?" The pirates turned to him as he entered, one twirling his gun around his fingers lazily._

_"Checked all the halls, everyone's being held in the cargo hold," JungMin replied gruffly, walking up to them. "How long are we going to be here?"_

_"We went over this already, once we've taken—" The annoyed pirate didn't get the change to complete his sentence. The flash of a blade in JungMin's hand was the only warning before his knife found the soft flesh of the pirate's stomach, slashing across. Before the other two could even blink, the shapeshifter was on them, blade coming up to get the second man's neck._

_The attack was blocked, but clumsily, JungMin sweeping the man's legs out from under him and slitting his throat on the way down before rolling out of the way of a gunshot. Grabbing the pirate's gun arm, JungMin turned him around sharply and twisted his arm up behind his back, making him drop his gun._

_"Surprise," JungMin smiled sweetly before hitting the hilt of his blade against the back of the pirate's neck, snapping it._

_Having taken out one pirate easily with a shot to the back of his head, YoungSaeng was getting irritated. The pirate that had brought them to the cargo hold was still on the ship somewhere but YoungSaeng couldn't find him. He'd toured all the lower decks and was now on the crew deck, checking rooms._

_There was a muffled squeaking noise coming from somewhere, YoungSaeng's head tilted to hear which way it was coming from as he got closer. Stopping in front of a door to one of the crews quarters, he slowly turned the handle to open it before nudging it open. What he saw inside made his insides boil as he brought the gun up, shifting back into his normal human form._

_"Get off of her," YoungSaeng snarled at the pirate who had taken what looked like no more than a mere child, though YoungSaeng was pretty sure she was an adult of her race. The pirate was cursing as he tried to get to his feet, his weapons conveniently had been placed on a far table so the girl couldn't get to them. "In the hall, now," YoungSaeng said, keeping the gun trained on the pirate who was trying to get his pants back up as he shuffled forward._

_YoungSaeng closed the door once he was out and aimed the barrel of his gun at the pirates forehead, pulling the trigger. The pirate fell over with a thud and YoungSaeng didn't bother with him, only opening up the door to help the girl get back down to the cargo bay._

_Checking the hallways for any more pirates, JungMin was pleased to see none. There was just the pirate ship left now. That hadn't taken long. Heading back to the cargo hold, he wasn't waiting long before YoungSaeng appeared._

_JungMin blinked at the girl with him, holding up torn clothing. He shifted back right away, able to guess what had happened. "All clear on your end I guess?" he asked, frowning._

_Making sure the girl went into the cargo hold, YoungSaeng nodded, still frowning a little over what had happened. "The other two are dead. Let's go see what's left on the pirate ship before we let the Captain and the others over."_

_"Sounds like a plan, filthy pirates," JungMin grumbled, heading towards the first airlock. "It's a good thing we answered the distress call, these pirates are morons but still enough to take over a civilian ship."_

_"If this ship came from the colony, then we could find out what happened without having to get too close," YoungSaeng shrugged. "Either way it's good for us."_

_"Yeah, guess we'll find out once we've dealt with the pests," JungMin replied, twirling his blade between his fingers. They arrived at the airlock shortly after, the redhead substituting his blade for his gun. "Ready?" He whispered as they approached the partly-open airlock._

_"Always," YoungSaeng grinned, stepping up to the open airlock first and peeking in. He nudged the hatch open a bit more and stuck his head in, looking around. Not seeing anyone, he slid inside and started towards the bridge._

_JungMin went the opposite direction, heading towards the back of the small ship. He wrinkled his nose at the stench; he'd always hated pirate ships, they stank._

_He nudged each door open as he went by, checking for pirates. Hearing a shuffling sound further up, JungMin smirked and headed towards it, seeing a ruffle of cloth._

_The pirate jumped out to shoot at him, but JungMin beat him to the draw, firing a hole in the man's forehead._

_Hearing the gunfire from behind him, YoungSaeng scowled a little, knowing that whoever else is on the ship probably heard that too. It didn't take long for that to be confirmed when the hatch at the end of the hall YoungSaeng was going down opened, and a pirate came charging forward, waving a gun around. YoungSaeng stopped in his tracks and stared at the pirate who was yelling and looking like he was going to shoot, but YoungSaeng was first; two bullets to the head._

_YoungSaeng took quick stock of the bridge and crew quarters, finding no one. "You about done Min?" YoungSaeng called, heading back to the airlock. There wasn't much of anything worth salvaging on this ship._

_Checking over the rest of the ship, JungMin looked up when he heard YoungSaeng. "Yeah," he called back, stepping over the pirate who'd come running out at the multiple gunshots and gotten a few bullets himself._

_He headed back to the airlock to meet YoungSaeng. "Think our work here's done, time to bring the others over?"_

_"Yes, I'll call the Captain and meet the others at the airlock, you go check on the passengers," YoungSaeng said, going through the airlock as he pulled out his com device. "Captain? The ship is clear, you can come over now. I'll meet you at the airlock."_

__"We'll be right there,"_ JungMin heard HyunJoong reply as he headed back towards the cargo hold._

_Getting there a minute later, he was pleased to see the miners and the crew had been released, as well as that anthro who'd been shoved in a closet. "Everything okay in here?" he asked, leaning into the doorway._

_One of the crew came over to him. "The pirates?"_

_"All taken care of," JungMin nodded. "But you might want to cover the kids' eyes bringing them back to their rooms." He watched the families slowly gather themselves up, the crew looking after them._

_Watching the other passengers leave the room slowly, Xander strolled his way over to JungMin. "So, shifter, long time no see. What brings you out to this armpit of the galaxy?"_

_JungMin eyed Xander, leaning against the wall. "I should be asking you the same thing, and why you didn't do something about the pirates beforehand. We're on a mission of sorts, it's a long story."_

_"Hey now, I was getting ready to make my move," Xander huffed, swaying a little back and forth. "What kind of mission? Fed stuff you're not allowed to talk about again? Oh, who were the Geckos I saw skulking around? They yours?"_

_"Not Fed, like I said it's a long story, and we're not discussing it here," JungMin rolled his eyes. "And yes, unfortunately." He liked Zhou Mi well enough, but KyuHyun still got on his nerves. "Where did this ship come from?" It would be easier to get their information from Xander._

_"Where else? Colony in the Persius system. Kind of a mass exodus, this ship was the last to leave so we're trailing behind the rest of the group," Xander said, his eyes twitching a little. "Dunno where we're going, I didn't ask."_

_So they _were_ from the mining colony. JungMin frowned. "Mass exodus? What happened?" He saw the anthro watching them out of the corner of his vision, large ears perked up to listen. _

_Xander seemed to ignore the question, his eyes still twitching. "So if it's not Fed who is it? Sylar? Aren't Fed and Sylar working together now? Or maybe Valis, yeah, Valis, they were supposed to protect the colony. Poor Valis. Where'd Saeng go? He'll want to hear what I have to say," he grinned._

_One eyebrow raised, JungMin frowned at the other man. Okay, something was definitely up. "He went to bring the rest of the crew from the ship we're on, they will be here in a few minutes. And yes, we're on our way to the colony," he sighed._

_"Oh goody, can't wait," Xander bounced a little, looking around the room to wait._

_It wasn't a long wait, YoungSaeng appearing with HyunJoong and KyuJong a few minutes later. "Everything okay here?" YoungSaeng asked, eyeing the anthro alien who was still hanging around._

_"Saeng! Oh it is so good to see you," Xander chirped, bouncing over to him. "So we're heading to the colony? Do you know what's going on there?"_

_"No," YoungSaeng's eyes narrowed at Xander. "Why, do you?"_

_"I do," Xander grinned wider, the sharp fang like teeth visible. "Oh Saeng, this is going to be so fun."_

_HyunJoong looked at the unknown man with a small frown. "This is..."_

_"Xander, one of our contacts," JungMin introduced. "He says the ship came from the same colony we're heading to."_

_The Captain nodded, leaning against the wall as he listened, letting the shifters talk with their acquaintance._

_**************************************33****************************************_

_"Well, are you going to talk now?" JungMin asked, no bite to his words as he watched the grin on Xander's face._

_Swaying side to side, Xander hummed a bit. "Well, you know the Persius system planets are like a miner's dream right? Which is why it's been left kind of untouched for a while now? Well, someone, that you two are familiar with, decided to set up shop and kicked everybody off the planet."_

_"Someone we know?" YoungSaeng's eyebrow went up. At least it wasn't Sylar though, and if it was small enough they could go back to YunHo and let him deal with it._

_"Oh yes, someone you're very familiar with," Xander stopped swaying, looking at YoungSaeng, his eyes glowing. "TaeGoon."_

_YoungSaeng stiffened, letting out a low snarl._

_JungMin's eyes widened. "...Shit, what the hell's he doing out here? Wasn't he at the other end of Sylar territory?"_

_HyunJoong frowned, looking between them both. YoungSaeng was obviously enraged, and JungMin had turned a few shades paler. "Who is this TaeGoon person?" he asked quietly._

_"A crazy man who's been fancying himself a faction leader lately," spoke up the anthro sitting a bit away, watching them. "He's been eyeing the Persius system for a while."_

_"He and I have a score to settle," YoungSaeng growled darkly, looking over at JungMin. "Unless you wanted the first shot at him."_

_"Well I don't think he'll be expecting you coming this time," Xander cooed._

_"Let me get my knife into him, and he's all yours," JungMin replied, recovering enough to scowl._

_HyunJoong frowned. "YunHo wanted us to head back once we know the situation so he could send others to deal with it."_

_"We can say that we got there without knowing and got caught up," YoungSaeng said, looking at HyunJoong. "This is personal Captain."_

_KyuJong looked between the two shapeshifters, obviously confused. "Why is it personal? How do you know this TaeGoon?"_

_"We had a run-in with him before," JungMin muttered, not seeming particularly eager to talk. "Come on, they're fine here, let's go." He turned to leave._

_"Wait." The anthro hopped up and padded over to them, looking up at them. Now that HyunJoong got a better look at him, he noticed the short alien was covered with soft, white fur, with ears and tail that could have belonged to a fox (despite being five times the usual size). His face had a short muzzle and a pink button nose, red markings in his fur. "If you're going back to the colony, I want to go too. I can fight."_

_"And you did a good job of that, being knocked out and stuffed in a closet," JungMin remarked. The anthro glared at him, the look not intimidating at all._

_"I was caught off-guard."_

_"I thought he was someone's pet," YoungSaeng remarked dryly. "Let's go please, we have somewhere to be."_

_"I'm going too," Xander said, wiggling a little and trotted over to the anthro. KyuJong had been watching this alien, well now that he knew it was an alien after seeing the spines coming out of his back when he turned around. "He is good in a fight, I saw him, but they got the jump on him," Xander was saying, pinching the anthro's cheek._

_The anthro's ears went back at the pinch, one paw-like hand swiping at the offending fingers. "Thank you, but please don't do that."_

_"Xander I can see bringing along, but the furball doesn't come unless we get a demonstration," JungMin said, one hand on his hip._

_"We can put him against HyungJoon," HyunJoong chuckled, amused at the way the anthro glared at JungMin. "Come on, let's get back to the ship."_

_Getting back through to their ship, YoungSaeng closed the airlock behind them and sealed it. The passenger ship would be able to take care of the pirates on board themselves and get back on track. HyungJoon and JongWoon were waiting in the cargo bay for them._

_"What's that?" HyungJoon blinked at the white fur ball that had come in with them._

_"Someone who wants to come along," HyunJoong remarked as the anthro looked up at them._

_"He's cute," JongWoon blinked, bending over slightly to get on more eye-level; even he was tall enough that the anthro's ears would only tickle his chin._

_"He needs to prove he can fight before we're taking him anywhere with us," JungMin said, leaning against the wall. "HyungJoon, why don't you go against him?"_

_"Why me?" HyungJoon blinked at JungMin then down at the anthro. "He's too cute, I don't want to hurt him."_

_"Because we thought you'd be the best choice," YoungSaeng smiled, snagging Xander's collar and holding him still. The alien had been sniffing at HyunJoong. "No." Xander pouted at him._

_"You won't hurt me," the anthro replied, and JongWoon thought even his voice was cute, slightly higher than usual. The alien shifted into a better stance, tiny paws balled like fists._

_"Give it a shot HyungJoon," HyunJoong chuckled, watching Xander out of the corner of his eyes._

_HyungJoon looked between JungMin and YoungSaeng. This was a set up, he could smell it. "Fine," he huffed, turning to look down at the little alien again. Since he was so tiny, all he could do was bring his foot back quickly and try to kick the fuzzball in the midsection._

_If they'd blinked they'd have missed it, the anthro grabbing HyungJoon's foot and spinning him around to make him lose balance and fall over. The next thing they knew, the anthro was sitting on HyungJoon's stomach with the captive leg yanked up to his side in a way that was definitely going to give him problems walking for a while. One of the anthro's paws rested against HyungJoon's throat, claws out and resting against the soft skin._

_"Is that it?" the anthro blinked up at them. JungMin barely restrained a snort._

_All HyungJoon remembered was a white flash and then he was down on his back, wincing at the pain in his leg. "Owowowowow."_

_"Well I think I've seen enough." YoungSaeng glanced over at HyunJoong with a smile. "What do you say Captain, can we keep him?"_

_HyunJoong's lips quivered. "He's passed. What's your name?"_

_"SungMin," the anthro beamed and climbed off of HyungJoon, releasing his leg and offering a paw._

_"Well then SungMin, we'll get you and Xander set up with some quarters then," KyuJong said with a smile. He blinked and jumped back when he noticed that Xander had sidled up to his side and was sniffing at him._

_"You're pretty, I bet you taste pretty too," Xander murmured, a long tongue snaking out to lick his lip._

_"Xander, no, off-limits," YoungSaeng scowled, grabbing Xander by the collar and pulling him back. "Everyone on board is off-limits, do you understand?" Xander whimpered but nodded slowly._

_JongWoon watched Xander with wide eyes, seeming to just notice they had another alien in their midst. "U-uh..."_

_"This is Xander," JungMin sighed, introducing the alien again. "He's all right, just needs to be reminded about some things." He looked at the other man. "Don't give us a reason to tie that tongue in a knot."_

_"I can help," SungMin replied cheerfully, trying to pull HyungJoon to his feet and not getting very far._

_"You two, go show the fuzzball around or something," JungMin waved at JongWoon and HyungJoon. "Where did the Geckos go?"_

_"They took off somewhere, Zhou Mi's probably in the mess hall," HyunJoong replied._

_HyungJoon had got to his feet without the little alien's help and was shuffling behind JongWoon, giving him a wary look. "Alright, come on."_

_"I'll go get us clear of the other ship and get us back on course," KyuJong said, following behind the 'twins' and the fuzzy alien._

_Still holding on to Xander's collar, YoungSaeng looked to HyunJoong. "We should probably sit down and discuss some things now that we have an idea of what happened at the colony."_

_HyunJoong nodded. "That would be a good idea. We can get these two settled into rooms, and meet back in the mess hall in 30?"_

_"Sounds like a plan," JungMin stretched his arms out, following along as they started towards the stairs. JongWoon seemed to have taken a liking to SungMin, chatting with him happily up ahead (after SungMin told him to leave his ears alone). The redhead was surprised that neither the anthro nor Xander had asked why there were four humans on the ship, one of them Captain._

_HyungJoon looked behind him as they walked down the hall towards an empty room for the anthro. It was weird having so many people on the ship now, even though the empty quarters still far outnumbered the filled ones, it made him a little happier that there was some life on the ship again. Even if some of that life was blue or white, with tails and fur._

_"Well here you go," HyungJoon opened up the door to a room that was across from the Geckos quarters. "It's not much, sorry."_

_"Can I have this room?" Xander had got away from YoungSaeng and had opened up JongWoon's room that he had abandoned in favor of staying in HyungJoon's room, even if most of his stuff was still in it. "Smells like human."_

_Looking over to where Xander was, JongWoon blinked. "Um..." He looked at HyungJoon beside him. "I...guess...since I'm staying in your room it would be okay?" he said hesitantly, before looking at Xander. "Just let me move my stuff out of it."_

_"I like this room," SungMin smiled, before blinking and sniffing the air. "What's that smell?" he asked, wrinkling his nose as he wandered to the Geckos' door. "Smells like lizard."_

_"That's the Gecko's room," HyungJoon blinked. "Are Gecko's lizards? I thought they looked more like monkeys."_

_"They're closer to a lizard than a monkey," YoungSaeng said with an amused smile, watching the anthro from the doorway of Xander's new room. Xander had already flopped down onto JongWoon's old bed, his nose pressed into the sheet and sniffing. "Xander, you're being creepy again."_

_"I can't help it, humans smell so good, I just want to gobble them all up," Xander rolled around in the blankets._

_JongWoon looked at YoungSaeng with wide eyes. "He's not going to eat us, is he?"_

_"Maybe," SungMin chimed in, still sniffing suspiciously at the doorway._

_"No, he won't eat you," YoungSaeng said, shaking his head. "You have eaten recently though, right Xander?"_

_"Yes yes, I'll be fine," Xander said, sitting up with the blankets wrapped around him burrito style. "Though getting shot _did_ take a bit of energy."_

_"You want us to drag over a pirate and put him in cold storage for you?" YoungSaeng asked, clearly amused._

_"If I wanted to eat garbage I'd say so," Xander wrinkled his nose._

_"Picky," JungMin snorted, leaning against the wall._

_JongWoon looked at HyungJoon uneasily. So Xander ate...people._

_The Geckos' door opened then, KyuHyun started to step out. SungMin's ears went back and his tail puffed up, the little alien hissing at the Gecko who yelped and quickly backpedaled into the room, slamming the door shut._

_"Who the hell let the fox in?!" he yelled through the door._

_YoungSaeng barked a laugh at the reaction. "We did! He's our new crew member," he called from down the hall. Things just got a little more interesting around here._

_Looking between them all with wide eyes, HyungJoon tugged on JongWoon's arm. "Let's.. go to the mess hall," he murmured in his friend's ear._

_JongWoon nodded quickly, looking between Xander in his old room and SungMin who was growling at the closed door in front of him. "Help me get my stuff out of that room after?" he asked quietly as they headed down the hallway towards the mess hall; Zhou Mi at least was easier to deal with. "Once he's gone?"_

_"Yeah..." HyungJoon nodded, glancing back over his shoulder. "Who would have thought JungMin and YoungSaeng would be the normal ones around here," he mumbled, picking up the pace when he saw Xander had come out of the room to watch them go down the hall._

_JongWoon did the same, hurrying along until they'd taken a few corners and the mess hall was in sight. Only once they were inside did he relax. "The fox isn't so bad, especially if he puts KyuHyun in his place, but I don't know if I like having someone who eats people on the ship," he gave HyungJoon a pained look. "In my old room."_

_"Fox?" Zhou Mi was staring at them from the kitchen, his eyes wide. "There's a fox?"_

_"Uh, yeah, from the transport ship," HyungJoon nodded, seeing Zhou Mi's tail flicking back and forth._

_"And it's on board?" Zhou Mi trembled a little._

_"Yeah he's coming with us to-" HyungJoon blinked as the Gecko had disappeared. "I don't think he's going to hurt you Mi. It's the people eater you'll have to worry about."_

_"Don't foxes..." JongWoon winced, remembering that the foxes he'd seen in zoos had lizards listed as part of their diet. Okay, maybe the Geckos did have to worry about SungMin a little. "We really need to learn more about what races _not_ to stick together," he looked at HyungJoon nervously. _

_"Yeah, but I think that if JungMin and YoungSaeng say it's okay, then I think we'll be fine," HyungJoon said, trying to see where Zhou Mi had gone to. "It's just us right now Mi, you don't have to hide."_

_"But what if it comes in?" Zhou Mi whined from the other side of the room._

_"Then I guess you can hide again," HyungJoon shrugged. The Gecko popped back up into view next to them, babbling and waving his arms, looking completely frightened._

_"We're not going to let him hurt you Mi," JongWoon smiled at the blue alien. It was a little weird thinking that the Gecko was petrified of a fuzzball probably half his height (ears included), but he wasn't brushing anything aside out here. Though unless SungMin could jump really high, Zhou Mi could always hang from the ceiling until they got the fox out of the room._

_Zhou Mi seemed to calm a little at that, but shrieked and disappeared when the door opened and YoungSaeng stepped in. HyungJoon would have yelled along with him when he saw Xander behind the shapeshifter._

_"What's wrong Zhou Mi?" YoungSaeng asked, his eyes following something through the room. "Is it the fox? Don't worry about him, he's not going to hurt you as long as you don't annoy him." Xander was padding along the room, sniffing at everything as he went._

_"Which means he's probably going to go after KyuHyun more than you, relax," JungMin chuckled, following them in._

_"Do foxes...uh..." JongWoon looked from Zhou Mi to Xander and back at the shifters. "Eat..."_

_"Eat Geckos?" JungMin snorted. "No. Well, some of them do, but not the kind SungMin is. That doesn't mean they get along, because they don't."_

_"Don't what?" SungMin poked his head into the room, ears twitching. "I heard my name."_

_Still invisible, Zhou Mi shrieked, and YoungSaeng felt something brush by him and the closet door slammed shut. YoungSaeng blinked, but had to laugh, shaking his head a bit. "Well I guess I'll be fixing food then," he said, heading to the kitchen, Xander following him along like a puppy._

_JongWoon watched as SungMin blinked at the closet in confusion, sniffing the air before padding into the room. "Things are going to be interesting from now on," he looked at HyungJoon._

_"No tormenting the Geckos, furball," JungMin said as SungMin padded towards the closet door. "Unless they do something to deserve being tormented." SungMin's ears drooped slightly and he went to sit down instead, climbing up onto a chair._

_"Mi's nice, leave him be," HyungJoon said with a pout, shuffling over to sit down at the table. This many people now they would actually be using more than half of the long table now. He couldn't help but stare at the anthro, even though he knew he shouldn't. The guy was cute... in a fuzzy teddy bear kind of way._

_"The Captain and Kyu will be here soon?" JongWoon asked, sitting down next to HyungJoon._

_"Probably, think they're up in the bridge," JungMin shrugged, tapping his fingers against his pockets as he looked at YoungSaeng and Xander in the kitchen. "Mi, you can come out now, he's sitting down and not moving. Right?" He eyed SungMin who nodded._

_There was a pause, all eyes on the closet door as it slowly opened. Zhou Mi's head came out slowly, looking at them all and then at the anthro alien warily._

_"Come on Mi, come sit down," HyungJoon said, patting the seat next to him. It took a bit of coaxing, but the Gecko finally left the closet, shuffling over towards them, his tail still twitching nervously._

_"SungMin, this is Zhou Mi," HyungJoon said with a smile. "He's nice, be nice to him, don't try to eat him or anything."_

_SungMin's ears were back and tail slightly puffed, but he reluctantly nodded after a moment. "No eating," he agreed. "And the other one, I have to be nice to him too?"_

_"I don't know..." JungMin mused thoughtfully._

_That set Zhou Mi off, the Gecko getting to his feet, babbling a mile a minute in between shrieks and pointing before he ran out of the room. HyungJoon blinked after him then turned to JungMin. "I think you said the wrong thing."_

_"He'll get over it eventually," JungMin snorted, sitting down._

_SungMin blinked at them all. "I said I wouldn't eat him."_

_"Mi is... odd," YoungSaeng said as he approached the table, having finished making whatever it was that Zhou Mi had started to cook. "We hardly see him as it is, so that I think was kind of normal."_

_Xander had come up behind and was sniffing JongWoon's hair. "Oh, it was your room wasn't it? You smell good."_

_JongWoon jumped with a bitten-back yelp and scooted closer to HyungJoon. "U-uh, thanks? I think?"_

_"Xander, leave the human be," JungMin sighed, resting his chin in one hand._

_"I was just complimenting him," Xander shrugged, sitting down next to SungMin. YoungSaeng didn't bother to pass him a plate._

_"What was Zhou Mi screaming about?" KyuJong asked, stepping into the room._

_"Not entirely sure this time," HyungJoon said, looking up before he took his first bite of the meal._

_"You missed the introduction between the Geckos and our new pet mascot," JungMin grinned._

_"I am not," SungMin grumbled, trying to get his paws to work the chopsticks and giving up after a minute of frustration._

_"Is everything all right?" HyunJoong asked as he walked in to join them._

_"I think KyuHyun and Zhou Mi won't be out of their room very often," JongWoon smiled nervously, still watching Xander._

_"Should we just put everything into a bowl on the floor for you?" YoungSaeng asked the anthro with a smile, seeing as he was having troubles with utensils._

_KyuJong took a seat next to JungMin, looking at the two new additions before beginning to eat._

_"Everything's fine, Captain," YoungSaeng looked over at HyunJoong, grinning. "We're just having a little fun."_

_"So, he's Captain?" Xander pointed at HyunJoong. "A human captain, on a human ship," he said, his eyes twitching. "But this is _not_ Fed related?"_

_"No," JungMin replied firmly. "We're not dealing with the Federation anymore, none of us."_

_"But what are humans doing out here then?" SungMin asked, after puffing out his cheeks in a pout at YoungSaeng's comment._

_"We made the decision to leave Federation space and were looking for a place to settle," HyunJoong replied, skimming over details. "Right now though, we're helping Valis."_

_"So go from one human master to another," Xander chuckled, his head tipping side to side. KyuJong wasn't entirely sure if this alien's race acted like this normally, or if he was just crazy._

_"They are _not_ our masters," YoungSaeng said firmly, glaring at Xander. "We are part of the crew, nothing more."_

_"YoungSaeng and JungMin are on this ship of their own free will," HyunJoong said softly. "Everyone here is." He wouldn't treat his crew as less than equals._

_"So, what's going on now?" JongWoon asked, watching them. "Was the passenger ship from that colony?"_

_"It was," JungMin nodded._

_"What's going on over there then?"_

_"Someone decided that they wanted to make a new faction right in between Valis and Sylar with the colony as their home base," Xander said, sniffing at what was on SungMin's plate. His nose wrinkled a bit and looked up at the rest._

_"What about the Valis ships that were there on the colony?" YoungSaeng asked, drumming his fingers on the table._

_"Gone, destroyed, dead," Xander said wiggling his fingers in little mock explosions. "The colonists skedaddled during the fight."_

_"So we're going back to tell YunHo what's going on then?" JongWoon asked._

_JungMin scowled down at the table. "No, we're going to deal with this one ourselves."_

_"I thought this was just a reconnaissance mission?" KyuJong asked, looking up from his food. Isn't that what YunHo had wanted them to do?_

_"What YunHo doesn't know won't hurt him," YoungSaeng shrugged. "JungMin and I have unfinished business with this new faction leader."_

_"But...how are we supposed to take on a faction?" JongWoon asked, eyes wide with alarm._

_"It's a small faction still," SungMin piped up, looking up at them. "Their strength is in their weapons, and that most of the colony wasn't equipped for fighting."_

_"They only had one ship, and it probably took a bit of damage in the firefight with Valis," Xander continued. "So if they didn't shoot each other out of the sky, then you'll probably have one crippled fighter ship to deal with a handful of ground crew."_

_"Not much of a fight," YoungSaeng mused, a smile forming. "I'm not too worried."_

_JongWoon still looked unhappy with the idea, HyunJoong sighing softly. "We'll have to assess the situation before we go in." Even with the two new additions to their numbers, they had to be careful._

_"How do you know the faction leader?" JongWoon asked, and JungMin stiffened slightly._

_YoungSaeng took a deep breath, looking at JungMin with an unreadable expression for a moment before he turned the others. "Let's just put it this way; TaeGoon made what was a normal operation personal, and went out of his way to piss me off. I made it clear if I ever saw him again I'd slit his throat from gill to gill with the dullest blade I could find."_

_Frowning lightly, HyunJoong looked between YoungSaeng and JungMin, the redhead unusually quiet while YoungSaeng did the talking. Seeing they were going into dangerous territory, he nodded, stopping the others from asking anything else. "All right. But we're going to do this carefully."_

_"I know the colony inside and out, I can get us in all the hidden places they won't see," SungMin grinned, tiny fangs showing._

_"A map of the colony would help so we can plan," YoungSaeng said, looking at the anthro. "You would be able to draw one up for us?" He turned to HyunJoong. "How many more days until we get there?"_

_"We're at least three days out still. Dealing with the passenger ship ate up a bit of time," KyuJong answered for him._

_"That's enough time to get prepared then," YoungSaeng nodded. He found JungMin's hand under the table and squeezed it lightly._

_JungMin nodded, squeezing YoungSaeng's hand in return. "We can go over maps tomorrow?" he asked, looking at the others._

_SungMin nodded. "Gives me time to draw them up." He tapped his paws against the table lightly, looking at them._

_HyunJoong sighed and stood up, starting to gather up the empty plates. "We'll save some food for the Geckos, since I don't think they'll be coming back down here for a while."_

_KyuJong got up to help HyunJoong with the dishes as HyungJoon nudged at JongWoon. He wanted to leave since Xander was staring at the both of them a grin._

_"I think weapon training will need to start tomorrow as well," YoungSaeng said, glancing at JungMin. They probably wouldn't take all of the humans on board, but at least a couple of those that were going with needed to know how to handle weaponry._

_"Good idea," JungMin nodded, standing up. "We'll see you all tomorrow then." He pulled YoungSaeng out of the room._

_JongWoon watched them go before noticing the way Xander was eyeing them, giving a small 'eep' as he stood. "U-uh, Joon, want to help me get my stuff to your room?" The faster it was done the better._

_"Uh, yeah, let's go," HyungJoon agreed almost immediately, getting to his feet and scurrying from the room, dragging JongWoon with him._

_YoungSaeng felt like his arm was going to be ripped off the way JungMin was pulling him, but he understood and was doing his best to keep up. "Min, my legs aren't as long as yours, slow down please," he murmured, taking two steps for every one of the redhead's._

_Clenching his jaw, JungMin managed to slow down a little, shoulders stiff as they headed back to the room. "I was hoping he'd been gutted in some backwater system by now," he got now, free hand fisted at his side._

_"As was I, but at least this way we will be sure he's dead," YoungSaeng said, taking in JungMin's expression. "He's not running away from me this time Min."_

_"No, he's not escaping again," JungMin shook his head. "Just...just be careful, okay? He's slippery." His grip on YoungSaeng's hand tightened slightly._

_Once in their room with the door closed, YoungSaeng wrapped his arms tightly around JungMin and leaned against him. "I'll be careful Min. He's not getting the better of us ever again."_

_JungMin hugged him back, resting his cheek against YoungSaeng's dark hair and closing his eyes. "He's not," he murmured, though it wasn't clear if he was agreeing or just trying to convince himself. "He has no idea we're coming, and he'll be boxed in with nowhere to go."_

_"Easy prey," YoungSaeng smiled, sighing deeply. "Are you ever going to want to talk about what happened back there?"_

_The redhead drew in breath slowly, shaking his head after a moment. "I just want to forget about it, and that's not going to happen until he's good and dead."_

_YoungSaeng nodded, pulling back to look up at him with a soft smile. "That's what we'll do then," he said, leaning up to give JungMin a slow tender kiss._

_Kissing YoungSaeng back slowly, JungMin wrapped his arms around the other shifter's waist properly, holding him close. "Thanks Saeng," he murmured against the older man's lips after a long kiss._

_"Anytime Min," YoungSaeng replied, slowly walking backwards towards the bed, pulling JungMin with. "How about a little distraction to help that along?"_

_"Distraction sounds good," JungMin murmured in agreement, continuing to kiss YoungSaeng's lips as he was pulled towards the bed. "Your distractions are always the best."_

_************************************34*****************************************_

_YoungSaeng eyed JongWoon reproachfully, tapping his fingers against the side of the handgun. "I don't know, I think this is a bad idea. It's not like you're going with us."_

_"He's just going to pout if he doesn't get to at least try," HyungJoon pointed out, patting his friend on the shoulder._

_"Humans shouldn't be given weapons anyway," Xander called from the catwalks, his feet dangling over the edge._

_"Weapons aren't needed if you have claws, why don't you have claws?" SungMin piped up from beside him._

_"Peanut gallery shuts up before they're used for target practice," JungMin shot one of the holsters at them both._

_"I promise to wait until everyone's at the opposite end of the room from the target before trying?" JongWoon tried to bargain with the shifter, doing his best to ignore the commentary._

_"Alright," YoungSaeng conceded, wrinkling his nose up at the two aliens who were still making snide (yet funny) comments about humans. "HyungJoon, go wait with Min while I get him started," he told the engineer who happily trotted off to hide on the other side of the shifter. YoungSaeng turned back to JongWoon. "Have you ever held a gun before?"_

_"Um...once, in training," JongWoon said. He didn't mention that they'd never let him hold a gun again because he'd nearly shot their trainer in the foot while trying to reload it._

_"...Once?" YoungSaeng's eyebrow went up at that but didn't saying. Instead he hit the magazine release, and took out the clip. Checking to make sure there wasn't a shell in the chamber, he handed the empty gun to JongWoon. "We'll start with how to hold, and aim before a bullet goes anywhere near that weapon."_

_Taking the gun sheepishly, JongWoon nodded; it was probably a safe idea. "Uh...like this?" He tried to remember the bit of training he'd gotten through, curling his fingers around the base of the gun with his index finger over the trigger._

_Coming around behind him, YoungSaeng fixed the hold JongWoon had on the weapon, taking his finger off the trigger. "Safety lesson one: never put your finger near the trigger until you're ready to fire," he murmured into the other's ear._

_JongWoon turned slightly pink from both the information and the light puff of breath against his ear. "G-got it," he said, swallowing as he got his fingers into the position YoungSaeng wanted before lifting the gun, nervously trying to sight along it. How was he supposed to know if he was pointing straight?_

_"Hold it with both hands," YoungSaeng said, bringing up JongWoon's other hand to wrap it around the other side of the handle, slightly supporting the butt of the gun. Keep your firing arm straight, but don't lock your elbow. Close one eye and sight along the top through the guides."_

_Nodding slowly, JongWoon did as told, positioning his second hand and lifting the gun a little more to sight along the guides. It took a moment to find the target set up, unlocking his elbow a little. "Like this?" He closed one eye and adjusted his aim a little._

_"Just like that," YoungSaeng nodded, pulling the clip from out of his pocket. "Now, can I trust you to put this in, load a shell into the chamber and not shoot at anyone?"_

_Looking at the clip YoungSaeng held, JongWoon bit his lower lip. "I won't shoot anyone, promise...the safety is on, right?" he checked quickly, nervous. He always forgot about the safety._

_"Yes, the safety is on," YoungSaeng chuckled, handing over the clip. "Load it, pull back the slide, then aim, but do not fire."_

_JongWoon took the clip and bit his lower lip as he tried loading it (it took a moment when he tried pushing it in upside-down). He at least remembered to keep his finger away from the trigger, which had been his problem back in training, hearing a click when he pulled the slide. Then he tried aiming again._

_Placing his hands on JongWoon's hips, YoungSaeng moved so his head wasn't directly behind the gun. "Now, when you feel like you've got the gun steady enough, release the safety, and pull the trigger. Watch out for that recoil."_

_Nodding slowly, JongWoon tried to aim for the target, squinting a little. After a moment he released the safety with a click, and fired._

_The gun slammed back into his hands and if it weren't for YoungSaeng being right behind him, he would have probably ended up on his rear. As it was, he staggered back into the younger man and nearly sent them both falling over, quickly removing his finger from the trigger._

_Having expected that, YoungSaeng had taken a step back to make sure they didn't fall over. He chuckled softly, reaching to take the gun from JongWoon and put on the safety. "Good, did better than I thought you would. You even managed to hit the target, by just barely."_

_Looking up once he was stable, JongWoon looked for where he'd hit the target. He'd just clipped the edge. "I thought I was aiming better than that," he frowned, recalling aiming a lot more to the left. He turned around slightly to look at YoungSaeng._

_"It's the recoil, it can throw off the spin of the bullet," YoungSaeng said, still eyeing the target. "Still, it's good for your first shot." He looked over at JongWoon with a warm smile, patting his shoulder. "Come on, it's HyungJoon's turn."_

_Smiling widely in return, JongWoon nodded and turned to go back to the side of the room._

_JungMin looked over at HyungJoon, hands behind his head. "Following any of that?" He headed out to the middle of the room to take YoungSaeng's place._

_"Uh... no? They were talking too quietly," HyungJoon said, giving JongWoon an encouraging smile as he followed JungMin over to the practice area. YoungSaeng handed his gun off to JungMin and started back toward where JongWoon was sitting._

_"Yah, you were getting awful cozy with the human," Xander called down to YoungSaeng. "He must smell real good up close."_

_"Too bad you'll never know, flesh eater," YoungSaeng smiled sweetly up at him._

_JongWoon shuffled a little back from Xander, as if the alien would jump down and eat him right there._

_"Alright, well, what do you know about guns? Any experience with them?" JungMin sighed, gun in one hand and his other hand on his hip as he looked back at HyungJoon._

_"Um... they hurt people?" HyungJoon tried a smile. "I've never even touched a gun before," he admitted, scuffing his foot against the floor._

_"..." JungMin resisted thwacking HyungJoon off the head. "No duh they hurt people. Okay, then we're going to take the safe way out too, before you shoot a hole in your own foot." He removed the clip and made sure the safety was on the gun before handing it to HyungJoon. "Try holding and aiming with it."_

_Taking the weapon gingerly, HyungJoon squeaked when it slipped out of his fingers and fell to the ground, bouncing away from him. "Sorry!" he scurried over to grab it, thankful to get out of hitting range as he picked it up. He could hear the chortles of laughter from the two aliens up on the catwalks as he turned back to JungMin with his head down and shuffled towards the redhead._

_The shapeshifter was stuck between laughing and facepalming. "For God's sake, it's not going to bite your hand off unless you're stupid enough to stick your hand in front of the barrel and pull the trigger. The safety's on, so hold on to it properly." He took the hand holding the gun and curled HyungJoon's fingers around it more securely, adjusting his grip._

_HyungJoon nodded dumbly, letting JungMin adjust his fingers and holding the weapon tighter in his hand. He wasn't about to tell JungMin he was absolutely terrified of weapons and would more than likely blow his head off. "Like this?" he asked, getting the proper grip on it._

_"Yeah, better." JungMin stepped up behind HyungJoon like YoungSaeng had with JongWoon, nudging the man's other arm. "Support the bottom of the gun with your other hand, don't even try shooting one-handed until you've had lots of practice. Arms straight and steady, but not locked. These guides at the top are to help you aim." He tapped the top of the gun lightly with one finger._

_"Okay." HyungJoon was trying to follow everything that JungMin was saying but it was getting a little muddied since he was freaking out at having a gun in his hand. He surprised himself that he was able to keep the gun steady though despite the freakout, and closed one eye to sight down the barrel of the gun. "I think I got it."_

_"No you don't. Unlock your elbows," JungMin reminded, tapping his elbow before kicking lightly at the back of his feet. "Separate your feet more with the foot on your gun side forward and the other back for balance."_

_HyungJoon scowled a bit, but did as instructed. "Okay, is that better?" he grumbled, making sure his feet were in the proper position and his elbow was slightly bent._

_"Better," JungMin replied, ignoring the tone. "Okay, let's try a little firing practice." He held out the clip to HyungJoon. "Load it here, pull back the slider to get a shell ready, and release safety when you're ready."_

_"Alright," HyungJoon looked at the clip with a little bit of fear as he took it from JungMin. He pushed the clip into the magazine until he heard the click and pulled the slider. Taking a deep breath, he lifted the gun back up like JungMin had showed him. Steadying his arm, he closed one eye and sighted along the barrel again, making sure he was steady before he released the safety. Knowing his luck, he'd hit the wall and not the target. HyunJoong would kill him._

_If not HyunJoong, then JungMin would, and the fact that the redhead was practically breathing down his neck was not helping HyungJoon to concentrate or focus on the target. Why couldn't the man back up a pace? Scowling, he slid his finger around the trigger and fired, squawking as he was knocked back by the recoil._

_Expecting it when he'd seen JongWoon nearly take both himself and YoungSaeng down, JungMin pressed his hands lightly against HyungJoon's back to keep him steady. "Careful. You're not holding your stance properly; bend your knees a little, and brace yourself with your back leg." He kept one hand against HyungJoon's back, the other repositioning his back foot to take the recoil better._

_Looking up at the target, the redhead hummed in approval. "Not bad, you got closer than JongWoon did at least." Actually he was surprised; HyungJoon was right in the outer ring. If he hadn't been shoved back by the recoil, he would have done even better. "Load another shell and try again, be careful for the recoil this time." Straightening, JungMin stayed behind HyungJoon still just in case, though removed the hand from his back._

_Doing as told, HyungJoon brought the gun back up to aim. Closing one eye he lined up the shot with the center of the target. This was sort of similar to all those video games he played when he was younger. The only difference was the recoil, and he could manage that now that he knew what it felt like. Lips curling up into a smirk, HyungJoon brought his finger up to wrap around the trigger before pulling._

_Prepared for the recoil this time, the gun only came up half the distance it had before. Opening up his other eye, HyungJoon blinked a little at the target, then up at JungMin._

_JungMin blinked at the target, surprised. The second bullet had just barely clipped the edge of the bulls-eye._

_"Woah," JongWoon stared, shocked that HyungJoon had gotten almost precisely in the center on his second shot._

_"...Pretty good," JungMin mused, lips curling upwards slightly. "You need to adjust for the recoil a little more, your arms are moving too much. Again, we'll see if you've got a knack for this or it's just beginner's luck." He tapped HyungJoon's shoulder before backing up a few paces, not standing by to make sure he was on-target._

_Taking another deep breath, HyungJoon brought the gun up again, steadying his hands and firing. When he saw that he'd got more or less dead center in the target, he turned to JungMin with a grin. "I ever tell you I was an ace when it came to the shooting simulation games back home?"_

_"Cocky," JungMin snorted, but he was smiling. Maybe HyungJoon wasn't as hopeless as he thought. "All right, you've made your point. But there's a difference between games and real life, don't get too comfortable. I'll see about getting you moving targets next time."_

_"Sounds like a plan," HyungJoon grinned, flicking the safety back on and handing the gun over to JungMin. "That was fun."_

_"You know Min, if he's that good with a handgun, think of how well he'd do with that sniper rifle," YoungSaeng mused, having slid off the container and was walking towards them. "I bet he'd be better than you."_

_"He needs to prove he can handle moving targets before we give him that," JungMin sniffed, twirling the gun between his fingers._

_"That was great Joonie," JongWoon grinned, getting up and going to his friend. "You're a natural."_

_"And my mom thought those games were a waste of time," HyungJoon chuckled, putting his arm around his friends waist. "So what now?"_

_"Now..." YoungSaeng glanced up at the clock, frowning a little. "Now I'm supposed to take over for KyuJong on the bridge. Min?"_

_"I'll keep you company," JungMin shrugged, making sure the safety was on before pocketing the gun to put back in the locker later._

_"What do we do?" SungMin asked from up above, kicking his feet back and forth over the catwalk edge._

_"Stay out of trouble," the redhead snorted, heading towards the stairs._

_"Let's go to the mess hall and see if Zhou Mi's making us lunch?" HyungJoon looked at JongWoon with a smile._

_"How can you all stand having to eat everyday, multiple times a day," Xander shook his head. "So inefficient."_

_"I'll give you inefficient," YoungSaeng grumbled, tugging hard on one of the long spines protruding from Xander's back. The alien shrieked and fell over onto his side, flailing helplessly._

_"That wasn't fair," SungMin laughed quietly, standing up and padding closer to Xander to see if he was okay._

_"Mess hall sounds good." JongWoon looked at Xander nervously. "He okay?"_

_"Yeah, Saeng didn't pull it out," JungMin rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's get going." He headed out to go to the bridge._

_"Can we come with you or is the lizard going to hide in the closet again?" SungMin asked JongWoon and HyungJoon._

_"Uh, I think he'll be okay as long as we're there too," HyungJoon said, heading up the stairs with JongWoon. Xander was still on the flooring of the catwalk, pouting a little by the time they got to where the two aliens were._

_"I'm fine, that just hurt and he knew it," Xander said, sitting up and rolling his shoulder a little. "Damn shifters with their superiority complexes."_

_"You just keep saying things to annoy them," SungMin grinned, holding out his paws in an attempt to help Xander back up._

_"They don't have _that_ much of a superiority complex, do they?" JongWoon blinked, looking at HyungJoon. _

_"Well, sometimes?" HyungJoon shrugged. "But it's not that big of a deal I don't think," he said, moving around the other two to get to the hatch._

_"Whole damn race is like that, thinking they're better than everyone," Xander huffed, getting back up to his feet with the anthro's help._

_"You've seen other Shinbi?" JongWoon asked, backing up towards the door. "I thought they kept to themselves."_

_"They do, don't come anywhere near us and we don't go near them," SungMin shrugged, following him._

_"Why is that? If they're as powerful as everyone hints at, they could easily just take over," HyungJoon said, pulling JongWoon through the hatch and giving the other two enough space between them._

_"They weren't always like that," Xander said, hopping a little as he walked. "Long time ago they would interact with other races just like the rest of us, but not anymore."_

_"What happened?" JongWoon frowned; YoungSaeng and JungMin had never talked about any of this._

_"Same thing that always happens," SungMin smiled tightly. JongWoon blinked back at him._

_"Mistrust mistrust.. Oooo what's that," Xander scrambled off down a hallway away from where they were walking. HyungJoon stopped and looked down to see Xander crawling up the side of the wall to sniff at a light fixture._

_"Quick question," HyungJoon leaned down to murmur to the anthro. "Are all of his race like...that?"_

_"Uh..." SungMin's ears twitched slightly as he watched Xander before looking up HyungJoon. "Some parts, yes. Others...well, it's Xander. He's special."_

_"Xander? We're going to the mess hall," HyungJoon called down to him. "And, that's a light fixture... be-" There was a bright flash and loud popping noise, Xander shrieked as he flew into the wall and then slumped over. "...careful. How has he not killed himself yet?"_

_"A perk of his race, he's very hard to kill," SungMin laughed, padding down the hallway to see if he was okay. "We'll meet you at the mess hall."_

_"The ship's never going to be quiet again, is it?" JongWoon asked, looking from the two aliens to HyungJoon._

_"No, it's not," HyungJoon shook his head and started back towards the mess hall again. "And I thought the Geckos were bad." Opening up the door, he brightened at the smell of food and the sound of Zhou Mi humming as he cooked. "Speak of the devil.. hey Mi, lunch almost ready."_

_"Yes yes," Zhou Mi shooed HyungJoon away when he tried to peek into the pot. "Go sit."_

_"Where's KyuHyun?" JongWoon asked as they went to sit down. The other Gecko was usually hanging around Zhou Mi, thought he'd taken to hiding in various parts of the ship when SungMin was around. The fox was sticking to his word when it came to not terrorizing Zhou Mi, but KyuHyun seemed to be an exception. It was more than a little funny watching KyuHyun run away from an alien half his size._

_"...Around," Zhou Mi said, glancing up when he heard the door open again and a cross eyed Xander came wobbling in. "What happened to him?"_

_"He got a little too familiar with a light socket," HyungJoon said, trying not to laugh. "You alright there Xander?"_

_The spined alien tried to look at who was talking, only one half of his face grinning as he babbled incoherently. HyungJoon assumed it was his native tongue with the amounts of clicking noises Xander made, but he wasn't entirely sure._

_SungMin pulled Xander over to the seats, lining him up with a chair before he could trip over anything. "He's fine, he'll be back to normal soon. I wouldn't stare, it's a little weird to watch," he said to JongWoon when he noticed the negotiator blinking at Xander with wide eyes. The anthro climbed up onto the seat next to Xander, eyeing Zhou Mi but not saying anything._

_"You mean normal for him," HyungJoon said, having to look away when Xander's long snake like tongue slid out the side of his mouth to hang there._

_"I smell food," KyuJong poked his head into the mess hall and grinned, stepping inside when he saw the others gathered, HyunJoong. "Good, cause I'm starving," he said, heading towards the table. His head tilted to the side as he sat down, looking at Xander. "Is he okay?"_

_"At the moment... no," HyungJoon shook his head. "He got zapped by a light fixture."_

_HyunJoong blinked, sitting down next to KyuJong. "A light fixture? What was he doing to be zapped by those?"_

_"Drawn to the bright light," SungMin laughed, resting his chin down on the table and closing his eyes._

_"...I see," HyunJoong's lips quivered in amusement. "How did weapon training go?"_

_"Joonie's a crack shot," JongWoon piped up._

_"Oh really?" KyuJong's brow quirked and he looked at HyungJoon who was all smiles._

_"Yup, I'm a natural," HyungJoon beamed, sitting up a little straight in his seat. "Even JungMin was impressed and he's never impressed."_

_"Well that's good, try and stay on his good side, he's been kind of moodier than usual," KyuJong said, looking over his shoulder at the kitchen. "Need any help in there Mi?" Zhou Mi didn't answer but popped out of the kitchen with pot in hand to set down on the table. He had the bowls stacked up on top and curled up in his tail were the utensils._

_HyunJoong chuckled at Zhou Mi, amused, before turning back to his engineer. "That's great news, we'll have to come and watch after you've gotten in some more practice."_

_"Moving targets next for him," SungMin piped up._

_"Already? Would have thought JungMin would make you chase your tail more than that," HyunJoong mused._

_"He's been grouchy, but he hasn't beaten up on Joonie in a while, so that's good at least?" JongWoon blinked. "YoungSaeng too has been rather off."_

_"It's cause of TaeGoon," Xander said, shaking off the last of the affects of being electrocuted. "They're not looking forward to seeing that nightcrawler."_

_"They seem...afraid of him," KyuJong said, helping Zhou Mi pass out bowls as the Gecko poured out a stew into each one._

_"JungMin is, don't blame him," Xander mused, sniffing at the bowl of soup that was set before SungMin._

_SungMin swiped at Xander's nose. "You were complaining about having to eat often before, stay away from our food," the anthro sniffed._

_"Looks good, Mi," HyunJoong chuckled._

_"Afraid?" JongWoon picked up a spoonful of stew, blowing on it lightly to avoid burning himself. "Why would he be afraid of that guy?" YoungSaeng and JungMin were two of the most fearless people he knew, it must come with being professional assassins. He couldn't imagine reckless JungMin afraid of anyone._

_"I wasn't going to eat it, I was just curious," Xander recoiled from the swipe, wrinkling his nose at SungMin before turning to JongWoon. The alien's eyes were twitching and HyungJoon still didn't understand what that meant. "Because the last time JungMin saw TaeGoon, the snake left him for dead after torturing him for a week."_

_There was a shocked silence for a moment. "Tortured?" JongWoon murmured, eyes wide._

_HyunJoong looked at Xander, trying to see if the alien was telling the truth. "What happened?" he asked, tone serious. He recalled the expressions on YoungSaeng and JungMin's faces upon hearing TaeGoon's name. Fear on JungMin's, dark rage on YoungSaeng's._

_"Hmm.. let's see," Xander swayed back and forth in his seat. "JungMin and Saeng were working on some sort of Fed deal with two of the others, so they were in two different teams. Min and his partner at the time had to go deal with TaeGoon about something, except it was a set up, and Min got captured. Bad, bad stuff happened to Min in that basement. Broken bones, rape, you know, the usual."_

_"What about the partner?" KyuJong asked quietly, his eyes wide with concern. He had never thought someone would get the better of JungMin._

_"Oh, the partner toddled off to get YoungSaeng when he found out that Min was being tortured," Xander grinned, his sharp teeth gleaming in the light. "Obviously Saeng wasn't very happy when he found out about it. But wind got to TaeGoon about Saeng coming after him and he jumped on the nearest ship and ran like the coward he is. Would you want to face YoungSaeng when he's mad?" HyungJoon shook his head violently._

_"So that's why they want to go after TaeGoon themselves," JongWoon murmured, eyes wide as well. Though it had been obvious that YoungSaeng was more adamant on that than JungMin was._

_"TaeGoon looks like he's all bark no bite at first," SungMin said, tapping his paws against the table. "His strength is in his men and his weapons. But he's smart, and when everyone was leaving the colony, we found out he's a complete sadist."_

_"Is JungMin going to be okay going after him and seeing him again?" HyunJoong asked quietly, frowning._

_"Maybe, maybe not," Xander shrugged. "I'm a little excited to see what happens."_

_"But he could choke, or fall apart seeing him again," KyuJong said, looking at the others. HyungJoon had his head down, glaring at his plate and not saying anything._

_"He might, but YoungSaeng won't," Xander beamed. "Saeng's going to gut him like a fish."_

_HyunJoong sighed, shaking his head at Xander's expression. He wouldn't want to be anywhere near YoungSaeng when he was angry. "Someone should stay with JungMin then, just in case," he said quietly. "He might have to be pulled out quickly."_

_"Who's going?" JongWoon asked, eyes worried._

_"You're staying behind JongWoon, we need you ready in med bay just in case. Zhou Mi can stay with you." HyunJoong looked up at the Gecko before returning his gaze to the others. "HyungJoon, coming or staying?"_

_HyungJoon frowned, his hands clenched tightly at his sides before he nodded. "Yeah, I'm going," he said quietly._

_"I'll stay here, in case we need to make a quick retreat," KyuJong said, glancing at HyunJoong. "I don't have to ask if you're going."_

_Their Captain quirked the younger man a small smile. He was definitely going. "We'll be arriving tomorrow, so everyone get some rest tonight," he said, picking up his spoon again to keep eating._

_Nodding, JongWoon watched them all resume their meals before blinking at HyungJoon, nudging his friend lightly._

_Looking up at the nudge, HyungJoon gave JongWoon a tight smile before resuming eating. He doubted he'd be able to rest well after hearing what Xander had said._

_"We'll go over the plan again in the morning then, when everyone's rested and all excited for action," Xander was bouncing a little in his seat. "This is going to be fun."_

_"Only you would think this would be fun," SungMin sighed, swinging his feet back and forth, as he licked a bit of spilt stew off his paw._

_"Why did you want to come along, SungMin?" JongWoon asked._

_"I didn't want to leave in the first place, someone needs to put that man back in his place," SungMin wrinkled his nose._

_"He's so cute and feisty," Xander pinched the anthro's ear._

_"Does that mean you'd be staying on the colony once we're done here?" KyuJong asked SungMin. He'd already gotten used to the little furry alien even if it had only been a few days._

_Swiping at Xander's hand, SungMin blinked at the pilot. "I don't know what I'm doing. I don't really have any attachment to the colony, I just don't like running away from a fight."_

_"We'll have to discuss that later then," HyunJoong smiled faintly, looking at Xander. "What about you, Xander?" He rather liked that there were more people on the ship, even if the two new additions terrorized three-quarters of the crew between them._

_"Oh, I was just passing through, I think I'll stick around here," Xander said, pinching SungMin's ear again._

_"How can you be 'just passing through' a colony that's out in the middle of nowhere?" KyuJong asked, raising an eyebrow._

_"If you've got people after you, easy," Xander said, resting his chin in his hands and staring at JongWoon. The flesh eater seemed to have a particular affinity with the negotiator._

_"Who's after you?" HyunJoong raised an eyebrow. SungMin scooted his chair farther away from Xander to avoid another ear-pinching._

_Blinking at them, JongWoon shuffled nervously at Xander's staring. He _really_ wished the alien would stop doing that, looking like he was contemplating eating him. Since HyungJoon wasn't being very helpful right now, the negotiator tried his best to keep his gaze down, avoiding looking at the alien. _

_"Oh, some Valis feathered idiot didn't like that I was undercutting him in a trade deal," Xander shrugged, looking away from JongWoon to the Captain. "But then again, he was undercutting his own faction and stealing half the goods, turning around and selling them to Sylar."_

_"....Why does this sound familiar," HyunJoong murmured, eyes slightly narrowed._

_"Sounds like SiWon, doesn't it?" JongWoon asked, peeking up at them._

_"Well, at least you don't have to worry about him anymore," HyunJoong said, setting his spoon down and glancing to KyuJong beside him._

_"SiWon eh? Yeah that sounds familiar," Xander nodded, his eyes twitching again. "Why wouldn't I have to worry about him?"_

_"He got caught," KyuJong said quietly, shifting slightly closer to HyunJoong._

_"Oh did he? Good good good, now I can stop worrying about it. Not that I was really worried, but still, so inconvenient," Xander sighed dramatically. "I had to cancel so many appointments because of him."_

_"Well I think I'm ready for bed," HyungJoon said, slowly getting up. "Try and get what sleep I can."_

_"I'll come too," JongWoon said, standing as well. "Thanks for the food, Mi."_

_"We'll take care of dishes," HyunJoong said, squeezing KyuJong's hand under the table before standing and starting to gather things together._

_As KyuJong got up to help HyunJoong, Zhou Mi scurried out the door, glad to be away from the fox anthro. HyungJoon took JongWoon's hand and lead him from the mess hall, his head down and expression dour. Xander watched the two walk out the door with a sharp eye, sniffing the air a little. He leaned over to SungMin. "Their scent is all over each other, I couldn't tell them apart if I closed my eyes."_

_Resting his head and paws on the table, SungMin's ear twitched slightly as he listened to the alien. "True. But they're not together, as far as I can tell," he murmured. The anthro yawned widely, sharp teeth flashing. "They are called 'twins' for a reason though."_

_"Humans are strange," Xander shook his head, his eyes sweeping over to where the other two humans were in the kitchen doing dishes. "Like those two for example. They're trying to hide something that's more than a little obvious."_

_"I don't think there's a single person here who doesn't know," SungMin chuckled, dozing lightly on the table. "Humans give me a headache, but these humans are okay, at least they're different than usual Feds."_

_"They're amusing, I'll give them that," Xander agreed before looking back down at the anthro. "Alright fuzz ball, sleep time. Do I have to carry you?"_

_"No, I can walk," SungMin sniffed, pushing himself off of the chair and toddling towards the door. "I'm not a pet. Come on, it's gonna be a busy day tomorrow."_

_"I was just trying to be nice," Xander huffed, getting up and following after him. "I can be nice too without making fun of anyone."_

_KyuJong looked over when the door closed and sighed, shaking his head. "Still weird having so many other people on board now," he said, turning back to the dish he was cleaning. "You're going to be careful tomorrow, right?" he asked HyunJoong, glancing up at him briefly._

_Drying the bowl in his hand and placing it away, HyunJoong smiled back at KyuJong. "Of course I will, we all will. You too...between you, JongWoon and Zhou Mi you should be able to hold fort on the ship in case we need a quick escape. And we'll be in contact the whole time."_

_KyuJong nodded, but he was still uneasy about what was happening the next day. He didn't know what he'd do if HyunJoong got hurt, or worse. Trying not to think about that, he cleaned off the last bowl and turned off the water. "The others... Xander and YoungSaeng... all make it seem like this is going to be something easy. I don't think I can ever get used to all this fighting."_

_"I'm not sure I can either, but we manage the best we can," HyunJoong sighed, picking up the last bowl and drying it off. "At least we have more people here who are able to fight, we're not taking this on by ourselves." And he doubted the mission would be an easy one._

_Drying off his hands, KyuJong sighed and leaned up against the counter, crossing his arms. "That's true, and I'm glad JongWoon is staying on board. Though I'm surprised HyungJoon volunteered to go. He doesn't like fighting much either."_

_"Surprised about that too, though he didn't look good after Xander's explanation," HyunJoong shook his head. Placing the bowl away, he wiped down the counter and hung up the towel, turning to KyuJong. "As long as he doesn't get himself hurt."_

_"As long as no one gets hurt," KyuJong smiled sadly at him. They could hope anyway. It would be a miracle if no one got hurt at all. "Well we've got a few hours until then, let's try to not think about the bad things that could happen," he said, pushing off from the counter and starting towards the door._

_"Right," HyunJoong nodded, following him. "Want to get some sleep while we can?" He'd spent most of his free time lately going over papers and making sure the ship was in the best condition for what they were going into, and as a result hadn't always been sleeping the same time as KyuJong, or sleeping at all._

_"Yes, you look like you're ready to pass out," KyuJong said, glancing over at him with a concerned expression. "The bed's been kind of empty without you," he said quietly, talking HyunJoong's hand and giving it a slightly squeeze._

_Smiling in response, HyunJoong squeezed KyuJong's hand back before leaning in to give him a soft kiss before they reached the door. "Sorry about that," he murmured as they headed out into the hallway, and back towards their room._

_"It's okay, you can make it up to me later," KyuJong chuckled. "Maybe when there's time to do more than just sleep."_

_"Something to look forward to," the older man chuckled, linked hands swinging back and forth slowly between them as they walked. Reaching their room, he stepped in and closed the door behind them, kicking off his shoes and leaning in to kiss KyuJong again._

_KyuJong returned the kiss lightly, resting his hands on HyunJoong's chest before pulling back with a smile. Sometimes he was a little bewildered as to how they had ended up like this, since things between them hadn't exactly gone smoothly, but he wouldn't change a single moment of it. Pulling off his shoes, he crawled under the covers and held out his hand for HyunJoong to join him._

_Taking the offered hand, HyunJoong climbed up onto the bed and slipped under the covers beside him, arm wrapped securely around KyuJong's waist. He just looked at the younger man in the darkness for a bit, stroking his thumb lightly over the exposed skin at KyuJong's waist, before leaning in and pressing his lips to the pilot's forehead. "Sleep well," he murmured with a small smile._

_Smiling at the kiss to the forehead, KyuJong nuzzled up against HyunJoong, soaking in the warmth and comfort of the older man. Unbidden, the thoughts of what could happen tomorrow rose up almost immediately, and the idea of HyunJoong not being there to hold on to him while he slept scared him more than he thought possible. Especially if he never got to tell HyunJoong how he really felt._

_"Hyun..." he said softly, looking up at him. "I.. have something I want to say to you, and you don't have to respond or anything, I just want to get it out there, because if I don't I could regret it later," he continued, not giving HyunJoong a chance to say anything. "Hyun... I love you."_

_Pulling back enough to look at KyuJong as he talked, surprise reflected in HyunJoong's eyes at those words. The last time he'd heard them spoken, it had proved to be a lie just a day later. And after, he had completely closed himself off to those words, not wanting to feel his heart breaking in his chest again. It was safer that way, yes, but it had been a sad existence, wondering what he'd done for things to go so horribly wrong._

_But KyuJong was telling him those words again, and though HyunJoong should be afraid of them as he'd been not long ago, he couldn't help but feel hopeful. Because despite the very rough start to their relationship, he fully believed KyuJong wasn't lying. And that it was okay to let someone in again, as he had been slowly but surely._

_Smiling widely down at his boyfriend, HyunJoong ducked his head to kiss KyuJong softly. "Love you too," he whispered against the younger man's lips._

_KyuJong felt his heart swell in his chest at hearing that, hoping, but not expecting to hear those words back. He returned the kiss a little more forcefully than he had intended, but he was happy and didn't care. Breaking off, he smiled widely at HyunJoong for a moment before he curled back up against his boyfriend's chest, the smile not disappearing. "Sleep well."_

_Resting his cheek against KyuJong's hair, HyunJoong chuckled as he closed his eyes, hand running along KyuJong's back before settling. He fell asleep perfectly content, mind not on what was going to happen tomorrow, but on the man in his arms._

_*********************_

_Closing the door to HyungJoon's room behind them, JongWoon sighed loudly, kicking off his shoes and stretching. "Things are getting a little crazy, I hope we don't have missions like this often." He was worried about HyungJoon going out there tomorrow._

_"Me either, but this is important to JungMin and YoungSaeng," HyungJoon said, flopping down on the bed once his shoes were off. After hearing what had happened, he completely understood why the two wanted to go after TaeGoon instead of reporting back to YunHo like they were supposed to. "At least you're staying on board. I wouldn't want to worry about you out there too."_

_JongWoon dropped down next to him. "So I get to worry about you?" He looked down at the younger man. "Why do you have to go? You don't like fighting either, even if you're a natural shot," he frowned, concerned._

_"They probably need all the help they can get out there," HyungJoon shrugged, looking up at the ceiling. "I may not like fighting, but I can help. I can do that much for him.. them at least."_

_Blinking, the negotiator looked down at his best friend. "Is that why you're going, Joon?" he asked quietly. He wasn't that stupid. "Because of what happened?"_

_HyungJoon nodded, not looking at him. "Even if he doesn't care about me or my feelings, I still want to support him as a friend. I can do that much for him, even if it doesn't mean a lot in the end."_

_"...I think it would mean a lot," JongWoon murmured, before sighing and lying down next to HyungJoon, hugging him close. "Just be careful, okay? I'm never forgiving you if you get yourself killed out there."_

_HyungJoon wanted to say that he'd be fine and JongWoon had nothing to worry about, but he couldn't say the words and believe them himself. Sighing heavily, he nuzzled against JongWoon, his nose pressed against the man's neck and breathing in his scent. "I'll be careful," he replied quietly after a while. "Hopefully they'll all be too focused on Saeng and Min to even notice me."_

_JongWoon ran his fingers slowly through HyungJoon's hair, gaze on the wall. "And you can show off your firing skills," he murmured. "You better be careful." He hugged the younger man tighter. "Maybe we'll have a few days to relax after this, considering we're taking care of YunHo's problem for him."_

_"We better, but maybe just not at that station again," HyungJoon said, closing his eyes and brushing his lips over JongWoon's neck out of habit. "Though I guess if we don't leave the ship we'd be okay, and we wouldn't have to keep an eye out for pirates. Either way, a break would be nice."_

_Shivering slightly at the lips against his neck, JongWoon swallowed, closing his eyes as well. "Staying on the ship sounds good," he murmured. It would be a while before he would willingly go out onto that station again. "I don't think we'll be able to get a vacation on some planet."_

_"Not any time soon at least," HyungJoon agreed, blinking a bit at the shiver, realizing what he'd just done. "Oh, I'm sorry, we agreed, I shouldn't have done that," he said, turning his head so he wasn't tempted to do that again.''_

_"It's fine," JongWoon murmured, restraining a sigh. He had to resist from getting too close sometimes too, especially when he needed to feel something like what he and HyungJoon had had for a short amount of time. But he wouldn't be a replacement for someone else. If they were to do anything now, he would be just that...a replacement. And he didn't want that getting between them._

_"You don't think JungMin would ever like you back?" he asked quietly after a moment._

_"No, why would he? He's got YoungSaeng," HyungJoon said, trying not to sound too bitter about it. "He made it pretty clear he doesn't like humans and even if he did, he enjoys hitting me too much. So...no, he's not going to like me back."_

_"He hasn't been hitting you that much recently," JongWoon pointed out, ignoring the bit about JungMin and YoungSaeng. He was still highly confused about the older shifter. "Just if you do something that really annoys him. He's actually been pretty nice, aside from the past few days where he's been kinda snappy at everyone." Though they knew why now._

_"Just because I annoy him less doesn't mean he likes me," HyungJoon snorted, rolling his eyes at that. "I should really just forget about him and move on before I drive myself crazy over it."_

_JongWoon smiled sadly, rubbing one hand along his back. He felt really bad for HyungJoon, but there wasn't much he could do. "Come on, let's get some sleep, you need to be all rested," he sighed as he pulled the covers over them._

_Sighing as he settled more comfortably, HyungJoon wrapped his arm tight around JongWoon, glad for his comfort. "Who needs stupid aliens anyway when I've got my best friend," he mumbled._

_The older man laughed quietly. "Best friends over aliens any day," he whispered, relaxing. As long as they stayed like this, he had all he wanted._

_*********************************35*****************************************_

_"So what's the best way to approach this?" YoungSaeng asked, leaning over the map that was rolled out on the table in the mess hall._

_"If their ship isn't flying, we could probably land somewhere out in the outskirts of the colony and slip in," Xander said, tapping the map at a point just to the south of the colony. "This would be the best spot. It's near the meeting hall where TaeGoon set up shop."_

_"And if their ship is still in the air? I don't think we're going to be able to take on a war ship," HyungJoon said, chewing on his lip._

_"The shuttle should be able to slip through without being spotted," HyunJoong said, frowning as he looked over the map. "We can bring the ship down outside their radar and the colony, and use the shuttle to get in."_

_"The planet's all rock and valleys, it would be easy for a small shuttle to get in," SungMin nodded. "The material they're mining gets in the way of radar sometimes."_

_"Once we're in, we'll need to go in in teams," YoungSaeng said, "Which buildings would pose the most threats?"_

_"Meeting hall here," Xander said, marking the building with a glass. "Last we saw, guards were taking up positions in the Valis outposts here, and here," buildings marked with salt and pepper shakers. "But since it's been more than a week, we'll need more information about where they are."_

_"So we send KyuHyun in as a scout first," YoungSaeng said, glancing at the Gecko. "Then once we get more precise locations we'll figure out our route. JungMin, HyunJoong, HyungJoon and I will be going after TaeGoon. You three," he pointed at the three aliens, "will be taking care of whoever is left over in the streets and covering for our retreat."_

_"We're going to stay in contact the whole time?" JongWoon asked, sticking close to HyungJoon._

_"We have enough coms for everyone," HyunJoong nodded. "Depending on how far away from the ship we are, they should last."_

_"Not so sure about that...the rock interferes with those signals too," SungMin piped up. "We should be able to communicate with each other if we're not too far away, but communications with the ship will be coming and going."_

_"What did the colonists use to communicate with the mine?" YoungSaeng frowned, not liking the not being able to communicate with the ship._

_"Land lines going to and from the colony to the mine," Xander said, tapping his finger on his pursed lips._

_"Where are those lines?" HyungJoon asked, leaning forward a bit and looking at the map._

_"Where we're going to land the shuttle is right in between the colony and the mine," Xander pointed to the landing point on the map._

_"The coms on the shuttle are a lot stronger than our devices," HyungJoon said, pursing his lips in thought. "If we can patch in the landline to the shuttle, we'd be able to communicate with the ship by using the shuttle as a booster."_

_"If we do end up using the shuttle, someone should stay with it," HyunJoong frowned._

_"I can keep an eye on it after scouting," KyuHyun shrugged, sitting very purposely at the other end of the table from SungMin and tail curled around Zhou Mi's._

_"What's our time window?" JungMin asked, mostly quiet as he listened to the others plan._

_"We should try and be in and out before half an hour," SungMin said, muzzle wrinkled slightly. "If it gets to an hour, we should pull back."_

_Looking everything over again, YoungSaeng nodded. "Sounds good. It's not the best plan, but we have the element of surprise hopefully. Anyone have any questions?"_

_"How close are we?" HyungJoon looked up._

_"Two hours before we enter atmo," HyunJoong replied, looking at the others. "We should get ready. HyungJoon, take a last look at the shuttle and make sure she's okay to fly. YoungSaeng, JungMin, can we get weapons gathered?"_

_"I don't need any," SungMin piped up, claws extending._

_"As if you'd be able to hold a gun with stubby paws," KyuHyun snorted, and shrank back slightly when SungMin growled at him._

_"I don't need any either," Xander drawled, poking at SungMin's ears._

_"You be careful not to hit any of us though," YoungSaeng said, frowning at the flesh eater._

_"...Hit with what?" HyungJoon blinked, looking at Xander warily._

_"Those spines aren't just for show," YoungSaeng said, rolling the map back up. "Let's get those weapons ready, Captain. Min?"_

_"Yeah," JungMin nodded, standing up._

_HyunJoong stood as well, squeezing KyuJong's hand under the table before doing so. "JongWoon, make sure you're set up as well?"_

_The negotiator nodded, knowing that HyunJoong meant the infirmary._

_Swiping at Xander's hand with a light hiss, SungMin looked up at them. "Can I help with something?"_

_"You two just stay out of trouble for the time being," YoungSaeng said, his hand at the small of JungMin's back as they walked to the door. They hadn't had time to find anything useful for the two new additions to do yet, and they'd most likely just get in the way._

_"I'll see you on the bridge in a little bit?" HyungJoon asked JongWoon as he stood up. The two Geckos were getting ready to head out as well, though HyungJoon wasn't sure what they would be doing._

_"Yeah, in a few," JongWoon smiled at his friend, trying to ignore the nervous twisting in his stomach as he the group started to head out. HyunJoong followed YoungSaeng and JungMin to go inspect their weapons, what little they had. They would have to invest in a bigger stock if things kept turning out like this._

_"Everyone gets their own gun?" HyunJoong looked at YoungSaeng. "We're going to have to be careful with ammo."_

_"Yes, we should be fine if it's just the four of us since the other three won't need weapons," YoungSaeng said. "JungMin and I can carry more ammo on us without weighing us down, and there's something special I'm going to be bringing to take care of TaeGoon."_

_HyunJoong blinked at YoungSaeng. "Do I really want to know what it is?" JungMin was eyeing them both, but kept silent for the most part._

_YoungSaeng's smile was dark as he looked over at HyunJoong. "No, you probably shouldn't know, nor should you want to see his body when I'm done with him."_

_"I'll take your word for that," HyunJoong said, glad that he was on YoungSaeng's good side. He'd never want the shifter's wrath directed at him in any way._

_Reaching the weapons locker, he pulled it open and started going through weapons for the better ones. "How many clips would we need?"_

_"I'd say at least three each," JungMin said, going through it with him._

_"At least, so make it four," YoungSaeng said, crouching down to pull out one of the bags with explosives. He smiled a little when he opened the zipper and saw the plastic explosives and charges inside. "What do you think Min... one brick going to be enough?" he said, holding up the slab of explosive material._

_JungMin's eyes narrowed, looking down at the contents of the bag. "Bring a few of the smaller shells just in case." HyunJoong did his best to ignore what they were going over, pulling out bulletproof vests. He frowned upon realizing they only had two._

_Looking over at him, JungMin saw what the problem was. "You and HyungJoon use those, we'll be fine."_

_YoungSaeng pulled out two more slabs of the explosives and charges, stacking them up next to the bag. Opening up one of the compartments inside, he grabbed a few of the grenades and set them down next to the explosives. Zipping up the bag, he shoved it back into the locker and stood up. "Alright, guns," he said, eyeing one in particular as he reached in and pulled it out. "Taking this one," he grinned, holding up the sniper rifle._

_"All yours," JungMin nodded, searching through for his own. After a moment he pulled out a light machine gun, checking it's condition._

_"I'll stop by med bay and pick up a portable first aid kit," HyunJoong said, choosing a gun for himself and straightening. "Anything else we need?"_

_"I think we can get the rest of the weapons ready," YoungSaeng said, setting the sniper rifle aside and going through handguns for HyungJoon and for himself. "Meet you on the bridge when we're done?"_

_HyunJoong nodded, turning and leaving for med bay. JungMin watched him go before turning back to what they were doing, making sure they had enough ammo for each weapon. He also found a blade for himself; he highly preferred them to guns, but he would use a gun on TaeGoon if he got the chance; he wasn't getting that close to the man._

_Once HyunJoong was out of the room, YoungSaeng knelt back down to the explosives, placing his hands on them. They slowly melted into his hands, disappearing completely, same with the grenades and even the sniper rifle, though that one made him feel a little uncomfortable._

_JungMin knew better than to ask if YoungSaeng would be able to fight at full efficiency with all that hidden inside him, the redhead placing his own hands over his gun and ammo. They disappeared as well, as did the sharp knife he was holding. Then he picked up the weapon and vest for HyungJoon, keeping a hold on it as he stood. "Just about ready?"_

_"I'm ready," YoungSaeng nodded, closing the locker doors and turning to JungMin. Leaning up on his toes, he brushed his lips over JungMin's. "Let's go kill us a fish," he grinned._

_The younger man quirked a small smile, kissing him back. He transferred the vest and gun to one hand, taking one of YoungSaeng's hands with the other and walking towards the bridge. "He's not getting away this time."_

_"No he is not," YoungSaeng squeezed JungMin's hand. "I'll make sure of it." By the time they reached the bridge, HyungJoon had shown up there as well, chewing on his thumb nervously as he hovered behind KyuJong's chair._

_"Here." JungMin held out the vest to the engineer. "Put this on under your shirt. This is yours." He placed the gun and the extra cartridges on the table._

_HyungJoon looked at the vest with wide eyes, still not believing he had volunteered for this. "Um.. okay," he said, hesitantly taking the vest. It was lighter and thinner than he thought it would be. Turning around, he slid his shirt off and pulled the vest on quickly._

_While the engineer was getting ready, YoungSaeng came up behind the pilot's chair, looking out the window. "How much further?"_

_"We'll be in sensor range in about twenty minutes," KyuJong said, looking up at YoungSaeng and then at HyunJoong. "Then we'll be able to tell if there's any ships in orbit or not."_

_HyunJoong nodded, squeezing KyuJong's shoulder a little. It was a good thing they had the most up-to-date systems; they would be able to see anyone else long before they saw them. Once again he thanked Tablo mentally, wondering if the older man knew he'd never see them again._

_JungMin folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the table, gaze on the window before glancing to HyungJoon. "You sure you're ready for this? It isn't going to be pretty."_

_HyungJoon took a deep breath before he nodded and looked up at JungMin, his eyes determined. "I'm not just going to sit here on my hands and wait for you guys to possibly come back. I'll be fine."_

_Meeting his gaze, JungMin nodded slightly, lips pursed. He wasn't so certain about letting HyungJoon go out there, but if he was so determined to go, JungMin wasn't going to stop him, and he was a decent shot. "Just try not to get yourself killed."_

_SungMin poked his head into the bridge. "We there yet?"_

_"Soon, don't bother me," KyuJong said, his eyes focused on the sensors. They were close enough that a ship would be showing up any second and he didn't want to miss it._

_"Are you going in or not?" Xander was pushing at the anthro from behind._

_"Both of you get in here and sit down," YoungSaeng scowled, glaring over his shoulder at them. It was starting to get really cramped on the bridge with all of them. Luckily the geckos weren't here as well._

_SungMin hurried in and wedged himself in a corner out of the way. JungMin tapped his fingers against his pockets lightly, watching outside the window. HyunJoong, sitting next to KyuJong, checked conditions throughout the ship and redirected power in case KyuJong needed to back them out quickly. If they were spotted, they couldn't go against a warship._

_Xander sat down next to SungMin, looking bored as he leaned forward in his seat to keep his spines from getting squished. As the planet drew closer and closer, KyuJong slowed their approach, and after a thorough sweep of the senses, he sighed a little in relief._

_"No ship in orbit, but there's a lot of debris," KyuJong said, getting their trajectory for a landing started. "Starting landing procedures. We'll be down in a few minutes. I suggest everyone sit."_

_YoungSaeng didn't have to be told twice, taking a seat next to Xander, pulling JungMin down with him and started to strap in. Considering they weren't landing at a station, this was going to be bumpy._

_Strapping in as well, JungMin watched HyunJoong turn on the ship com to make sure JongWoon and the Geckos knew to sit down as well. Then he took up co-pilot controls beside KyuJong, strapping in as well._

_They hit the atmosphere a moment later, the ship shivering a little but otherwise the transition was going smoothly. That wasn't taking the debris into account though._

_Hands tight on the steering, KyuJong kept his eyes on the planet below as they started to make their descent. He'd purposely flown into the atmosphere a good ways away from the colony so as not to attract attention. Pulling back hard on the accelerator, the ship stuttered to a slower speed, halving then halving again._

_Flying through mountains and canyons was easy enough, KyuJong actually enjoying himself a little even though they nearly smashed into a cliff face once or twice._

_HyungJoon had given up on trying to look out the window, and wished JongWoon was there to hold on to. He made the mistake of looking over and nearly shrieked at the rock wall they were hurtling towards, grabbing the nearest thing to him which was JungMin's arm._

_Reaching their landing zone not long later, KyuJong eased them down, the ship landing with not much more than a bump. "Landing gear deployed, we are down," KyuJong said, powering down the engines._

_JungMin didn't try to peel HyungJoon off his arm, holding on to his chair a little to remain in the seat despite some of the sharp turns. He'd been in many ships, but he'd never get used to KyuJong's kamikaze way of flying that strangely got them down without so much as a scratch on the shields._

_"Let's get going then," HyunJoong said, unstrapping and standing. "Keep the ship on standby, we'll be in touch through the com lines," he said to KyuJong, smiling reassuringly. He went and got spare com devices for the Geckos, SungMin and Xander; the others all had their own._

_"You can let go now," JungMin grumped a little, poking at HyungJoon, though he didn't hit him like usual. Either he was completely distracted by the thought of what they were going to do, or he minded the clinging a lot less than he seemed to. Maybe a mix of both at this point._

_HyungJoon blinked at JungMin then down at his hand and nodded. "Yeah, sorry," he said, immediately retracting his hand. Unbuckling the strap, he stood up and glowered at KyuJong. "Was all that really necessary?"_

_"The canyons kept us off sensors, so yes?" KyuJong looked over at him with a smile._

_"We'll be waiting in the cargo hold," YoungSaeng said, getting to his feet and heading towards the door, JungMin in tow. Xander followed along behind, hopping a little as he went._

_"Captain? Can you wait for a second?" KyuJong asked, turning off all non vital systems and bringing up security commands. While the others were off the ship shields were staying on as well as off ship sensors to detect anyone approaching._

_HyunJoong looked back at KyuJong and nodded, straightening after helping SungMin clip the comm device onto his shirt to avoid losing it. He watched the anthro run out on all fours to catch up to Xander, HyungJoon the last to leave._

_Once it was just them, HyunJoong hid his gun inside his jacket before turning to KyuJong. "You'll be okay here?" he asked quietly._

_"I'll be fine, security's on, shields are up, no one knows we're here," KyuJong said, glancing out the hatch to make sure the others were gone before he stepped forward to put his arms around HyunJoong's neck. "You be careful," he said softly, leaning into give HyunJoong a kiss._

_The older man kissed KyuJong back softly, arms wrapping around his waist to hold him close. "I will," he whispered against KyuJong's mouth. "We all will." He ran his hand slowly along KyuJong's back. "We'll be back in an hour tops."_

_"We'll be waiting," KyuJong nodded, kissing him again before stepping back, letting his arms drop back down to his sides. "Good luck."_

_Hands falling away too, HyunJoong smiled and nodded before turning and heading out of the bridge. Going to the cargo hold, by the time he got there, the others were already gathered, KyuHyun staying far away from SungMin even though the anthro was ignoring him for now._

_"Well, let's get going," he nodded to them, going to the airlock and opening it. They were able to breathe the air on this planet, SungMin had told them, but they should still cover their mouths with a cloth to avoid the dust getting into their lungs._

_Xander poked his head out first, sniffing the air before jumping down onto the ground. His sharp eyes scoped out around them and waited patiently, bouncing on his feet for the others._

_"Think he'll have sent men this far out?" YoungSaeng asked, dropping down after JungMin and SungMin had gone out ahead._

_"Nah, there's nothing out here but the mine, and he doesn't have enough men to get that going again yet," Xander shook his head._

_SungMin climbed up to the top of a jut of rock beside them to see over the terrain, sniffing the air with ears perched up. "No, no one around at all." He shook himself to try and get rid of the dirt already settling into his white fur._

_"The mutt's going to need a bath after this," KyuHyun snickered, and jumped back when SungMin growled._

_"Both of you, put the 'mortal enemy' stuff on hold for an hour," JungMin grumbled, setting out towards the colony._

_With the last people off the ship, the airlock closed and sealed behind them. HyungJoon looked over at HyunJoong with nervous eyes. How they went from simple transport crew to...whatever they were now he'll never understand. Adjusting the vest a little, he tried to keep up with the others._

_At the top of a ridge, YoungSaeng motioned them all down as he squatted down next to a boulder. The colony was settled in a valley below. There wasn't a whole lot of movement that he could see, but most of these colonies used underground connections between buildings because of the harsh dust. YoungSaeng glanced over at KyuHyun and nodded before looking back._

_The Gecko appeared to melt into his surroundings, only a faint outline against the rocks showing where he was. He hurried on ahead of them towards the closest building that would have an entrance to the outside. They'd all memorized SungMin's map before coming here._

_Now they just waited. JungMin pulled his shirt up over his mouth and nose to keep the dust away, squatting next to YoungSaeng and trying to see through the blowing dirt._

_While KyuHyun was scouting, YoungSaeng turned away from the colony to start getting weapons ready. Hold his hand palm up, the clips started to materialize from out of his skin set them down, as well as his handgun. Setting it to the side, he lifted his palms up again and the sniper rifle slowly made it's way out. He felt considerably lighter now and shouldered it, sticking the handgun in the back of his waist band, stuffing the extra clips in his pocket._

_Seeing YoungSaeng get weapons ready, HyungJoon pulled out the handgun he'd put in his pocket that JungMin had given him as well as the clips, checking that the safety was on and it was loaded. Now they just had to wait for KyuHyun to get back._

_JungMin made his own weapons reappear as well, loading his gun and hiding it in his jacket. The knife he kept in his hands, twirling it between his fingers absently._

_The Gecko was back fifteen minutes later, reappearing next to HyunJoong. "There's about ten or so men out in the hallways around the ones we'll be taking, five others out of the way but able to come after us if they're warned. The rest is probably on the ship, and that's at least a fifteen minute run from where we'll be. There's three men in the meeting hall where this TaeGoon character set up, I'm guessing one of them's him."_

_YoungSaeng nodded, getting back up to his feet. "Alright, we head straight through to the meeting hall, then we split up. HyungJoon and I go one way, JungMin and HyunJoong go the other. SungMin and Xander cover our retreat. Are you going in with us KyuHyun?"_

_"Guess I will," the Gecko sighed. "I'll go mess up the other five in case they try to sneak up on us."_

_"Everyone's com device is on?" HyunJoong asked as he stood, the others checking to make sure. "We have an hour, remember. If we haven't succeeded by then, we'll need to pull back."_

_"It'll take them about that long for word to get to the warship and get the rest of TaeGoon's crew over here," SungMin nodded._

_"So we just make sure we're done well before that warship starts moving," JungMin stood, sheathing his blade._

_An idea formed in YoungSaeng's head and he looked at KyuHyun with a smile. "How long would it take you to get to that ship and back?"_

_KyuHyun's eyes narrowed at the smile on the shifter's face. "...Ten to fifteen minutes there, same back. What do you want me to do?"_

_Holding up his hands again the bricks of plastic explosives and charges reappeared in his palms. "Make sure that ship can't ever fly again."_

_Blinking, the Gecko gave a mischievous grin. "That I can do." He reached out and took the explosives, tucking them into his pockets. "See you in twenty." With that the Gecko disappeared._

_JungMin turned to YoungSaeng with a small smile. "Let's go?"_

_"Let's go," YoungSaeng nodded, peeking out from behind the rock again and slowly making his way down the hill towards the colony. He hated being in a position where they could be seen coming since the landscape of the planet offered nothing more than dirt and rocks, but this was an easy enough job._

_It only took them a few minutes to get to the base of the hill and at the first building. Motioning to JungMin, YoungSaeng took up a position outside the access door._

_JungMin went to the door and listened carefully to see if there was anyone just beyond. Hearing nothing, he frowned at the door being locked; not that it was much of a challenge. He crouched down and worked on picking the lock, tongue peeping out of the corner of his mouth as the others got either out of sight, or ready to fire if there turned out to be someone on the other side of the door._

_Getting the lock open in under a minute, JungMin straightened and pulled his knife out before opening the door. There was no one. He checked both ways down the hallway before motioning the others in._

_Gun at the ready, YoungSaeng slipped in behind JungMin, facing down one way while the others filed in behind him. Xander was the last in, shutting the door quietly behind him. Whispering quietly, he motioned down the hall that was leading away from the door. "This way." Heading out first, the spined alien bounced a little as he made his way down the dimly lit hallway towards the stairs to the underground tunnels_

_"Don't get between him and a target," YoungSaeng murmured to the two humans, nodding his head toward Xander. "Those spines aren't just for decoration." HyungJoon blinked, but nodded, his own gun drawn as they followed Xander._

_Taking up the rear with JungMin, YoungSaeng walked sideways, making sure no one came up behind them._

_SungMin padded along beside Xander on all fours, claws withdrawn so they wouldn't click against the floor. He sniffed the air, ears perked up and listening._

_They got down the stairs and into the first set of tunnels before the anthro skidded to a stop, tail puffing out. HyunJoong knew without him saying anything that there was someone up ahead._

_With everyone in front stopping, YoungSaeng nudged HyungJoon over to the wall, watching down the hall for any signs of who was coming. Xander on the other hand hadn't stopped and was continuing down his merry way. He disappeared into the darkness ahead, and after there was a few moments of silence YoungSaeng heard a sharp rattling snake like noise followed by a gurgling cut off scream._

_Xander reappeared moments later, his head ticking to the side, motioning them forward. HyungJoon nearly gagged when he saw the body of the guard on the floor, the chest cavity ripped open and what looked like darts puncturing his eyes and cheeks._

_"Don't stare," JungMin muttered, tugging HyungJoon on past the body. HyunJoong had his eyes averted as well, watching SungMin continue going doing the hallway, muzzle wrinkled at the smell of blood and other fluids spilling out onto the floor. There was no point in hiding the body, it would take up too much time and the smell would give it away anyways._

_Taking the corner, SungMin's ears flattened as he heard running footsteps. The anthro took off, HyunJoong bringing his gun up quickly at the sudden movement. There was a grunt of surprise followed by a loud growl and a thud. By the time the others had taken the corner there was another body, throat torn open. SungMin had his claws out, white fur on his paws stained red._

_"We need to hurry, the tunnels echo, they'll hear if someone screams," the anthro told them, claws clinking lightly against the floor._

_"Next branch in the tunnels leads to the meeting hall," Xander said. "SungMin and I will stay there and we'll pick off whoever shows up."_

_Nodding, YoungSaeng followed them around another curve, barely hearing the click of a door open next to him before he whirled around. Pulling the trigger, the man who had been coming out stumbled backward with a bullet between the eyes, crashing into a shelving unit in the room._

_"Well if they didn't know we were here before, they do now," Xander sighed at the gun shot echoing up and down the halls._

_"They'll be drawn to the noise, get going as fast as you can," SungMin looked up at them, tail puffed out. "Before you're boxed in." The anthro sped on ahead to make sure the way was clear for them._

_The group hurried on towards the meeting hall, JungMin staying at the rear and making sure no one came up on them from behind. As they passed by another corridor, HyunJoong spotted movement out of the corner of his eyes. That was all the warning he had before there was a loud bang and something dented the wall beside him. Whirling around, he sighted and pulled the trigger, getting the gunsman in the stomach._

_The corridor split up ahead, YoungSaeng leading them down the right branch while Xander and SungMin stayed behind. They didn't meet any more guardsmen down that hall and when it came to a T, YoungSaeng glanced at JungMin. "There's only three inside, let's make this quick," he said, tugging on HyungJoon's arm to take him towards the left. "See you inside."_

_JungMin nodded, nudging at HyunJoong to follow as he went to the right. The two of them advanced carefully, JungMin listening for anything as he took the front. "If I tell you to do something when we get in there, do it, okay?" he murmured to HyunJoong, jaw clenched slightly._

_The older man nodded, pulling back the slider again on his gun with a click as they headed down the hallway towards entrance. There was no one else in sight, but this entrance was farther than the other one; they would need the time to get into position properly._

_HyungJoon glanced nervously over his shoulder at the other two when YoungSaeng took them around a corner. Approaching a door, he eased the sniper rifle off his shoulder and handed it to HyungJoon. "I'll go in first, you wait here until I give the clear," YoungSaeng whispered to the younger who nodded._

_Getting his grip situated on his handgun, YoungSaeng slowly opened the door into the meeting hall, looking around in the darkened room. The door was set between two high risers of seats, cutting off what light there was coming from the main auditorium section of the hall. Tip toeing forward slowly, he looked around but didn't see anyone._

_About to turn back and get HyungJoon, something slammed hard into the back of his head. Vision blurring, he stumbled to his knees and tried to swing his gun around, but it was knocked effortlessly from his hands. A foul stench greeted his nose as something got right up in his face._

_"Well, if it isn't the shifter's partner," the words were drawled out. "Looks like I get to have fun with you too." YoungSaeng wasn't given a chance to respond, something cracking him over the head again and he blacked out._

_***********************************36****************************************_

_Finally reaching the other entrance, JungMin drew in a slow breath, bracing himself. This would be over soon._

_KyuHyun's voice crackled in through the com line. _"The ship's taken care of, it's going nowhere and neither is it's crew."_ The Gecko sounded far too pleased with himself. _"On my way back, will be there in ten."__

_"Help SungMin and Xander when you get here," HyunJoong replied into his com, before slipping it back into his pocket and readying his gun again, looking at JungMin. The shifter looked back at him and nodded before carefully opening the door to the hall._

_They were approaching from the back, and the door was hidden in shadows. Readying his knife in case, JungMin slipped through and glanced around. The area looked clear, but he could only see a bit of the main auditorium from where he was. Checking the area behind the seats where they were, he motioned for HyunJoong to come in and stay at the door, guarding it._

_Knife and gun at the ready, he carefully kept to the shadows as he headed further into the room, staying where HyunJoong could see him as he looked for any sign of the three who were supposed to be in here._

_The overhead lights suddenly turned on, bathing the whole room in bright light. Standing on a platform at the center of the hall, a tall pale alien stood, smiling brightly at JungMin. "Hello there, JungMin, it's been a long time," the pale alien said, bringing up a hand to motion to someone to the side. "YoungSaeng and I were just catching up."_

_One of the guardsmen dragged YoungSaeng's limp body across the floor, then hoisted him up and rolled him unceremoniously across the dais towards TaeGoon._

_JungMin's eyes widened in first shock then anger, a snarl escaping him as he brought up his gun, pointing at TaeGoon. Taking careful steps forward, JungMin was fully aware of the second guard half-hidden in the shadows, gun pointed right at the shifter. If JungMin fired, he'd be shot right after._

_"Let him go before I gut you like a fish," the redhead snapped, shoving the fear down and trying to still the slight shaking in his hands._

_"Temper, temper JungMin," TaeGoon chuckled, taking a step towards YoungSaeng. "I won't hurt him, much," he lifted up one foot and pressed it against YoungSaeng's throat, not enough to choke him yet. "Put the gun down, or I'll snap his pretty little neck."_

_JungMin knew TaeGoon would do it too. This man had to be taken seriously. Swallowing, his jaw clenched and unclenched before he slowly lowered the gun. The knife had been drawn back to hide inside his body, so he still had that at least. Searching for a way out, he dropped the gun and kicked it away from him, taking deep breaths to calm himself._

_He knew HyunJoong could hear the entire conversation (or at least his half of the conversation) through the com line, and hoped the Captain would stay out of sight. None of the guards seemed aware JungMin and YoungSaeng weren't alone. Where was HyungJoon?_

_"So sentimental, that's a nasty human trait you've picked up," TaeGoon chuckled, kicking YoungSaeng hard in the ribs. "Now, my man over there is going to take you to the basement. You remember how much fun we had the last time in a basement right?" The guard in the shadows came forward slowly, gun still trained on JungMin. "But first, just so you don't get any ideas about someone coming to your rescue," TaeGoon drew a gun from out of his waist, pointing it down at YoungSaeng._

_There was a split second of hesitation when a shot rang out through the hall. TaeGoon staggered back, looking down at the hole in his chest when another shot followed shortly after, the side of his head exploding in a spray of blood and tissue._

_Both JungMin and the guard jumped, all eyes going to TaeGoon as he fell. The redhead, chalk white after the alien's words, recovered first. His knife reappeared in his hand as he whirled around, flinging it at the guard with the gun trained on him. It slammed into the man's chest, the guard staggering and firing his gun. He missed JungMin by a mile, the shifter diving for his gun and rolling, firing a shot to finish off that guard._

_Whirling around to take care of the other one, he found HyunJoong had reappeared and taken care of that one first, the guard falling with holes in his chest. Panting and hands shaking a little, JungMin looked to HyunJoong. Had the Captain shot TaeGoon?_

_No, the angle he'd appeared from was all wrong, and the gun he had didn't have the power to cause that much damage. Swallowing, JungMin stood up and hurried to YoungSaeng's side, pulling the unconscious man away from TaeGoon's body as he looked around._

_Shakily, HyungJoon stood up from where he'd been crouched in a row of seats in the balcony. When YoungSaeng hadn't come back for him, he'd gone in to look for him. TaeGoon and his men had been too preoccupied with kicking and hitting YoungSaeng's limp body to notice him hiding._

_"Is... is he okay?" HyungJoon called, not able to move his feet. He hadn't planned on shooting the alien, but when he heard what TaeGoon planned for JungMin, and saw the gun come out to kill YoungSaeng, he'd reacted immediately. It still hadn't sunk in yet that he was the one who had done that._

_Seeing HyungJoon, JungMin stared at him in shock for a moment before the younger man's words registered and he looked back down at YoungSaeng. Checking the other shifter's vitals quickly, he sighed in relief. "He's alive." Beaten, but alive._

_That had been close, so close, the redhead's shoulders shaking slightly as he ducked his head against YoungSaeng's._

_HyunJoong crossed the room to HyungJoon's side, lowering the nose of the sniper rifle the engineer was still holding. "You okay Joon?" he asked quietly, hand on his arm._

_Looking away from the two shifters, HyungJoon swallowed roughly and nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. He.. he didn't come back for me so I came in. You don't think he'll be mad that I didn't stay like I was supposed to, do you?"_

_"No, I don't think he'd be mad at all," HyunJoong smiled sadly, squeezing HyungJoon's arm lightly. "You did good Joon ah." He looked back at JungMin, drawing in a breath. "We need to go, Min."_

_JungMin lifted his head after a moment to look at them, nodding slightly. He carefully stood with YoungSaeng in his arms, cradling the other shifter close as he headed towards them, not looking at TaeGoon's body._

_As he was lifted up, YoungSaeng moaned softly, his eyes fluttering open a bit. It took him a moment to remember what happened, and for it to register he was being carried, but seeing the red locks in his field of vision the relief swept through him. "Min?" he murmured._

_"Hey," JungMin replied quietly, looking down at him. "Don't move, you took quite the beating." He looked up at the others as he reached them. HyunJoong was speaking with SungMin and Xander through the com line, making sure the hallways were clear for them to head back._

_Turning to look at HyungJoon, JungMin drew in a slow breath. "Thank you," he said quietly._

_HyungJoon smiled a little and nodded. "I'm just glad he's okay," he said, feeling a little awkward holding the sniper rifle now. Slinging it over his shoulder he waited until they were ready._

_Hearing the little bit of that conversation, YoungSaeng wasn't sure what had happened while he was out, but he'd find out later. Sighing, he closed his eyes and tried to block out the pain, nuzzling against JungMin's collar._

_"The way's clear, let's go," HyunJoong turned back to them. JungMin looked up at him and nodded, following him out into the hallway. He couldn't keep his gun out with YoungSaeng in his arms, HyunJoong doing the guarding for them just in case._

_They reached SungMin and Xander without mishap, the anthro looking up at them with perked-up ears. "Is he okay?" SungMin asked. KyuHyun melted out of the wall a few paces down from them._

_"He will be, JongWoon will have to look at him," JungMin said quietly._

_"There's two more skulking around here somewhere," Xander said, eyeing HyungJoon for a moment, his eye twitching. "We'll keep them off you," he said to JungMin as he took the lead. They followed the corridors twists and turns back towards the stairway and the door they'd come out of. Xander had them stay back while he and SungMin went up the stairs._

_Waiting below and against the wall, HyungJoon glanced over a couple times at JungMin and YoungSaeng. He jumped when there were screams from above. Xander's head reappeared at the top of the stairs. "Skulkers are taken care of."_

_Nodding, HyunJoong started up the stairs, still keeping his gun out just in case. KyuHyun waited until the others were up as well before taking up the rear, camouflaged against the walls._

_They were in front of the access door a minute later, SungMin pushing it open and sniffing the air, ears perked up. After a moment he waved them out, scampering up onto a tall rock to make sure the area was still clear. There was a large billow of smoke in the distance, where HyunJoong assumed the warship had been._

_Once they were out of the tunnels, HyunJoong brought his com to his mouth. "KyuJong, we're on our way back. Make sure JongWoon's ready at the infirmary, YoungSaeng will need to be checked over, but it's nothing life-threatening."_

_" _Understood, sir_." KyuJong responded, the relief evident in his voice. _

_HyungJoon glanced around chewing on his lip, still afraid that some other person was going to come around a corner and open fire, but Xander seemed relaxed. He looked over at JungMin and YoungSaeng again, relieved that both of them were okay._

_The walk back to the ship was slow with having to make sure JungMin could keep up. When they were back in view of the ship, HyungJoon could see that KyuJong had opened the cargo bay doors, the gangplank lowered so they could get back in without trouble._

_They climbed back up into the cargo bay, HyunJoong getting the doors closed once they were all in. JungMin immediately went to bring YoungSaeng to med bay, heading up the stairs carefully._

_Watching him go, HyunJoong looked at SungMin, Xander and KyuHyun. "You all okay?"_

_"All good," SungMin grinned, shaking hard until a cloud of dust rouse off his fur, making KyuHyun back up, coughing._

_"You need a bath," Xander wrinkled his nose at the anthro. "Look at you all covered in blood. So inefficient."_

_HyungJoon set the sniper rifle and the other gun carefully down onto a container before following JungMin up the stairs. He wanted to make sure YoungSaeng was okay, and JongWoon would be worried about him anyway. As he got to the top of the stairs, he was nearly bowled over by a flash of blue as Zhou Mi hurtled out of the hatch._

_The gecko barely registered that there were others around as he tackled KyuHyun to the floor, arms locked tight around him, babbling a mile a minute._

_KyuHyun shrieked as he landed on the floor. "Mi, you crushed my tail," he groaned, patting the other Gecko on the head. "Calm down, will you? I'm fine." He switched to that other language, either trying to reassure Zhou Mi that he was fine or get him off, HyunJoong wasn't sure._

_Heading down to med bay, JungMin stepped in to see JongWoon had gotten a bed ready. "What happened?" the negotiator asked with wide eyes as the redhead laid the older shifter down gently._

_"He was beaten up quite a bit," JungMin murmured. JongWoon pursed his lips, shooing JungMin out of the way with hand motions before carefully rolling up YoungSaeng's shirt to check for cracked bones._

_Stepping in behind JungMin, HyungJoon slid against the wall and took a seat in one of the chairs and waited. He winced a little seeing the welts and cuts on YoungSaeng's chest and sides. YoungSaeng made a sharp hissing noise when JongWoon's hand moved over a particularly dark bruise._

_"I think that one's broken," YoungSaeng murmured, opening his eyes to look up at JongWoon. One eye was red and swollen, the bruise forming around his eye making it hard to keep that one open._

_"Feels like it," JongWoon winced in apology, looking up at YoungSaeng. "I'm going to need to take a quick scan to make sure it's not out of alignment, I'd tell you not to move but I don't think you can move anyways." He gave the younger man a shaky smile before getting the palm scanner, turning it on. Adjusting the settings, he carefully scanned it over the broken rib, watching what came up on the display._

_"Good news, it's not out of alignment...I can give you a medpack to help with the pain and stuff, and bind it so it can't move, but you're not going to be walking around very well for the next little while." While he had the scanner out he did a quick check of the rest of YoungSaeng's body, frowning when he saw the way YoungSaeng's hand was bent. There was a broken bone there too. "This will need a cast..."_

_JungMin leaned against the wall as he watched JongWoon start on the broken rib first, getting ready to bind the injury. His jaw clenched and unclenched slightly, but he kept silent._

_"Binding this up is going to hurt...I can inject you with a painkiller," JongWoon said before he could start, looking over at YoungSaeng with worry. "I know you don't like any of that, but it'll make it easier."_

_"I think I'll make an exception this time," YoungSaeng's lips quirked a little. "Only because if I don't you'll fret, and I don't like seeing that pretty face so worried." His eyes shifted to look over at JungMin against the wall. "What happened?"_

_JungMin spoke over JongWoon's flustered stuttering. "You were caught by TaeGoon and his lackeys, we nearly all were." He pointed at HyungJoon beside him. "He took care of TaeGoon."_

_JongWoon looked at HyungJoon in surprise._

_Stiffening a little when YoungSaeng looked at him, HyungJoon gave him a weak smile. "Took care of him how?" YoungSaeng asked, his expression unreadable, though HyungJoon wasn't sure if it was just because of the massive bruising and he couldn't move his face._

_"The... sniper rifle that you handed me," HyungJoon said, squirming a little. "He was going to shoot you."_

_YoungSaeng was silent for a moment before he smiled. "Thank you HyungJoon, I owe my life to you then."_

_JungMin nodded to that, looking at HyungJoon again out of the corner of his eyes._

_JongWoon gave his best friend a reassuring smile before continuing to set up the pain-killer. After sterilizing the needle, he cleaned a spot on YoungSaeng's waist with an alcoholic swab._

_"The medpacks will be able to get rid of most of the bruises, like that one on your eye, but you're going to be very colorful for a while," he murmured to distract YoungSaeng as he carefully injected the painkiller, pulling the needle back out and cleaning the injection site. He covered it with a band-aid and went to put the needle away while waiting for the painkiller to take effect._

_YoungSaeng had winced at the needle, but was grateful for it this time since he couldn't even think straight with the pain racking his body. "At least we heal quickly," he said, looking up at JungMin again. "Looks like you'll be on training duty again by yourself for a while."_

_"Looking forward to it," JungMin said wryly, but there was no bite to his words._

_JongWoon waited until it was safe to continue before working on binding YoungSaeng's chest. He positioned the medpack carefully on top of the broken rib to keep the swelling and pain down while it healed, wrapping up the shifter's chest with gauze and smoothing a cool cream over the smaller bruises and welts that would be covered as well._

_Once that was done he set about making a cast for YoungSaeng's hand, disinfecting the area and wrapping his hand up so it wouldn't move while he made the cast. "I didn't think I'd be using my medic training this much."_

_"From what I can tell, you've had to use it the most on me," YoungSaeng said, watching JongWoon wrap up his hand. "I don't think I could ask for a better medic. You have gentle hands."_

_JongWoon turned slightly pink. "Probably cause the only person here with smaller fingers is SungMin." Chewing on his lower lip, he continued wrapping YoungSaeng's hand in the wet cotton/plaster mix until he had a good cast. He carefully rested YoungSaeng's hand where the cast could dry and it wouldn't hurt the shifter._

_"Okay, the two big problems are taken care of for the moment...the rest are cuts and bruises and the like, it'll sting but it shouldn't do more than tickle with the painkillers." He gave YoungSaeng a reassuring smile before carefully assessing which spots were in need of a medpack and what could just use cream to heal. "Uh...I'm going to have to...take off your pants," he stuttered slightly. The scanner had told him YoungSaeng's lower body had no broken bones, but there were sure to be some painful bruises._

_YoungSaeng nodded slightly, not protesting in the least since there were some painful spots he had felt. "You can have Min do it, if you're uncomfortable with undressing me," he said softly. "I don't mind either way."_

_"I'm a medic, this is fine," JongWoon mumbled, before glancing at JungMin and HyungJoon. "I will need someone to lift up his legs a little so I can get them off without hurting him, painkiller or no painkiller."_

_JungMin pushed away from the wall and went to the foot of the bed, carefully lifting YoungSaeng's legs slightly and keeping out of the way. "Like this?"_

_"Yeah." JongWoon undid YoungSaeng's pants and carefully eased them off, getting them off completely with JungMin's help. Once that was done, he looked over the few but large bruises on the man's legs before getting his supplies. He applied medpacks to the three worst bruises, cleaned out and bandaged cuts, and applied salve to the welts._

_It was a testament to everything that YoungSaeng had been through that he only made soft sounds of pain while JongWoon worked. His fingers on his good hand clenched and unclenched in the bed sheet. HyungJoon watched from the side, his knees drawn up to his chest. He didn't know how YoungSaeng could deal with that kind of pain, which if it had been him he would be crying._

_HyungJoon looked over at JungMin, seeing the frantic look on the redhead's face when he saw YoungSaeng being dragged out had hurt his heart. There was no way the shifter would ever feel that same panic if it was him, cry over him like that. Not when YoungSaeng was there. The two had been through so much together. Anything he felt just paled in comparison._

_With YoungSaeng okay and just a couple broken bones, HyungJoon slowly got up from his seat and headed for the door. He could talk to JongWoon later. The two shifters probably needed the time together anyway, and so he slipped out of the room quietly._

_JungMin turned his head to watch HyungJoon leave, brow furrowed slightly as the door closed behind him._

_Apologizing softly every time YoungSaeng made a noise, JongWoon did the best he could to take care of all the injuries. Finally he was left with only the minor bruises to tend to. With a soft sigh he leaned over the younger man to look down at YoungSaeng. "Keep your eye closed," he said gently, carefully applying cool cream to the bruise that was swelling YoungSaeng's eye shut. "I'm surprised you're still awake with the painkiller...it'll kick in properly soon and you can sleep it off, okay?"_

_One thing that had definitely stuck with his training was to keep a calm and soothing voice, keeping patients at ease, so that was exactly what JongWoon did. The awkward and skittish attitude gone as he worked, being especially careful so close to YoungSaeng's eye._

_"Thank you," YoungSaeng said, his voice tired. "I probably will be passing out here soon," he said, waiting until JongWoon was done with attending to his eye before he opened the one he still could. Noticing that JungMin was distracted and that HyungJoon was gone, YoungSaeng reached over with his good hand to take JungMin's lightly. "Go after him, I'll be fine."_

_The redhead frowned slightly, looking down at the hand holding his own. He knew YoungSaeng was in good hands, JongWoon more than capable of taking care of him, but he still worried. He could have lost YoungSaeng today._

_After a moment he sighed softly, squeezing the hand carefully. "I'll be back here soon, okay? Be good and listen to the doctor," he gave the older man a tight smile before letting go and leaving the room after HyungJoon._

_HyungJoon had gone to engineering to get some work done that had he had been letting slide in all the excitement. Truthfully he could have put it off for another couple of days, but he needed a distraction. Pulling out fuel cells one by one and replacing them, he was trying not to scowl, or think about a certain redhead._

_Checking all the usual spots HyungJoon was usually in, JungMin finally came up to engineering. There was really no reason for him to be following the younger man; he could have just as easily stayed with YoungSaeng, or gotten some rest, emotionally drained by the close call. And he probably wasn't going to be the best of company right now either._

_Pursing his lips, JungMin looked inside the room, seeing HyungJoon working. After a moment he stepped in, walking over slowly._

_The door opening and closing didn't register with HyungJoon until he heard the footsteps. Quickly rubbing at his eyes, he glanced over his shoulder, blinking a little at seeing who it was. He frowned slightly before returning to his work. "Why aren't you with YoungSaeng?"_

_"JongWoon's busy fussing over him enough for ten people, YoungSaeng will be fine," JungMin replied quietly, leaning against the railing beside where the younger man was crouching. "You should be getting rest."_

_HyungJoon shook his head, trying to concentrate. "Too much work to do. I'm really behind here, and I couldn't sleep if I wanted to. You should.. go rest or something though. You had a rough day."_

_"Can't rest until the adrenaline rush wears off," the redhead shrugged, arms folded in front of his chest and head tilted slightly to one side as he watched HyungJoon. He was silent for a moment before asking, "You okay?"_

_"Just peachy," HyungJoon said, pushing the last cell in that needed to be replaced. He tapped at the monitor to get the cells aligned. "Why did you come here?" he asked, his fingers stilling on the console. "Why not go to the bridge or something."_

_"Why not come down here?" JungMin quirked one eyebrow. "Just thought I'd come down and keep you company. Unless you can honestly tell me you want to be alone after what you did."_

_"But why? Why you?" HyungJoon asked, turning to look at the redhead with a frown. "Why not JongWoon, or the Captain, or anyone who actually likes me?"_

_"You've got a problem with me being here?" JungMin scowled slightly, somewhat confused and trying not to be annoyed. "And what makes you think I don't like you, besides the fact you're being annoying already."_

_"I don't have a problem with you being here, if you actually want to be here and not if you feel obligated to comfort me or something," HyungJoon said, looking away. "If you really do like me, you have a funny way of showing it."_

_"I don't do anything because I feel 'obligated' to do it," JungMin snorted, squatting down on eye level. "Look at me when I'm talking to you. I came down here to check on you because I wanted to, though now I'm considering leaving because you're acting like you have something shoved up your ass."_

_HyungJoon looked over at him, scowling a little at the insult before he sighed. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to snap at you. I'm not fine, okay? I watched YoungSaeng get beaten by three men, killed someone, and then come back to the ship and try and pretend that I'm okay because YoungSaeng could have died and I shouldn't be whining about making someone's head explode," the last word was choked out, and he had to look away to scrub at his eyes again. "I'm sorry."_

_JungMin watched him for a moment before sighing quietly. He shifted over beside the younger man. "Nothing to be sorry about. I'd be more worried if you weren't whining about it." He placed one hand lightly against HyungJoon's arm. "I'm here if you want to...get it out. It's not the best idea to just pretend, trust me."_

_Looking at the hand on his arm, HyungJoon's lip quivered a little before he had to close his eyes. "I'm not made for this kind of stuff. I just don't like killing or hurting people, and the only reason I came with you guys today is because.... that asshole hurt you, and I wasn't going to let him hurt you again. Even if you don't feel the same way as I do, I could do that much for you."_

_Paused listening to the younger man, JungMin glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes. He didn't know what to say to that. Okay, he would be an idiot to continue to deny that he liked the engineer (YoungSaeng had wrestled that response out of him too many times by now), but he was nervous about the whole idea. He'd never liked someone before, more than in just a friend way like with YoungSaeng._

_"I guess I should thank you again then," JungMin said quietly. He squeezed HyungJoon's arm lightly. "You saved us both back there, and it's not something either of us will forget."_

_Pausing for a moment, JungMin leaned in slightly, tilting his head to brush his lips a little against HyungJoon's._

_*********************************37**************************************_

_HyungJoon had been too busy sniffling to see that coming, and when JungMin was kissing him, he jumped a little in shock, pulling back on instinct. He stared wide-eyed at JungMin for a half a second, not sure what the redhead meant by that kiss. Did JungMin like him back? Or was it just for his sake to comfort him?_

_These thoughts tumbled through his head, and in the span of about three seconds he decided he didn't care so much what the reasoning was, and leaned back in to give JungMin a kiss back, a little firmer than the one JungMin had given him._

_JungMin had wondered what HyungJoon was thinking when he pulled back, the two of them staring at each other. But when the younger man leaned forward to kiss him again, the redhead returned it, pressing back. One arm looped around the engineer's waist, the other hand supporting the back of HyungJoon's head with fingers twined into soft hair. It was different than the kiss while playing the game a while back, though he couldn't tell how it was different right now._

_Instead he tilted his head to deepen the kiss, lips parting._

_Sighing softly, HyungJoon's arm went around JungMin's neck, the other hand resting lightly against his chest. His fingers curled into the man's shirt as he let his lips part as well, sliding his tongue in at the invitation. He shifted closer, wanting to press his body tightly against JungMin's, savoring the touch and feel and taste of the older man._

_Pressing his tongue against HyungJoon's, JungMin held back a low groan, breath hitching slightly. When HyungJoon pressed closer, JungMin shifted slightly to make it easier to get close, arm around the younger man's waist keeping them together. Tugging lightly on soft locks of hair, he started to fight almost playfully for control of the kiss that was gradually becoming more heated._

_HyungJoon wasn't minding in the least at how close they were, and would have pressed even closer if it were physically possible. The fact that they were sitting on a dirty engineering floor didn't bother him in the least, and probably would have dragged the redhead down completely if there hadn't been a loud beeping noise from the console. Breaking off abruptly, he recognized the sound for what it was, the cells were aligned and ready to be fired. Panting a little, he looked at JungMin, his eyes a little hazy. "...M-min?"_

_Disorientated by the sudden stop to the kiss, JungMin's eyes opened, the redhead blinking at HyungJoon's face inches away, lips parted and breathing unevenly._

_It took a moment to snap out of it, the engineer was a better kisser than he remembered. He still didn't really know what he was doing, but since they were already like this..._

_"You're an idiot," the shapeshifter knuckled HyungJoon's head lightly. "Did you even think about _asking_ if I like you or not before acting like a teenage girl?" _

_Blinking a little, HyungJoon winced at the knock to the head, but it didn't hurt that much. He opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't think of what to say. Had he not asked? He thought he had, but then again he kind of just blazed through his own feelings on the matter and tried to ignore them._

_"S-so.. so you do? I mean, you do like me?" he asked a little hesitantly after a moment, once he remembered how to talk._

_"If I didn't, that would make a few seconds ago a pity kiss, and I already told you I don't do things out of obligation." JungMin pursed his lips slightly, looking at the younger man's expression. "Don't make me regret it," he muttered, to his absolute horror feeling his face heat up a little._

_HyungJoon scowled a little and pinched JungMin in the arm. "You regret it? What about me? Here I am thinking you hate me, especially after I confessed. Why couldn't you tell me before I made an ass of myself?"_

_"Maybe because I was a little preoccupied with stressing the point you need to practice properly before you're turned into human porkchop?" JungMin winced and swatted at the pinch, not moving his other arm from around HyungJoon's waist. "That and I'm used to hating humans."_

_"So, you hate humans, but you like me," HyungJoon said lowly, searching JungMin's eyes. "Why? Cause you like beating me up?"_

_"You make it too easy," JungMin wrinkled his nose slightly at the younger man. "I don't know, okay? I just do. And you're probably masochist to like me."_

_"Probably," HyungJoon mumbled, ears burning a little. "So what now? I mean I like you, and you say you like me.. what does that mean? What are we? What about YoungSaeng?"_

_"YoungSaeng and I are best friends with benefits, we're not involved in anything else," JungMin replied. He looked at HyungJoon, brow furrowed slightly. "What do you want it to mean?"_

_"I... I dunno yet," HyungJoon shrugged a little. "Like.. are we together now?"_

_"I...guess?" JungMin tried not to sound frustrated; he'd never done anything like this before, why was HyungJoon asking him. "If you want to be together."_

_"Well if you don't want to be, we don't have to, it was just a suggestion since you asked," HyungJoon rolled his eyes. "What do _you_ want?"_

_"I don't know what I want okay, I've never liked someone before. Why do we have to be officially 'together' or not?" JungMin pinched HyungJoon's arm for rolling his eyes._

_"Cause I'd like to know where I stand, that's all," HyungJoon yelped at the pinch. "Are you still going to be sleeping with Saeng?"_

_"I don't think YoungSaeng's going to be sleeping with anyone for a while. Am I going to be sleeping with _you_?" JungMin asked bluntly, eyeing the younger man. _

_"Uh... well... I don't know, maybe?" HyungJoon whined a little at the question. "I haven't really thought about it.. okay, maybe I've thought about it a _little_ , but not, seriously or anything. So.. maybe."_

_JungMin pursed his lips. "Okay, the way I see it, neither of us know what the hell we're doing, so why don't we just see how things work out? If we sleep together then we sleep together, if we get together then we get together."_

_HyungJoon thought about that for a moment, realizing that JungMin's arm was still firmly wrapped around his waist and they were still pressed together. He nodded a little, taking a breath. "Okay, I guess that'll work. No need to rush right?"_

_"Nope, it's not as if we're leaving this tin can anytime soon." JungMin tilted his head slightly, looking at HyungJoon. "Is making out considered rushing for humans?"_

_"Uh... not really, unless they just met, but it's not like it's the first time or anything," HyungJoon said, the blush spreading to his cheeks. "Though, engineering might not be the best place for it, since Kyu's probably watching."_

_"If he hasn't started watching by now, he's never going to watch," JungMin snorted. "And you forgot HyunJoong's probably up there by now, I'm betting KyuJong's plenty occupied." He ducked his head and kissed HyungJoon._

_Any protest HyungJoon had was cut off by the kiss, and he didn't really feel like protesting anymore. Wrapping both arms around JungMin's neck, he returned the kiss, pressing firmly against the shifters mouth._

_Securing his grip on HyungJoon's waist, JungMin deepened the kiss immediately again, his free hand cupping the younger man's strong jaw. Nipping on HyungJoon's lower lip, he trailed his hand down along the engineer's side._

_Groaning at the touches, HyungJoon met JungMin's deep kiss, nipping a little at the man's lower lip before parting his lips to move his mouth against the others. One hand on JungMin's shoulder, the other coiled around his neck to run through his hair. He vaguely wished they were somewhere a little more comfortable as he tried to shift up on his knees and get closer. That of course was a bad idea and he ended up toppling over right into JungMin._

_A muffled squawk escaped JungMin before he was knocked over onto his back, accidentally hitting his head on the metal floor. "Ow," he winced, opening his eyes to look up at HyungJoon, the younger man sprawled out on top of him. The redhead's arm was still wrapped around HyungJoon's waist, fingers lightly brushing a sliver of exposed skin._

_"Sorry, I'm a little.. clumsy," HyungJoon said with a smile, his eyelids fluttering at the fingers on his waist. With JungMin holding him tightly, he couldn't get up, the older man keeping him down. "If.. you.. if you let me go, I can... you know, not be on top of you," he said, feeling the heat coming back to his cheeks._

_"Nah, I'm good here," JungMin snorted at the stuttering, smirking lightly before he tucked his fingers under HyungJoon's chin and pulled him back down into the renewed kiss, pushing his tongue into the younger man's mouth._

_HyungJoon squeaked, wiggling little in an attempt to flail, but since his arms were pressed against JungMin's chest, he couldn't do much. He gave up when JungMin's tongue slid in his mouth, and returned the kiss a little sloppily. Moaning softly, his fingers curled into JungMin's shirt, pressing against his chest._

_A low moan slipped from JungMin in return, arching up slightly against the body above him. The hand against HyungJoon's waist shifted up to press against the middle of his back, running up and down slowly._

_Deepening the kiss even further, HyungJoon shifted on top of JungMin, straddling the other's waist so he wasn't resting all is weight on him. The hand on JungMin's chest slid down slowly to his side, fingers curling under the hem of his shirt._

_The shifting against him made JungMin's breath hitch, diving into the deepened kiss with enthusiasm. It was quickly becoming heated again, JungMin not caring at all that they were on a dirty floor with the cameras on. It felt too amazing to care about anything else._

_The snort from near the door went unnoticed, but the loud laughter finally broke through just as JungMin's hand found it's way under the back of HyungJoon's shirt to press against the bare skin of his lower back. Breaking the kiss to breathe, JungMin turned his head back slightly to see KyuHyun laughing at them both, a wide mischievous grin on his lips._

_Staring at the Gecko in horror, HyungJoon quickly rolled off of JungMin, scrambling to his feet as he straightened his shirt. He could feel the blush rising in his cheeks again and promptly turned toward the console. "What do you want?"_

_"I just came to see where everyone was, but that was far more interesting than what I expected to find," KyuHyun smirked, looking between them. "Is he that good a kisser, shifter?"_

_"Out before I string you up by your tail for target practice." JungMin stood and hit KyuHyun off the head when the Gecko got too close, grumpy at being interrupted._

_Scowling a little, HyungJoon took out his coms and turned it on. "Hey, SungMin? You mind coming to engineering for a minute? I've got a nasty lizard infestation down here."_

_"Hey! I wasn't doing anything!" KyuHyun protested, squirming when he heard SungMin reply all too happily that he'd be right there._

_"Better run," JungMin smirked at him, the Gecko turning and high-tailing it out of the room. Once he was gone, JungMin looked back at HyungJoon with a sigh, one hand on his hip. "You got a lot to do down here?"_

_"Nevermind SungMin, false alarm," HyungJoon smirked, closing the coms. He glanced at JungMin and nodded a little. "Yeah, I'm a little behind. You should go see how YoungSaeng's doing."_

_"Yeah," JungMin nodded. "He's probably asleep by now." He backed up slowly towards the door, watching HyungJoon. "I'll see you later then." After a moment he turned and left the room, trying to figure out how he felt about the situation._

_"Later," HyungJoon said quietly, watching him go before turning back to the console. Rubbing his forehead, he tried to focus once again on his work, but that was pretty pointless when all he could think about was JungMin _kissing_ him, and how that kiss was progressing before they were interrupted._

_Then there was the whole JungMin liking him back, but one thing at a time._

_****************************************_

_JongWoon swung his legs back and forth slowly from the edge of an unoccupied bed in the infirmary, talking with JungMin in a quiet voice to avoid disturbing the shapeshifter sleeping in front of them. He hadn't been out of the room since they'd came back, except for a quick run to his room to find a book to read and come back. People-watching wasn't the most exciting thing ever, but he couldn't bring himself to leave._

_JungMin had come back and spent most of his time here too, watching JongWoon do the routine checks on YoungSaeng's condition. According to the redhead, Shinbi healed faster than humans, but it was extremely draining to speed up healing. If that was what YoungSaeng chose to do (which was more than likely, he wouldn't want to spend months healing broken bones), he would be asleep far more than he was awake to make up for it._

_It was worrying, JongWoon keeping a close eye on YoungSaeng as hours passed._

_"Why aren't the both of you sleeping?" YoungSaeng murmured, his good eye slowly opening. He could tell it had been some hours had passed, as the painkiller had worn off a bit, and he felt like he had been dropped off a cliff. "It's not like I'm going anywhere."_

_JungMin perked up when YoungSaeng spoke, looking at the older man with a small smile. "We're keeping you company."_

_"How are you feeling?" JongWoon asked, hopping off the edge of the bed to walk over, eyes worried._

_"Like I was chewed up and spit out by praxan worm," YoungSaeng grumbled, watching JongWoon come closer. "How long have I been out?"_

_"For about eight hours, the painkiller knocked you out good. Do I want to know what a praxan worm is?" JongWoon looked at JungMin._

_"No," JungMin snorted, reached out to squeeze YoungSaeng's good hand lightly._

_"I can give you more painkiller before it gets more painful," JongWoon said, looking back down at YoungSaeng, carefully easing the bedsheet down off him to check his injuries again. "This is going to need more cream," he frowned at the bruises. The medpacks would need changing too, though the swelling was going down._

_"Eight hours?" YoungSaeng frowned slightly at that but squeezed JungMin's hand back. "Better than being dead I guess. I don't need anymore painkiller though, thank you." He rolled his head a little to the side, wincing as he looked at JungMin. "Did you catch up with him?"_

_"Yeah, last I saw he was fixing things in engineering," JungMin shrugged; he'd tell YoungSaeng later, when JongWoon wasn't around. Telling the negotiator was up to HyungJoon or not, not him. "You going to try healing yourself? Take it slow if you do." He saw JongWoon getting things ready out of the corner of his vision._

_"No time to take it slow, we'll be back at the station in a week," YoungSaeng replied, shaking his head. "I need to be back to healed by then. I'll be fine."_

_"I can look after things until you're better Saeng," JungMin frowned. "Condensing months into a week isn't going to be very pretty."_

_"I just need sleep, and more of JongWoon's excellent care," YoungSaeng smiled, patting his hand. "What would happen if we ran into another pirate ship on the way? Don't worry JungMin, I can handle it."_

_"If we ran into another pirate ship then I can handle it, don't try anything stupid," JungMin sighed, frowning at the older man. He shuffled out of the way so JongWoon could carefully switch out the medpacks._

_YoungSaeng smiled up at JongWoon, a little dazed still from the pain. "He's such a worry wort. How could I not be just fine if you're taking good care of me?"_

_JongWoon turned slightly pink. "I-it's a lot of injuries all at once, you need any help you can get with recovering."_

_"He's on my side, don't try persuading him you're fine when he's the one tending to you," JungMin snorted._

_YoungSaeng wrinkled his nose up at JungMin before sighing in resignation. "Fine, have it your way. I'll take an extra couple of days to heal. But once I can see straight and can feel my legs again, then I'm leaving the med bay."_

_JungMin eyed the worried expression on JongWoon's face, lips quirked. "I don't think you're getting out of regular checkups even if you leave med bay," he chuckled._

_"Better safe then sorry," JongWoon murmured, finishing removing all the dead medpacks and laying on new ones. He redid the bandages around YoungSaeng's chest too, using the scanner to make sure the broken rib was still in alignment._

_"I can live with that," YoungSaeng smiled, closing his eye again. "JongWoon has gentle hands. Much better than any Fed doctor... or you."_

_"I have gentle hands," JungMin huffed. "Unless you don't want me to be gentle. And you shouldn't try to give our medic a heart attack Saengie." He was watching JongWoon slowly turn from pink to red and bordering on purple, wondering if that was a normal reaction to what YoungSaeng was saying or not._

_JongWoon couldn't say anything to that, focusing all his attention on rewrapping YoungSaeng's chest. Taping the edges of the bandages together, he started working on the cuts and bruises._

_"Fine fine, I'll keep my comments to myself," YoungSaeng smiled, though he winced a bit when JongWoon touched a particularly painful bruise. "Are we on our way back to the station yet?"_

_"Yeah, we have been for a while," JungMin nodded, watching. "I heard KyuHyun blew up the warship good, there wasn't much left of it. Any survivors are sitting ducks for when the Valis comes in to clean things up. YunHo should be happy we did his job for him."_

_"I knew those explosives would come in handy," YoungSaeng tried to laugh, but that started a coughing fit that had him whimpering a little in pain. "Ow."_

_JongWoon's eyes widened slightly. "Careful," he said worriedly, one hand lightly beside YoungSaeng's jaw to make sure his head was tilted back enough to keep his airway open. "That broken rib isn't going to take much strain. If you keep coughing, I can make you something to stop the coughing fits, but be careful okay?"_

_Taking in slow shallow breaths, YoungSaeng looked up at JongWoon and nodded. "I'll be okay," he whispered hoarsely. "No more laughing for me."_

_"Not until your rib's healed, no," JongWoon smiled sadly, leaning back after a moment to pick up the container of cream again. "Eye closed." He carefully applied the cream to the bruise around YoungSaeng's eye, the swelling going down. JungMin stroked the back of YoungSaeng's hand slowly, biting his lower lip._

_"Thank you JongWoon," YoungSaeng murmured, finding it hard to stay awake. "Can I go back to sleep now?"_

_"Yeah," JongWoon nodded as he finished, drawing the light bed sheet over YoungSaeng again. "See you in another few hours."_

_YoungSaeng gave JungMin's hand another gentle squeeze before he drifted off into sleep. The healing was going to take quite a bit out of him, and probably wasn't going to be awake much the next few days._

_Watching him sleep, JungMin sighed, looking up at JongWoon. "We shouldn't be leaving him alone for a long while."_

_"Wasn't planning on it," JongWoon sat down on the other bed, swinging his legs a little. "Take turns? You can sleep first."_

_"You sure?" JungMin raised an eyebrow; JongWoon looked tired._

_"Yeah," the negotiator smiled at him, settling back to read. JungMin raised one eyebrow at the older man as he watched JongWoon glance at YoungSaeng over the edge of his book a few times. After a moment the shifter left the room, lips pursed thoughtfully._

_****************_

_"So..." KyuJong said, his lips quirked in amusement. He and HyunJoong were finally alone on the bridge together after all the excitement and they had lifted off. "I wonder how all that came about," he said lightly, glancing at HyunJoong. "HyungJoon every say anything to you?"_

_"Not a word," HyunJoong had one eyebrow permanently quirked since they'd stumbled across a certain camera feed while doing a security check. "Other than complaining about JungMin always beating him up. Think JongWoon knew something?"_

_"I should hope so, don't those two tell each other everything?" KyuJong said, adjusting power settings. Now that they were out of that system and the gravity from the suns and planets weren't pulling on the ship he had to adjust the engines to compensate. "I still say those two had something going for a while but didn't tell anyone."_

_"HyungJoon and JongWoon?" HyunJoong shook his head. "I doubt it. They've always been glued to each other." He watched KyuJong before turning to his monitor. "We'll need to be careful for the next week, JongWoon's report on YoungSaeng's condition wasn't good at all."_

_"No, it wasn't," KyuJong sighed sadly. "It's good that he's alive though, and I still can't believe HyungJoon was the one who killed TaeGoon. I didn't think he would be one to volunteer to go, let alone do that. I hope he's okay, he hasn't left engineering since we left the planet."_

_"I'd like to think JungMin cured any thoughts he's having with all that, but I'll check on him to be sure," HyunJoong frowned, looking back at KyuJong. "JongWoon's going to be preoccupied for the next while, we'll need to make sure HyungJoon isn't alone until we're sure he's okay."_

_"Like we did for JongWoon," KyuJong nodded, glancing over at HyunJoong with a smile. "Maybe it's a little selfish of me, but I'm just glad you're okay. Did you kill lots of bad guys?"_

_"Two, and it was more than enough for me." HyunJoong shook his head, turning to face KyuJong properly and lean over to kiss him softly. "I'm glad you're okay too, anything could have happened and staying with the ship didn't mean you would be safe."_

_"No, but luckily nothing happened here," KyuJong murmured, returning the kiss. "Though Zhou Mi was a panicked ball of nerves who wouldn't leave me alone," he chuckled, putting his arms around HyunJoong's neck._

_"The Geckos are just as glued together as JongWoon and HyungJoon some days, I don't think they've been somewhere without the other very often," HyunJoong smiled, arms circling KyuJong's waist loosely. "You on your shift for much longer? You should get some sleep."_

_"With YoungSaeng out and HyungJoon getting caught up in engineering, there's no one to take over for me here," KyuJong pouted. "Unless we want the Geckos driving."_

_"We're going to have to start that, but I wouldn't want either of them up here for long alone," HyunJoong sighed. "KyuHyun is able to navigate on his own, and he's scared enough of SungMin to not try anything."_

_"How about, we take a break for a few hours then, see if we can't get the Gecko's out of their room for a bit to watch the bridge," KyuJong mused. "It's not like they'd have to do much but just make sure we're not getting boarded by pirates."_

_"We can do that," HyunJoong nodded, kissing KyuJong's lips softly before standing. "Let's go get them then, and see if we can get HyungJoon to sleep too? Or at the very least stick with JongWoon in med bay so he's not alone."_

_"Sounds good to me," KyuJong nodded, getting up as well. Lacing his fingers with HyunJoong's he headed for the hatch. "JongWoon seems to be spending more time hovering over YoungSaeng than JungMin has."_

_"Yeah, he's taking his unofficial post as medic really seriously. YoungSaeng's in good hands though," HyunJoong chuckled, squeezing KyuJong's hand lightly as they left the bridge. "JongWoon's a disaster with everything except the situations that really matter. He'll make sure YoungSaeng's recovering."_

_"I don't doubt that," KyuJong smiled. "At least it's going to take us a few days to get back to the station. I wonder what YunHo will have in store for us when we get there."_

_"Hopefully some recuperation time for YoungSaeng," HyunJoong sighed. "We can't do anything if one of us is down for the count. You and I are going to have to help out with getting supplies and the like as well, because I doubt JongWoon's leaving the ship willingly, especially without YoungSaeng."_

_"I think I'd be okay with that," KyuJong nodded, heading down the stairs slowly with HyunJoong. "I don't get off the ship much, so I think I'd enjoy that. Now that there's no SiWon to worry about that is."_

_"No, and that's definitely a relief," HyunJoong agreed. It still angered him to think about. "It's quite something to see outside the ship, with all the different races. Strangely enough I think we're getting used to it, though we should make a point of learning at least pieces of the more common languages out here. While the main language in the Federation is used a lot, there are quite a few other languages..."_

_"Well we've got more alien than humans on board now, I'm sure we can get some lessons in some of the basics," KyuJong said, putting all thoughts of SiWon out of his mind. "I have a feeling though that the language that the Geckos use... nobody but them understands."_

_"No one else can pronounce whatever their real name is, that's for sure," the older man chuckled. "We'll have to get a demonstration one day. Think we're still having practice tomorrow? It'll only be JungMin with us." He headed down the stairs towards the crew deck._

_"Maybe, though we can ask if he'll give us a day off for good behavior," KyuJong said, eyes dancing. They didn't encounter anyone else in the halls, though that wasn't surprising since everyone was tired from the ordeal._

_"We can see," HyunJoong laughed quietly. "He probably doesn't want to spend the afternoon training either." Stopping outside the Gecko's room, he knocked lightly._

_KyuHyun poked his head out after a moment. "Yeah?"_

_"Would you and Zhou Mi be able to take over a few hours' shift on the bridge?" HyunJoong asked him._

_"It'll just be for a few hours," KyuJong said softly. "I need some sleep and there's no one else to cover the bridge."_

_Zhou Mi's head popped up over KyuHyun's looking between KyuJong and HyunJoong. "Really? You trust us? Yes, yes, let's do it, KyuHyun," Zhou Mi's head bobbed frantically in a nod, poking at KyuHyun's back._

_"Okay, we'll do it," KyuHyun nudged Zhou Mi to stop him from poking._

_"Thank you," HyunJoong nodded, looking to KyuJong and tugging him lightly down the hallway. "To engineering now?"_

_"To engineering," KyuJong chuckled at the squawk from Zhou Mi he heard. "How easy you think it will be to tear HyungJoon away from his machines right now?"_

_"Very difficult, but he needs to get some rest," the Captain shook his head as they headed down the hallway towards engineering. "It's been a long day."_

_"It has, and I'm looking forward to crawling into bed," KyuJong nodded, stifling a yawn._

_"Same," HyunJoong chuckled, squeezing KyuJong's hand lightly and leaning over to kiss his temple before taking the stairs down one more level._

_They reached engineering a moment later, HyunJoong stepping in and looking for their engineer. "Joon?"_

_There was no answer, KyuJong stepped in behind HyunJoong and looked around with a frown. "HyungJoon?" he called out. "I was sure he'd still be here."_

_"I'm here," HyungJoon said meekly from overhead on a catwalk. The engineer was leaning against the wall, his knees tucked up to his chest. "I.. got those fuel cells filled Captain, and was going to start on cleaning out the exhaust manifolds, cause that hasn't been done in ages, but then I noticed that the power converters could really use recalibration, so I just got that done, but then I realized just how much work I need to do and I had to sit down."_

_HyunJoong looked up at him, going to the ladder up to the catwalk and stopping, one hand on the metal. "Joon, you should get some sleep before you burn yourself out," he said. "It's been a long day, you can take care of that tomorrow. We've got a week before we get back to the station."_

_HyungJoon looked down at HyunJoong, shaking his head a little before he dropped to hide his face in his knees. "Can't sleep Captain, can't even close my eyes without thinking about.. that... what I did," he said, his voice muffled._

_Frowning, HyunJoong climbed up the catwalk to walk down to where HyungJoon was crouching. Squatting beside him, he looked at his engineer, one hand lightly on HyungJoon's shoulder. "You did what you had to do," he said softly. "And you quite likely saved _all_ our lives, not just YoungSaeng and JungMin's."_

_"But I should have been there, so YoungSaeng didn't get ambushed and then he could have taken out TaeGoon like he was supposed to," HyungJoon said, lifting his head up to look at HyunJoong, tears streaming down his cheeks. "It wasn't supposed to be me."_

_"It wasn't supposed to, but it happened anyways," HyunJoong frowned sadly. He shifted closer, arm around HyungJoon's shoulders lightly. "You had no way of knowing that was what was going to happen, but when it did, you handled it amazingly. We're all so proud of you, HyungJoon."_

_HyungJoon sighed, resting his chin on top of his knees. "Thanks Captain, though I think that's part of the problem."_

_"That you handled it well?" HyunJoong watched the younger man, wondering how to best help him._

_"Yeah, cause if it hadn't been me, or if I'd of screwed up, then I wouldn't be in this predicament now," HyungJoon said, rubbing at his cheeks. "He _likes_ me Captain... what do I even do?"_

_"If you'd messed it up, none of us would be here now," HyunJoong frowned, wondering what was going through HyungJoon's head. "JungMin? Do you like him back, Joon?" It had definitely seemed like it from what they'd seen on the cameras, but he wasn't going to bring that up now._

_"Yeah... and, I do, like him, but what if the only reason he likes me now is because I killed that TaeGoon guy and a week from now he's back to calling me names and hitting me?" HyungJoon whined. "After what happened with JongWoon I don't think I can take that right now."_

_HyunJoong sighed, sitting down next to HyungJoon properly. "There's no way to tell right now, but be careful if you're not sure, Joon." He rubbed the younger man's back lightly, then frowned. "What happened with JongWoon?"_

_"I'll be careful." Sniffling a little, HyungJoon looked up at HyunJoong and blinked. "Huh? Oh, that... well," he sighed and resisted the urge to hit his forehead on the railing. "Remember how I kind of liked JongWoon? Well, he liked me back and things kind of progressed and then we got drunk one night in my room..." he left that open, sure that the Captain would understand._

_Blinking in surprise at that, HyunJoong looked at HyungJoon with one eyebrow raised. "Maybe I should stop everyone from keeping alcohol in their rooms. Are things okay between you two?" They'd seemed as glued to each other as ever, but if HyungJoon liked JungMin..._

_"He says he's okay, but I don't believe him," HyungJoon said sulkily. "We agreed that we're just better off as friends and shouldn't sleep together, but I know he can't just switch like that and I don't want to lose my best friend over something that may just be a giant joke on me."_

_"It doesn't look like you're in danger of losing him," HyunJoong shook his head. "But if you agreed you're better as friends, that would stay the same no matter what happens with JungMin, right?" He knew JongWoon, no matter how well he handled the rest of this, would _not_ take being the consolidation prize. _

_"Yeah, we'd still be best friends, I don't think he could do all this without me," HyungJoon smirked a little. "Still don't know what to do about JungMin though. Think he's telling the truth and not just trying to like.. get in my pants?"_

_"I don't know JungMin well enough to say so," HyunJoong shook his head. "Though he has been rather...possessive of you? At least when KyuHyun's involved."_

_"I'm just his favorite punching bag," HyungJoon grumbled a little. He seemed to noticed KyuJong was waiting down below for the first time. "Oh.. I'm sorry Captain, were you two going to bed? Why are you up here trying to help me? Go on, shoo, off to bed," HyungJoon said making shooing motions towards HyunJoong with his hands._

_HyunJoong chuckled. "We're trying to stop you from killing yourself with work. Get some sleep, or keep JongWoon company in med bay. Don't make me give you a Captain's order."_

_HyungJoon wrinkled his nose a little but rolled his eyes and started to get to his feet. "Fine fine, I'll go keep JongWoon company. I should probably talk to him anyway," he said, smiling a little down at KyuJong who was looking a bit bored and ready to pass out any second._

_Standing up as well, HyunJoong nudged his arm lightly. "You know where to find us if you need anything," he smiled at his engineer, heading towards the ladder._

_"Thanks Captain," HyungJoon smiled, following him down the ladder and towards the door. "You two get some sleep," he chuckled, winking at KyuJong who blushed a little._

_HyunJoong watched him leave engineering, turning to KyuJong with his lips slightly quirked. "I don't think we're keeping this secret very well."_

_"I wasn't aware we were trying to," KyuJong chuckled, taking HyunJoong's hand and pulling him a little closer for a kiss. "I did kind of move in with you and all, and it's not because there's a shortage of quarters."_

_Kissing KyuJong's lips, HyunJoong chuckled. "Who knows, if we keep adopting aliens like this then we might be out of room soon enough." He started towards the door, holding KyuJong's hand still._

_"Funny enough, I don't really mind," KyuJong said, walking beside him. "It's nice having more people on board. Or rather, it's been interesting."_

_"It definitely has. I wouldn't even mind if SungMin and Xander decide to stick around like Zhou Mi and KyuHyun did. Though they probably both have elsewhere to be." HyunJoong swung their hands back and forth slightly._

_"Probably, but they're welcome to stay right? They've helped out quite a bit, even if Xander likes scaring JongWoon with his constant staring," KyuJong said with a grin._

_"JongWoon doesn't seem to have picked up on the fact that more often than not Xander's just doing it to get a rise out of him," HyunJoong chuckled. "And SungMin keeps KyuHyun in line, so it works out."_

_"It does," KyuJong nodded, looking over at HyunJoong. "I guess in a way, you've got your family back."_

_Blinking down at him, HyunJoong smiled warmly after a moment, squeezing the younger man's hand and leaning in to kiss him softly as they reached their cabin. "I guess I do."_

_*********************************38******************************************_

_After leaving HyunJoong and KyuJong in engineering, HyungJoon made his way through the halls to the infirmary, knocking lightly before he peeked his head in. YoungSaeng looked like he was completely passed out again, and HyungJoon couldn't see any noticeable difference in his healing, but it hadn't been that long. He perked up when he saw JongWoon and slid into the room. "Hey, want some company?"_

_Looking up from his book, JongWoon smiled to see HyungJoon. He held one finger to his lips, placing his book down. "Of course, just be quiet okay?" He patted the bed beside him. "Where were you?"_

_Ducking his shoulders a little, HyungJoon tip toed over to the bed and hopped up to sit down next to him. "Engineering, trying to get caught up on some work," he replied in a whisper. "How's he doing? As he woken up at all?"_

_"Once, he doesn't want anymore painkillers even though it's going to be unbearable," JongWoon frowned worriedly, looking at the other bed. "We're going to have to make sure he's never alone in here, I'm here until JungMin wakes up to take my place." He looked at his friend. "You aren't sleeping?"_

_"No, too much on my mind," HyungJoon shook his head, his eyes still on YoungSaeng before looking over at JongWoon with a strained smile. "How are you doing?"_

_"I've been okay, just reading and doing routine checks," JongWoon shrugged, looking at HyungJoon. "You? What's on your mind?" he frowned, shifting closer to his friend._

_"He kissed me," HyungJoon said, looking down at his hands that were in his lap. "Like.. really kissed me, and said that he liked me."_

_JongWoon's eyes widened slightly, eyes on HyungJoon's face. "...JungMin? JungMin likes you?"_

_HyungJoon nodded slowly, looking up at JongWoon. "Yeah, we were talking and then he just kissed me, and it got a little... well.. and then he told me that he liked me, kind of, in a roundabout way, so I asked him what that meant, and I guess we're kind of seeing each other now? I'm not entirely sure what's going on. You're not upset are you?"_

_Blinking multiple times, JongWoon looked at a loss for what to say, before he gave a small smile. "No, I'm not upset." Why would he be upset, it wasn't like they were dating. "I'm glad for you." His smile widened a little, less forced. "That's really great Joon, see you never know what's gonna happen." He hugged the younger man._

_Feeling a little relieved, HyungJoon hugged his friend back. "I still don't really know what's going to happen. Maybe he just wants sex since YoungSaeng's going to be off limits for a while," he said with a sigh, resting his chin on JongWoon's shoulder._

_JongWoon kept his arms around his friend. "Pretend to like you just for that?" he rested his head lightly against HyungJoon's. "Isn't that a bit much?"_

_"I put nothing passed someone who was so intent on making my life miserable," HyungJoon grumbled. "But.. all the same, I'll take what I can get I guess."_

_"He wasn't like that with anyone else, maybe it was his way of showing he liked you?" JongWoon chuckled, running his hand over HyungJoon's back. "He did take training you pretty seriously."_

_"Yeah, he did," HyungJoon nodded, pulling back a little to give JongWoon a smile. "Maybe you're right. Guess I'll just have to wait and see." He looked back over at YoungSaeng. "Have you been sitting here watching him the whole time?"_

_"Yeah," JongWoon nodded, pulling back a little too to sit up properly, keeping one arm around the younger man. "I want to make sure there isn't any problems...I'm not even licensed really, if something's going wrong I need to see it right away."_

_"Hey, you would have passed that licensing if you hadn't got so nervous, you're a great medic," HyungJoon said, nudging his friend a little. "He's in good hands."_

_Smiling at HyungJoon a little nervously, JongWoon sighed, looking back at YoungSaeng. "It's still...I'm really worried Joon, he's in such an unstable condition right now that anything can happen. I can handle with small hiccups...but what if it's something worse? What if he moves wrong and that broken rib goes out of alignment? I can't exactly _operate_ on him, I don't know how a-and we don't have that kind of equipment here..." he swallowed, looking down. _

_"I'm sure you can handle whatever happens, I have confidence in you JongWoon," HyungJoon said, his arm going around his friend's waist. "He seems like he trusts you too. So does JungMin. You think either of them would have let you take care of him if they didn't think you could do it?"_

_"It's not as if they have much of a choice if I'm the only medic here," JongWoon gave HyungJoon a pained look._

_"Yeah, but you're still the best," HyungJoon smiled, pinching JongWoon's cheek. "Don't worry so much, they heal quick right? I'm sure he'll be up and around in no time."_

_"I hope so," JongWoon sighed, pouted at the pinch and swatting at HyungJoon's hand. He felt a little better though. "Are you going to be going to sleep?"_

_"Later, I'll keep you company until JungMin relieves you, then we can go get some sleep," HyungJoon said, settling in on the bed and relaxing. "How long till he's supposed to come by?"_

_"He left not that long ago, so a few hours," JongWoon sighed, doing the same. After a moment, he looked at HyungJoon and bit his lower lip. "Remember when we said...best friends over aliens? If things go well, and I hope they do...will that still be the same?"_

_HyungJoon blinked at him. "Of course, you were here first, you're like my brother JongWoon. A brother I actually like. No one's getting in between us," he said, wrapping his arm tight around JongWoon's waist. "Not even confusing aliens."_

_Smiling a little wider in relief, JongWoon secured his own grip around HyungJoon's shoulders. "You're always first for me," he said, resting his head against HyungJoon's and closing his eyes._

_HyungJoon smiled at that, taking JongWoon's free hand and holding it in his own. As much as he wanted to stay awake for JongWoon, he was far too comfortable and more tired than he had thought. Within a minute he was snoring softly, eyes closed and cheek pressed against JongWoon's chest._

_Watching HyungJoon doze off, JongWoon smiled affectionately, holding on to the younger man. Noticing the grip HyungJoon had on his hand, the negotiator felt better about the news he'd been told. As long as he had HyungJoon like this, then it was enough for him._

_*********_

_One of the few downsides that came with the ability to accelerate healing, was just how much energy it took. There was only so much sleep could supplement, so when YoungSaeng woke up a few hours later, the first thing he noticed before the pain was just how hungry he was. Opening his eye a little, he sniffed, wanting to stretch out but couldn't. "Min?"_

_JongWoon perked up when YoungSaeng woke up. Looking down at HyungJoon still dead to the world, he carefully eased the younger man off of his chest to lie down on the bed properly before getting up, padding over to see YoungSaeng. "Hey, how are you feeling?" he smiled, picking up his scanner._

_Seeing it was the negotiator, YoungSaeng smiled warmly up at him. "Hungry. Have you been here the whole time? How kind of you."_

_"JungMin and I decided to take turns, he'll probably be back later," JongWoon smiled. "I can get Zhou Mi to make something easy for you, once I'm done with this." He carefully hovered the scanner over YoungSaeng, going along his limbs to check the healing process. He blinked, seeing there was already some improvement. Small, but there. "You heal fast...isn't that dangerous?"_

_"A little, but we don't have the luxury of time," YoungSaeng replied. "It wouldn't be the first time I've had to heal a broken bone quickly, I'll be fine. I appreciate your concern."_

_Still looking worried, JongWoon finished scanning over the younger man and placed the device down, picking up his com. Getting Zhou Mi on the line, he gave the Gecko instructions to make food and some honey and ginseng tea._

_By the time he was done, JungMin was leaning into the doorway. "Hey," he smiled when he saw YoungSaeng awake, going to him after glancing to HyungJoon. "When did you wake up?"_

_"Just now, I was hungry," YoungSaeng pouted, holding out his hand to him. "JongWoon's been looking over me like a mother hen. It's kind of nice."_

_"Nice or creepy?" JungMin snorted, watching with amusement as JongWoon turned pink and moved away. The redhead sat down next to YoungSaeng, taking his hand and squeezing it. "Well, my turn to look after our handicapped now, get some sleep before you pass out._

_JongWoon nodded, biting his lower lip and looking away. "There's food on the way...make sure to drink all of the tea, it'll make you feel better." He shuffled towards HyungJoon._

_Having been woken up by the voices, HyungJoon sat up, rubbing at his eyes until he could see. "What's going on?" he yawned._

_"We're being relieved of duty, let's go sleep," JongWoon smiled at the younger man, holding out his hands. "Or in your case, go back to sleep."_

_"Oh, okay," HyungJoon blinked, taking JongWoon's hands and scooting off the bed to stand up. "Guess we'll see you later," he said, looking between YoungSaeng and JungMin, giving the latter a tentative smile before pulling JongWoon toward the door._

_"Thank you JongWoon," YoungSaeng said as they walked out then looked up at JungMin. "Hi."_

_JungMin smiled at the other man as they were left alone. "Hey. You getting the royal treatment in here?" He stroked the back of YoungSaeng's hand lightly, making himself comfortable._

_"I am, it's kind of nice," YoungSaeng smiled back up at him. "So I'm probably not going to be awake for very long, anything you want to tell me? Like what happened when you tracked down a certain engineer?"_

_"Gossip monger," JungMin wrinkled his nose at the older man, before hesitating. How was he supposed to say this. "Well, I found him in engineering, he was pretty affected by what happened...he did blow someone's head up." He rocked back and forth slightly, gaze on the wall before his eyes flicked back down to YoungSaeng. "So, I sorta...kissed him?"_

_YoungSaeng's expression was impassive at that before he smiled slowly, squeezing JungMin's hand. "Did you kiss him because you wanted to, or because he was upset...? What's going on Min?"_

_"A...bit of both." JungMin rubbed the back of his head. "I'm really not sure what's going on. I told him I like him...but I don't know," he frowned down at YoungSaeng. "We're not exactly...together, I don't think, but it's just confusing," he groaned._

_YoungSaeng made a small laughing sound in his throat, shaking his head. "JungMin... falling for a human, considering relationships. I never thought that would happen," he said softly in amusement. "What do you want from him Min?"_

_The redhead huffed at YoungSaeng. "Shut up," he grumbled, a tinge of pink in his cheeks. "I don't know what I want from him. I just...I don't know," he rubbed at his temples. "I need you to be better so you can hit me off the head, maybe it'll get rid of crazy thoughts."_

_"I think you do know what you want from him, but don't want to admit to yourself just yet," YoungSaeng mused, reaching up with his good hand to flick JungMin in the forehead. "If it was just a romp in the sheets, you wouldn't be so hung up on it. You want the whole package deal."_

_"Ow," JungMin winced at the flick, wrinkling his nose at the older man. "This is crazy. I've gone absolutely mad." He sulked a little, before looking at YoungSaeng again. "You...okay with this?"_

_"As long as you're happy, then of course I am," YoungSaeng said, smiling at him, though his eyes were a little glassy. "Doesn't mean I won't miss being with you though. Who else knows me as well as you?"_

_Frowning down at YoungSaeng, JungMin traced his jaw gently with one finger. "Hey...I told you I'll always need you. That will never change," he smiled down at the older man._

_YoungSaeng made a biting motion at the finger but smiled at him. "Maybe it's time I finally come to terms with my own predicament," he said softly, taking JungMin's hand and holding it to his cheek. "When I can move at least."_

_"Your 'predicament' was playing overprotective nurse for twelve hours straight, I think that's moving along nicely," JungMin grinned down at him, eyes dancing._

_"I think he likes me," YoungSaeng chuckled, his good eye crinkling in amusement. "Oh, Min. These humans have turned our lives completely upside down."_

_"Accurate enough," JungMin snorted. "What are you going to do about him?"_

_"Not sure yet," YoungSaeng shook his head. "I haven't really been awake enough to figure it out." He blinked a little at a soft tap to the infirmary door, Zhou Mi poking his head in, holding a tray._

_"I have food," the Gecko smiled cheerfully, walking over and setting the tray of food down on a side table. "You look terrible Saeng," he said, frowning._

_"I feel awful, thank you Mi," YoungSaeng said, clearly amused. The Gecko nodded politely to the both of them before heading back out of the room._

_"You going to feed me?" YoungSaeng grinned up at JungMin._

_"Going to have to get you to sit up a little first before you choke," JungMin pursed his lips, looking at the side of the bed and tapping at the crank built in for patients. "You going to be okay for this?"_

_"I'll be fine, need the energy before I pass out again," YoungSaeng said, wincing a little as the bed started to rise. "You'll have to thank HyungJoon properly for me for killing that asshole."_

_Nodding, JungMin stopped the bed from rising once it was high enough. "I don't think either of us could thank him enough," he said quietly, going back to sit down next to him. Reaching out and pulling the tray off the side table, JungMin offered the older man a bit of meat._

_YoungSaeng ate the offered food, chewing slowly. "That's it isn't it? What helped turn you around to him? He can take care of himself when he needs to?"_

_"That too, but it was more like..." JungMin frowned, looking down at the food as he picked out another bite for YoungSaeng. "It was...he said that he went with us because he didn't want TaeGoon to hurt me."_

_"He must really care about you," YoungSaeng said softly before accepting the bite. "I'll be honest, I didn't see that coming at all. You didn't seem his type."_

_"I should be insulted by that, but I know it," JungMin sniffed. "I just don't know what to do now."_

_"I'm probably not the person to ask, but I don't think you have to do too much different," YoungSaeng shrugged a little. "Just with more kissing. Is he a good kisser at least?"_

_"Not as good as you, but he's good," the redhead grinned, offering another bite._

_"Don't let him hear that," YoungSaeng smiled, taking the bite and waving away any more food. "He probably just needs practice. You should get on that."_

_"I will. Not hungry anymore?" JungMin frowned. "You should be hungrier than that."_

_"Too tired to chew," YoungSaeng murmured, he could feel his eyes getting heavy again. "I'll take some of that tea though."_

_Placing the tray aside, JungMin picked up the cup and made sure it wouldn't burn, holding the rim against YoungSaeng's lips. "Maybe soup next time you're up?"_

_YoungSaeng took a slow slip, sighing softly at the taste. "Soup would be nice," he nodded, take a few more sips of the tea before closing his eyes. "And you'll be here when I wake up again?"_

_"Unless you're out for twelve hours, then yeah," JungMin smiled, leaning back against the headboard. "Get some normal rest too, don't try to heal all in one day."_

_"Yes, sir," YoungSaeng smiled, reaching out for JungMin's hand again. "See you in a few hours then."_

_"See you," JungMin squeezed YoungSaeng's hand lightly, watching him with a small smile._

_*******************_

_The next few days as the ship traveled back to the Valis station were considerably calmer. By week's end, YoungSaeng's healing had got him out of the danger zone and stabilized his condition enough that he wasn't in any immediate danger. JongWoon still wasn't allowing him to move around much, and had spent more time than JungMin watching over the elder shifter._

_They were only a couple hours away from the station, and everyone but JongWoon and YoungSaeng were crammed into the bridge. HyungJoon was hovering nervously behind KyuJong's chair as usual. His nervousness this time had little to do with what was going on outside, but rather inside the bridge. He glanced over his shoulder at JungMin._

_They hadn't really talked since that day in engineering, and HyungJoon was worried that maybe JungMin had changed his mind, thought better about wanting to be with HyungJoon. That really would be just his luck. Sighing, he draped himself over the back of KyuJong's chair, pouting at the older man. "We there _yet_?" he whined._

_"No, please sit down," KyuJong said lightly, not looking at him._

_"But Kyuuuu," HyungJoon whined louder, just wanting to know how far away they were._

_"Captain, if he doesn't stop, I'm going to break his nose," KyuJong said, glancing at HyunJoong._

_"HyungJoon, don't irritate our pilot," HyunJoong sighed, reaching over to snag HyungJoon by the back of his collar and drag him away from KyuJong's chair. "Or I'll lock you up in the cargo bay."_

_SungMin had climbed up onto the table to see what was going on, finally putting him at eye-level with everyone. "We all need to go report in, right?" he asked, tail waving. KyuHyun and Zhou Mi were as far away as they could get from the fox anthro._

_"Yeah, and it'll probably take a while too," JungMin grumbled, arms folded over his chest and leaning against the wall. He didn't want to be away from YoungSaeng too long, even if JongWoon would be staying to look after him. "Someone should stay here with the ship and the other two."_

_"If the fuzzball's going, I'm staying," KyuHyun declared._

_"Not me this time," KyuJong said, ignoring the protests and whines from HyungJoon who was trying to pull away from HyunJoong's grip. "I never get off the ship."_

_"Ooo, I'll go, where we going?" Xander lifted his head up from a console he had been sniffing at._

_"To check in with YunHo," HyungJoon said, pushing away from HyunJoong and taking a seat next to Zhou Mi who looked like he was trying to climb into KyuHyun's side. "I guess I'll stay here with JongWoon and YoungSaeng."_

_"YunHo?" SungMin's eyes widened. "The _leader_ of Valis, you report right to him?"_

_HyunJoong nodded. "He decided it was safer for us to report to him than to...others," he said._

_"I'm envious, so few people even see him," SungMin sighed, ears twitching._

_"Zhou Mi, you coming with us?" HyunJoong looked back at the other Gecko._

_The Gecko looked at HyunJoong, then at KyuHyun, then at SungMin before latching on tighter to KyuHyun. "I go where he goes."_

_"Like you had to ask, Hyun," KyuJong chuckled, tapping at the sensor console when he heard the familiar beep of something showing up on the scan. "Almost there, should probably let YunHo know we'll be there soon."_

_Nodding, HyunJoong waited until they were in range of external communications before sending the call out. He looked back at the others, waiting for YunHo to pick up the call._

_A minute later, the video feed flickered on and YunHo appeared. _"Captain HyunJoong?"__

_"YunHo sshi," HyunJoong nodded. "The _Proteus_ is approaching the station now, we will be reporting in shortly."_

__"Good, I will send someone down to the docking bay to bring you here. I trust you have news on the colony?"_ _

__"Yes sir," HyunJoong nodded._ _

___"Looking forward to it."_ YunHo's image disappeared, the call ending. _ _

__It wasn't much longer and the station came into view, KyuJong easing them into a slip and finishing docking. "Well it's not my favorite place to be, but it's better than that colony," he said, turning away from the view of the side of the station and getting to his feet._ _

__"Hopefully we won't be here for much longer," HyunJoong said, though with how the situation was looking, they'd be working under the Valis far longer than they wanted to. Standing as well, he watched SungMin jump off the table and take Xander's hand, pulling him out the hatch._ _

__The Captain looked at the Geckos. "If there are any problems, contact me right away," he said. KyuHyun nodded, saluting him with a grin._ _

__JungMin pushed away from the wall, going to the hatch. "Let's get this over with, his reaction could be either good or bad."_ _

__HyungJoon watched them go reluctantly and then looked at the Geckos. "Wait up, I'm going too," he called after the rest of the crew, getting to his feet and scrambling out after them._ _

__"What's wrong? Don't want to spend time with the Geckos?" KyuJong asked, looking over his shoulder at HyungJoon._ _

__"No, they're just going to make out or something," HyungJoon huffed, walking behind the Captain and KyuJong. Not that going with these two was much better. Even if they didn't openly admit anything, HyungJoon always felt like he was in the middle of something when he was around the two._ _

__"You could have kept JongWoon and YoungSaeng company." Chuckling, HyunJoong shook his head in amusement as they headed down to the cargo bay. JungMin was in front of them, humming something to himself._ _

__SungMin and Xander were waiting for them at the airlock. JungMin, well enough ahead, set about unlocking it. "That guide should be around here, right?" He asked as he pulled the airlock open._ _

__And then promptly closed it. "Shit. Uh, nevermind, I'm staying here," he backpedaled._ _

__"What's the matter?" KyuJong blinked, scrambling out of the way so he didn't get run over. Xander was sniffing the air, his eyes wide as he approached the airlock._ _

__"Something... tasty," Xander said, reaching out to open the airlock again. He gave a start when something pounded on the heavy door._ _

__"Is that our guide?" HyungJoon blinked, pulling Xander out of the way so he could get the door open. Looking out, he didn't see anything._ _

__" _Oppa!_ " Something small, white and gold flashed in front of his eyes, bowling him over._ _

__KyuJong blinked at the.... girl who was now attached to JungMin's arm. Gold gossamer wings fluttering as she held on tightly. "JungMin oppa, I came as soon as I heard, you missed me so much didn't you? Oh, but you weren't here when I got here and I've been waiting for days. _Days_ , oppa, what took you so long?"_ _

__Yelping, JungMin staggered back a little. "Not again..." he shook his arm in an effort to detach the girl, which was entirely ineffective since she was literally attached to him. "GyuRi, get off!" He could hardly get a word in with how fast and loud she was babbling._ _

__HyunJoong blinked at the sight, JungMin shaking his arm harder. "So...this is 'GyuRi'."_ _

__"Yes, this is GyuRi, please get her off of me," JungMin looked at them for help. HyunJoong just started laughing._ _

__"Pixie!" Xander leaped towards JungMin, hands outstretched, tongue snaking out._ _

__GyuRi caught the motion out of the corner of her eye and shrieked, letting go of JungMin's arm as she disappeared into the ship. Xander stopped, shoulders slumping. "Well, snack for later then," he sighed, turning back around._ _

__"Are we just going to let her stay on the ship while we're gone?" KyuJong asked, craning his neck out into the cargo hold to see if he could see where she went._ _

__"She isn't going to do anything, she'll probably find YoungSaeng and talk his ears off," JungMin groaned, slumping against the wall. "And there goes peace and quiet forever."_ _

__"It was quiet before?" HyunJoong asked wryly, looking to Xander and SungMin. "You can't call her back, JungMin?"_ _

__"She isn't going to listen if flesh eater keeps drooling," JungMin rolled his eyes before yelling, "GyuRi, don't break anything!"_ _

__"But it's a pixie! You know how rare they are!" Xander whined, his whole body wiggling. "They're a delicacy."_ _

__"I don't think she wants to be eaten," KyuJong said with a frown. "Could you not eat her? I think we'd all appreciate that."_ _

__"I'm getting hungry though," Xander pouted. HyungJoon shuffled to try and hide behind JungMin._ _

__"Well find someone else to eat, not here. We don't need YunHo after our heads." JungMin placed one hand on his hip as he eyed Xander, before glancing at HyungJoon behind him. "What are you doing?"_ _

__"Okay, let's go," HyunJoong sighed. "We're holding you responsible if she damages anything JungMin."_ _

__"What did I do," JungMin groaned, lips pursed in a pout as they filed out of the airlock._ _

__Their guide was waiting in the hall outside the airlock, and motioned with a wing to follow. HyungJoon felt completely alone and wished he had just stayed on the ship. He tried to walk closer to KyuJong and HyunJoong, but didn't feel right getting into their space. SungMin and Xander seemed to be forming a fast friendship and he really didn't want to spend much time around the flesh eater as it was. Sighing, he plodded along, keeping his head down._ _

__The route to YunHo's office was familiar, and soon enough they were back in the waiting room. The winged guide disappeared through YunHo's door, telling them to wait a few minutes._ _

__JungMin sighed, leaning against the wall and looking around at the group as they waited. His gaze landed on HyungJoon, lips pursing slightly. The younger man was at the other end of the room from him. He just wasn't sure what to do about the engineer._ _

__Finally the winged guide reappeared, flapping one wing at them. Taking the silent cue, HyunJoong bowed his head politely and stepped in through the door, the others following after him._ _

__YunHo was sitting at his desk, keen eyes observing them. "Please have a seat," he nodded towards the chairs, before his brow furrowed slightly. "Additions to your crew?" He was looking at SungMin and Xander._ _

__HyunJoong nodded, sitting down. "On our way to the colony we came across a civilian transport being attacked by pirates. These two were on board. The ship had came from the colony."_ _

__"Is that so?" YunHo frowned slightly, looking at them all. "Well, what is your report? What is going on at the colony?"_ _

__"Well, are you familiar with someone named TaeGoon? Gilled alien, about so high, pale, kind of an ass?" Xander said leaning forward a little, his eye twitching. "He was trying to set up a faction on the colony, wanted the money from the mines to build himself a fleet. Didn't go as he planned."_ _

__YunHo listened to Xander talk, eyes slightly narrowed. "Yes, I'm familiar with TaeGoon...what do you mean it didn't go as he planned?"_ _

__"We went down to the planet's surface and took care of him and his ship," HyunJoong said, watching the bronze-skinned man. "There may be a few survivors, but without a ship they won't be going anywhere."_ _

__"You took care of them? I believe I told you all to report back here with the information _without_ engaging in any fighting," YunHo frowned deeply, leaning forward a little._ _

__"We had personal reasons for going after TaeGoon, YunHo sshi," HyunJoong said calmly. JungMin's jaw clenched slightly, looking down at the desk._ _

__The Valis boss still didn't look pleased. "While that is understandable, there are warships here far more capable of taking down a faction movement than your civilian ship. I trust this won't reoccur in the future, for your own safety."_ _

__"Oh a warship wasn't necessary," Xander waved off YunHo's admonishment. "He had one middle class fighter and a dozen men at most. Only reason things went so bad is because he ambushed your guys. He and his men had been there for weeks getting set up then blew up the Valis outpost. Min and Saeng wouldn't have gone in if they didn't think a handful of humans and a couple Geckos couldn't handle it."_ _

__"The whole thing took less than an hour," HyungJoon spoke up, straightening in his seat._ _

__Looking at them all, YunHo sighed. "I'll let this go for now. A ship will be dispatched to round up any survivors and make sure the colony is safe to return to." He glanced at JungMin. "Where is the other shifter?"_ _

__"Recovering, he was injured," JungMin replied._ _

__The Valis boss frowned lightly. "Very well...I will give you a few days reprieve to rest and restock. Captain, I will be in touch in a few days," he nodded to HyunJoong. "Sylar have been making their move, and it requires all my attention for the moment."_ _

__"Understood," HyunJoong nodded, standing._ _

__The others stood up as well, starting to file out of the room. Except for Xander, who was still sitting in his seat, grinning at YunHo. "Excuse me, but could I ask for a teensy little favor?"_ _

__YunHo raised one eyebrow at the alien. "Depends on that favor." JungMin kicked Xander's foot in warning._ _

__"You wouldn't happen to have any spare dead bodies lying around would you?" Xander asked, still smiling. "I'm getting really hungry, and they won't let me eat the pixie."_ _

__KyuJong resisted the urge to facepalm. What a question to ask._ _

__YunHo looked at Xander blankly for a moment. "...No, we make a point of taking out the trash," he said finally, the corners of his lips twitching. "Next time there's an 'argument' in the marketplace you'll be the first to know."_ _

__"Come _on,_ " SungMin tugged on Xander's hand. _ _

__"Thank you!" Xander beamed, hopping up to his feet and letting SungMin pull him from the room. "I should have thought about it and taken one of TaeGoon's goons with us. Ha! TaeGoon's goons, oh I kill myself."_ _

__KyuJong looked at HyunJoong and shook his head, following the anthro and flesh eater out of the room._ _

__"Sorry, about him, he's a little.. off," HyungJoon said to YunHo, giving him a polite nod as they left the room._ _

__"More than just a little," JungMin snorted once they were out, the guide waiting to take them back to their ship. They filed out into the hallway again, following the winged alien._ _

__"So, you're going to hunt down GyuRi when we get back to the ship?" HyunJoong asked._ _

__JungMin gave him a pained look. "I don't need to, she'll find me." They somehow ended up walking two-by-two, JungMin falling back beside HyungJoon._ _

__"She seems... interesting," KyuJong said over his shoulder. "Just from the five seconds I saw her anyway. Why does she like you so much?"_ _

__HyungJoon frowned a little, putting his hands in his pockets and walked with his head down. He was wondering that himself. Among other things._ _

__"I have no idea, it's been like that for years," JungMin sighed, messing up his red hair with one hand._ _

__"Pixies like shiny things, did she see you in your real form?" SungMin tossed back._ _

__"Yes, but she doesn't go after _YoungSaeng_ like this," JungMin groaned. _ _

__"Maybe it's the red?" KyuJong shrugged. "Or it could be you just have that kind of personality, draws people to you."_ _

__"Or maybe she just likes them mean," HyungJoon grumbled under his breath._ _

__"So... I can't eat her at _all_?" Xander whined._ _

__"No eating her," JungMin said, eyeing HyungJoon beside him when he heard the grumbled words. After a moment he looked away, jaw clenched slightly._ _

__HyunJoong glanced behind at the two in the back, frowning lightly and looking at KyuJong before facing the front again._ _

__*******************************39************************************************_ _

__They reached the ship a few minutes later, their guide leaving. HyunJoong opened the airlock for them, stepping inside._ _

__"What now? Relax?" KyuJong asked once they were back in and the door closed behind him, watching Xander walk away with his nose in the air, sniffing._ _

__"I guess I'll get some work done," HyungJoon nodded, giving JungMin a tentative look before walking away._ _

__JungMin watched him go. "...Guess I'll do the same, GyuRi will probably find me in half a minute anyways." And he followed HyungJoon, HyunJoong looked after them._ _

__Once they'd turned the corner and left the other's sight, JungMin caught up with HyungJoon. "Hey...anything I can help with?"_ _

__HyungJoon nearly stumbled over his own feet when JungMin seemed to pop out of nowhere next to him. Okay, maybe he'd been a little distracted. "Uhh.. sure, I guess. Don't you want to go see how Saeng's doing?"_ _

__"That'll be where GyuRi's waiting to ambush me, I'd rather not make it that easy for her. And he's been doing pretty good lately." JungMin shrugged, hands in his pockets._ _

__"That's good," HyungJoon said, keeping his eyes down on the floor as they walked. "I'll have to go see him later, and JongWoon. Haven't seen much of him in days. Kind of lonely, you know?"_ _

__"Yeah." JungMin nodded, looking down for a moment before glancing towards the younger man. "If Saeng keeps getting better, you'll have your twin back soon," he chuckled, trying to lift the atmosphere a little. It was rather depressing right now, and he didn't like it._ _

__"And you'll have Saeng," HyungJoon pointed out, frowning. "Doesn't seem like things have changed much. Guess that's.. good.. I guess."_ _

__The redhead pursed his lips, not sure what to say. "...Yeah. That doesn't mean things won't change," he sighed, looking at the corner of the wall and the floor. "I'm still trying to figure things out, okay? And I don't exactly see you jumping the gun either."_ _

__HyungJoon stopped in the middle of the hall, looking at JungMin, flabbergasted. "So this is _my_ fault? I've been the one waiting on you to figure out what it is you want, Mr I've Never Been in a Relationship Before."_ _

__"Did I _say_ it was your fault?" JungMin asked, exasperated. "And I can't help if that's true! I was just trying to explain before you keep going around like I killed your favorite puppy." He rubbed his temple. _ _

__"You implied that I wasn't making a move, which I'm not, cause you said you wanted to see how things go and figure out what you want, but I don't know what you want cause it seems like you're avoiding me now!" HyungJoon shot back, hands on hips._ _

__"HyungJoon, my best friend and only friend for the vast majority of my life was nearly killed." JungMin's eyes narrowed. "I'm sorry if I'm a little distracted and haven't been able to figure out what I want." Or come to terms with what he wanted. "I don't even know _why_ you like me, if I'm such a mean person." _ _

__"That makes two of us," HyungJoon said, looking away. "Just forget it... I didn't mean... I'm sorry," he said, starting to walk again, heading towards engineering. "You don't need me complicating things with YoungSaeng being injured. I'm sorry."_ _

__Watching him go, JungMin sighed in frustration, jamming his hands back into his pockets as he followed. Well, that had been productive. Not._ _

__"I would have thought you'd appreciate actually making an effort to figure it out rather than just trying to get in your bed," he muttered, head down._ _

__Hearing that, HyungJoon stopped and turned around, looking at him with narrowed eyes. "So, you don't just want in my pants then?" he asked._ _

__"If I had just wanted that, I would have gotten in your pants already, and said so," JungMin didn't stop, walking on past him._ _

__HyungJoon snorted, following after him. "You really think I'm that easy?" he said, rolling his eyes. "If that were true, then doesn't that say something about it is you _do_ want?"_ _

__"It's not that easy for me, okay? I'm still trying to figure out who the hell I am, let alone why I like someone not even in the same _species_ as me." JungMin glanced at HyungJoon over his shoulder. "Doesn't that creep you out? You _know_ I'm not really like this." _ _

__"Yes, I _know_ ," HyungJoon sighed, crossing his arms. "But you said yourself that when you take on a form, you become that form. So, for all intents and purposes you're the same as me right now, right? I don't care _what_ you are, just that you're you."_ _

__"..." JungMin sighed, rubbing his forehead. How much did HyungJoon really know about him? As it was now, not a whole lot, but saying so would just start up another argument again, and he couldn't win against this human. "Let's just drop it, okay?" They were at engineering, stepping into the room._ _

__"Fine," HyungJoon agreed, following in behind him, though he really wasn't about to let it go. "Don't really know how else I'm supposed to be acting right now. You kissed me, then told me you liked me, then pretty much ignore me after that. But fine, I'll drop it."_ _

__"That's not considered dropping it," JungMin turned around, hands on his hips as he eyed the younger man. "What the hell do you want me to do, HyungJoon? Start acting like we're together, and drop you like a toy that's gone out of style if I figure out that's not what I want? The only reason I'm bothering to think this out so much is because _I don't want to hurt you_ , but if you'd rather I push you against the door and molest you, then that's what I'll do!" _ _

__"Well maybe that's all I want right now cause I don't know how I feel either, okay?! I could just as easily drop you too you know," HyungJoon said, scowling at him. "I'm not some love sick teenage girl who's going to fall apart if things don't work out, but this dancing around each other is getting on my nerves!"_ _

__"So you'd be happy just making out all the time, without caring about anything else?" JungMin took a step forward, bringing himself right in front of the engineer. "Maybe I should be worried you're just trying to get into _my_ pants." _ _

__HyungJoon stared at him for a moment before throwing his hands up in the air. "Why are you _so frustrating_?!" he exclaimed. "You say you like me and want to figure this out? Then do something other than stare at me from across the room! You could try, I don't know, _talking to me_. That might help."_ _

__"Because every time we've talked so far, it's ended up in an argument, or I have to stop before I _do_ molest you!" Drawing in a breath, JungMin shut his eyes for a moment to try and calm down; they'd shifted into silver at some point. _ _

__"Look, I don't want to argue, I just want us to be able to get to a point where we aren't arguing, but if we can't even do that, then what's the point?" HyungJoon said, giving up and sitting down on a piece of machinery, rubbing at his eyes._ _

__Silent for a moment, the redhead managed to bite back a retort, breathing slowly. After a bit JungMin opened his eyes again, looking down at HyungJoon. "Let's just...start over again, okay? Try this from the beginning." He brushed his hair back out of his eyes, glancing away then back. "Maybe we just got off on the wrong foot."_ _

__HyungJoon thought about that, looking up at JungMin for a moment before he sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "Alright, we can start over. Do we introduce ourselves again or can we skip past all that?" he asked with a smirk._ _

__"No starting off being a smart ass," JungMin sniffed, wrinkling his nose at the younger man before he looked around the room. "What is there to do in here? We can talk while working."_ _

__"Um... well since we're docked, now would be a good time to flush out the exhaust system," HyungJoon said, looking over at the console across the room. "It's not really fun work, but it should be done."_ _

__"Well let's get it over with." JungMin wandered towards the console, hands in his pockets. "Were you working by yourself before all this?" There were usually several engineers on a ship._ _

__"Yeah, but it wasn't for very long," HyungJoon said, hopping off the container and following after him. "Only like a month before all this started. Captain helped when he could. It wasn't so bad though. At least I knew it was all getting done properly."_ _

__"Yes, you don't like anyone else touching your engine," JungMin snorted, amused as he stopped by the console. "If we end up getting another engineer on here, they're never going to be able to do anything."_ _

__"Hey, I let you near the engine," HyungJoon scoffed, turning on the console to start the exhaust procedures. "I can share, if I like the person enough."_ _

__JungMin watched what HyungJoon was doing, so he'd be able to do the same; they hadn't gone over this yet. "You let me near, yes. While hovering and trying to be a backseat driver," he nudged HyungJoon's arm with his elbow. "KyuJong's going to put you through the window one day, by the way."_ _

__HyungJoon blinked at that and looked at him with a confused expression. "What? Why? What'd I do? I didn't do anything to him," he said defensively."_ _

__"Expect make him nearly slam into asteroids several times by hanging over his shoulder," JungMin grinned. "Or did you not hear him telling the Captain he was going to break your nose?"_ _

__HyungJoon rolled his eyes. "Oh that, he won't do anything. I just get panicky and nervous when I'm on the bridge. Especially if JongWoon isn't there."_ _

__"So why don't you just go wait in med bay with him?" the redhead wrinkled his nose a little. "And I wouldn't test KyuJong's patience if I were you."_ _

__"I try not to," HyungJoon sighed, looking back at the console. "I feel a little odd going to the medbay. I feel like I'm a third wheel when YoungSaeng's awake."_ _

__JungMin turned to HyungJoon, blinking. "How so?" He raised an eyebrow._ _

__"I don't know, it's weird," HyungJoon shook his head, nudging JungMin to pay attention to what he was doing. "Have you just sat in there with the two of them? It's like... they don't even know you're there really."_ _

__JungMin's lips quirked slightly into a smirk as he looked back at what HyungJoon was doing. "Yeah, I've noticed. Think it's just cause YoungSaeng's injured and it's JongWoon's job to make sure he's okay?"_ _

__"Could be, but that doesn't really explain why YoungSaeng's been doting on him lately," HyungJoon said, pressing the button to start the exhaust sequence, keeping an eye on the pressure in the ducts. "I thought he really disliked him there for a while."_ _

__"No, he doesn't dislike him," JungMin smirked, one hand on his hip as he watched, glancing at HyungJoon. They had figured out that much at least, even if they didn't know what YoungSaeng's exact feelings were about the hapless negotiator. "Does JongWoon?"_ _

__"JongWoon likes everybody," HyungJoon chuckled. "Even if he's scared witless of Xander, he doesn't dislike the guy. Same thing with YoungSaeng."_ _

__JungMin snorted in amusement, before tilting his head slightly, debating something. "What about _like_ like?" This was getting to be interesting. _ _

__" _Like_ like?" HyungJoon looked at JungMin with a raised eyebrow. "What are we, kids? I don't know how much he really likes YoungSaeng, he hasn't told me. Why does YoungSaeng like him?"_ _

__"I didn't say that," JungMin sniffed, kicking HyungJoon's foot at the comment. "Just noticed what you've noticed, and that JongWoon's hovering a bit too much for even a worried medic."_ _

__"Well JongWoon's a worrier, " HyungJoon frowned, thinking about his friend. Was it possible that JongWoon liked YoungSaeng now? "He hovered over me just the same when I was injured, and we're just friends."_ _

__"Just a thought, you know him better than I do," JungMin shrugged, looking back to the console. "This just about done?"_ _

__"No, this takes a while, but we have to watch to make sure the ducts don't explode from the pressure," HyungJoon said, looking back at the console and making some adjustments. "You're always so impatient to be done."_ _

__"Because we're not _doing_ anything, just standing over a console watching a meter." JungMin shuffled, watching what HyungJoon was doing. _ _

__"That's a lot of what being in engineering is," HyungJoon rolled his eyes. "We make sure things don't fly apart."_ _

__" _Oppa!_ " HyungJoon winced at the loud shriek, looking over his shoulder just in time to see GyuRi flying through the door, arms outstretched towards JungMin._ _

__JungMin yelped at the shriek. "She found me!" He ducked between HyungJoon and the console in a useless attempt to hide._ _

__GyuRi landed in front of HyungJoon, her wings fluttering in irritation as she looked up at the engineer with arms crossed. HyungJoon stared back at her with wide eyes, only now noticing just how _tiny_ she was. The top of her head barely came up to his elbows. He glanced over his shoulder at JungMin. "I think she knows you're there."_ _

__"Oppa, I was waiting for you with YoungSaeng," GyuRi pouted. "Why are you down here in this dirty old engine room?"_ _

__"Hiding from you?" JungMin poked his head out from behind HyungJoon. "Helping out, I'm an engineer here you know, supposed to be down here."_ _

__" _You_ an engineer?" That seemed to amuse GyuRi endlessly, as she lifted off the ground, laughing hysterically. "You could never convince me you cared enough about engines JungMin. Now, come on and introduce me to your friends I want to make sure I remember everyone so they can all be invited to the wedding."_ _

__"...Wedding?" HyungJoon looked at JungMin, his lips quivering in amusement. "I'll have to remember to get you two a gift."_ _

__JungMin looked somewhere between horror-struck and exasperated. "Gyuri, for the last time we're _not_ getting married," he groaned. "And I'm perfectly fine right here." He was holding on to HyungJoon's shoulders. _ _

__"Don't be silly, we have _so_ much catching up to do," GyuRi beamed, seemingly ignoring anything that JungMin was saying. "YoungSaeng said while he's in the infirmary I can stay in his room, wasn't that so nice of him?" She fluttered over to JungMin's side, grabbing his arm and pulling on him. "Come on, don't be so rude, introduce me to everyone!"_ _

__YoungSaeng was going to get it the next time JungMin saw him. "Ack!" He stumbled to the side at the pull before he dug his feet into the ground. "You can introduce yourself, maybe to the flesh eater." He looked at HyungJoon for help._ _

__HyungJoon was too busy trying not to laugh to help, though he could see that JungMin would need it. "Hi, GyuRi is it? My name's HyungJoon," he said, holding out his hand. The pixie looked at him askance for a moment before letting go of JungMin._ _

__"Hi! Aren't you cute," she gushed, flying up to pinch at his cheeks._ _

__JungMin muffled a snort as GyuRi switched to pestering HyungJoon. The reprieve never lasted more than a few seconds at a time, but it was enough to escape. "Very cute," he grinned, backing up a few paces slowly to avoid her notice._ _

__Then he winked at HyungJoon and shrank quickly, a tiny squirrel slipping out the door and disappearing._ _

__Swatting at GyuRi's hands, HyungJoon barely caught the squirrel as it rounded the corner out the door and he scowled. "Yah! Get back her and get her off of me!"_ _

__"Hm?" GyuRi blinked, flying back away from HyungJoon and spinning in a circle. "Where'd he go? Oppa?" She flew out the door after him, calling JungMin's name._ _

__JongWoon was in the middle of an idle conversation with YoungSaeng when he saw the end of a tail out of the corner of his vision. Blinking, he jumped and stopped talking when a squirrel suddenly jumped up onto the bed YoungSaeng was on and hid under the blankets beside him, only the tip of a bushy tail sticking out. "...Uh..."_ _

__YoungSaeng was just as surprised at the squirrel, but when he heard GyuRi's calls from outside the door, he snorted and pulled the blanket over the tail._ _

__"JungMin? Oppa? Where'd you go?" GyuRi flew into the room, landing lightly on the floor and looking between JongWoon and YoungSaeng. "Have you seen JungMin come through this way?"_ _

__"No GyuRi, haven't seen him, try the mess hall," YoungSaeng said, managing to keep from laughing as the pixie flew back out of the room. Lifting the covers back off, he smiled down at JungMin. "You won't be able to hide from her forever."_ _

__The squirrel clicked at him and didn't move beyond turning himself around so he was facing YoungSaeng. His tiny claws were hooked into the fabric of the bed sheet in a clear 'I'm not going anywhere' stance._ _

__"That's JungMin?" JongWoon blinked, looking at the squirrel on the bed, who was now giving YoungSaeng the squirrel version of an evil glare. "I think he's mad at you."_ _

__"And he looks so cute when he's mad," YoungSaeng chuckled, scratching at the top of the squirrel's head. "Are you mad that I told GyuRi she could stay in my room? It was a joke, but she took me seriously. I'm sorry Min."_ _

__Clicking indignantly, JungMin nipped gently at YoungSaeng's fingers, not hurting him._ _

__"Is he planning on staying like that?" JongWoon blinked, watching with amusement. GyuRi's voice happened to echo down the hallway then from elsewhere in the ship, and JungMin promptly tried to squeeze under YoungSaeng's pillow. "...I guess that's a yes."_ _

__YoungSaeng rolled his eyes, getting resettled with the squirrel under his pillow. "Well he can just stay there then, the big chicken. We can continue to have our nice conversation," YoungSaeng smiled softly at JongWoon. The bruising around his eye was already fading, yellow and green as opposed to the black and purple it had been a week ago. His rib and hand were still far from being completely healed though, and JongWoon was insisting he stay in the infirmary. Not that YoungSaeng minded really, he got to spend more time with the negotiator, which gave him time to figure out how he really felt about the older man._ _

__"Yeah," JongWoon smiled, turning his attention away from the lump under the pillow to YoungSaeng. "Except now I'm curious. You mentioned before you both have your 'usual' animal forms? If JungMin's a squirrel, what's your other forms? Other than a wolf?" He was very curious about the Shinbi, and had asked all sorts of questions._ _

__"Well, I know dozens of animal forms, but I prefer the wolf and crow," YoungSaeng said, shifting to get a little more comfortable. "Maybe when I'm healed and can finally shift out of this form I can show you a couple."_ _

__"That would be cool," JongWoon brightened, before blinking. "Uh...not the eight-headed dragon again, right?"_ _

__"No, not the eight-headed dragon," YoungSaeng laughed. "That's a particularly hard form to be in. Too many heads and not enough brains to go around. There are millions of creatures out there, and I think you'll enjoy some of the more beautiful ones."_ _

__"Like your real form?" JongWoon asked, the question slipping out before his mind could catch up with what he was saying. Realizing how that sounded, he promptly turned pink. But it was true. Out of all the things he'd seen so far, he definitely found YoungSaeng's real form to be the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen._ _

__He heard a muffled clicking noise from under the pillow like JungMin was laughing at them._ _

__YoungSaeng's expression softened and his smile widened. "Well, I don't consider walking glass to be that beautiful, but if you think so, thank you," YoungSaeng said, "accidentally" squashing the squirrel with his head as he shifted again. "There are more beautiful critters out there though."_ _

__"Can't wait for you to show me," JongWoon smiled, laughing when JungMin squeaked and dragged himself half out from under the pillow at the added pressure. "Will I be able to see your real form again though?"_ _

__"Of course, just not now," YoungSaeng nodded, watching JongWoon for a moment before turning the squirrel. "Are you about done hiding? You can't stay a squirrel forever."_ _

__JungMin gave YoungSaeng such a depressed look, JongWoon hadn't even thought it capable for a squirrel._ _

__"She's going to stay here with us?" JongWoon asked, and the squirrel nodded, sprawling himself out on his stomach and putting tiny paws over his eyes._ _

__"You're so melodramatic," YoungSaeng chuckled, scratching the top of the squirrel's head again. "In a couple days she'll stop trying to hunt you down. She'll probably find someone else to annoy. Why don't you introduce her to SungMin?"_ _

__"Poor SungMin," JongWoon laughed._ _

__JungMin finally got up and moved to the unoccupied end of the bed, shifting back. "I'd be scared what she'd do to the fuzzball," he snorted. "How annoyed does SungMin have to get before he goes into miniature martial artist mode?"_ _

__"Don't know, but she's quick so I'm not too worried," YoungSaeng said, sitting up a little on the bed and leaning against the headboard. He winced slightly but was okay to sit like that. "You could ask the Captain if he'd boot her off the ship, but I don't think he'd do it."_ _

__"I don't think so either, unless she starts breaking things. She'll probably be very nice to him so she doesn't get kicked off." JungMin groaned, rubbing his forehead._ _

__"Where were you hiding before?" JongWoon asked, amused by all this._ _

__"In engineering."_ _

__"Oh?" YoungSaeng's lips quivered slightly before he turned to JongWoon with a smile. "Now that JungMin's here, why don't you go and get some sleep hm? You've been keeping me company for quite a while now."_ _

__"I don't mind," JongWoon shrugged, lips curled upwards. "And if GyuRi comes back, JungMin might take off on you."_ _

__"I'm _really_ hoping she stays at the other end of the ship for a while," JungMin winced. _ _

__"True," YoungSaeng nodded, looking at the negotiator for a second before turning to JungMin. He had wanted to talk to the redhead alone since he didn't know what HyungJoon had told JongWoon, if anything. "You may have to find another room to sleep in if GyuRi's going to take ours over."_ _

__"Most likely," JungMin nodded with a long-suffering sigh. "I'll find somewhere else to go. It's not as if there's any shortage of rooms, though there are getting to be less. And I think I'm safe for a bit, go sleep you," he waved at JongWoon with one hand. The older man protested that he was fine._ _

__"You're just going to pass out on the other bed if you don't, go on," YoungSaeng flapped his good hand at the negotiator. "Even if JungMin does get scared off by psycho pixie I'll be fine. You said yourself I should be up and about in a couple days."_ _

__"Yes...but..." JongWoon floundered for a bit, then at the look he was getting from both of them, gave in. "Okay, I'll be back in a few hours then," he sighed, standing up. "If you need me for anything, remember that button calls right to my com device, I'll be right here," he said, pointing at the button by the bed._ _

__"Yes yes, I know, go on now, shoo," YoungSaeng said with a laugh, watching the negotiator leave. When he was sure the man was gone, he turned to JungMin with raised eyebrows. "Well? Spill."_ _

__"So impatient," JungMin snorted. "There's not much to tell." He leaned back on his hands, watching the older man. "We kept getting off on the wrong foot, so we decided to try again from the beginning. Try and hold conversations and stuff without arguing." He shrugged a little._ _

__"And how is that going?" YoungSaeng pried some more. Being stuck in the infirmary meant he was so deprived of gossip around the ship since JongWoon didn't seem to know anything about anyone; or wasn't going to tell that is._ _

__"Okay so far? Until GyuRi found me," JungMin chuckled. "I'll let you know if there's anything major, okay? But right now there isn't much to say." He tapped his fingers against the bed sheets. "What about you? Getting nice and cozy with the failboat?"_ _

__"Not really, no, we just talk," YoungSaeng shrugged. "Which... is kind of nice. Not my usual way, but there's not much I can do other than lay here and heal. Though I'm not sure if he even realizes I'm hitting on him half the time."_ _

__"Whether he turns into a tomato or not seems like a good indication," JungMin snorted. "You enjoying your challenge then?"_ _

__"I am, it gives me something to think about other than how much pain I'm in," YoungSaeng nodded. "I just wonder if it's worth it."_ _

__"Worth it?" JungMin tilted his head, waiting for YoungSaeng to elaborate._ _

__"If all my flattery and flirting is worth it," YoungSaeng replied, his eyes unfocused. "If he's already made up his mind about me, thinking I'm just looking to get in between his sheets. Wouldn't blame him."_ _

__"Don't know him that well, so I can't tell you anything," JungMin shrugged. "And I try not to be down here with you two alone for large amounts of time. Do you even _know_ what you're looking for though?" _ _

__"Other than a rich gorgeous man to pamper me? No," YoungSaeng smiled, shaking his head. "No, I'm not sure what I want. I do know that I enjoy his company, and I look forward to spending time with him."_ _

__"Well, he seems to enjoy spending time with you too, he didn't dote that much even over HyungJoon before," the redhead chuckled. "Like I said, I don't know him that well, but from what I do see, you don't have to worry too much about him having a fixed opinion on you."_ _

__"I guess we'll see what happens once I'm up and around," YoungSaeng said, looking up at JungMin again with a smile. "Speaking of. You know while JongWoon is here watching over me, you could go bunk with HyungJoon while he's here. Maybe you two just need to get rid of all that sexual tension between you two."_ _

__JungMin blinked owlishly at YoungSaeng, turning a faint pink. "I have no problem at all for that, but isn't it a little...counter-productive if I'm trying to prove I'm not just doing all this to sleep with him?"_ _

__"It was just a suggestion," YoungSaeng said, giving JungMin a coy smile. "What does he say about that? Has he brought it up?"_ _

__"He didn't bring it up himself, but he seemed surprised when I told him I wasn't just trying to get in his pants," JungMin shrugged, pulling at a stray thread from the bed sheet. "I'm just really confused, I'll get over it."_ _

__"Confused about what?" YoungSaeng asked, tilting his head a little. "Confused about what you want from him? Or what he wants from you?"_ _

__"Both?" JungMin gave YoungSaeng an exasperated expression. "I just...you _know_ I don't go for these kinds of things, it's...I really don't have a clue what to do." He rubbed his temple, looking down at the bed. "And I keep wondering if he might not...think the same way. All he's ever said about me is that I'm mean."_ _

__"Well, at least he's honest," YoungSaeng said, amused. "Would you rather he lie and say you're nice? I don't really have any idea what I'm doing either Min. Taking things slow is not my style, yet I'm doing so for someone that I'm not really sure how I feel about, or how he feels about me. You on the other hand, like the engineer, and he likes you as well as he's told you. Far as I see it, he does think the same."_ _

__Nodding slowly, JungMin groaned and dropped down onto his side, curling up a little. "I don't know. We're going to see if we can hold conversations without killing each other, then I'll worry about the rest. You keep focusing on your failboat. You're saying his name now."_ _

__"I am," YoungSaeng nodded, smiling down at JungMin, running his hand through the other's hair. "I'm surprising myself on this little trip Min. I'm getting close to humans and enjoying their company. If someone would have told me that this would happen a year ago, I would have thought they were crazy."_ _

__"Same," JungMin snorted. "Or even four months ago, I would have said they were crazy. But I actually don't mind it that much." He smiled at the hand in his hair, making himself comfortable._ _

__"I don't either," YoungSaeng agreed, shifting down slowly so he could lay down again. "They're the first people I would consider to be friends, after you of course. Even the Gecko's.... well maybe just Zhou Mi."_ _

__"Yes," the younger shifter wrinkled his nose. "What do you think we're going to do after all this is over? When they find some place to settle down?" He reached out and ran one hand through YoungSaeng's hair, looking up at him._ _

__"I don't know," YoungSaeng said, leaning a little into the hand. "Stay with them I guess? Where else do we have to go?"_ _

__"Nowhere really," JungMin shrugged. It wasn't as if they could go back home. "At first I thought we'd just go off somewhere on our own, but...I wouldn't mind staying with them."_ _

__"I wouldn't either," YoungSaeng agreed, taking JungMin's hand and pulling up on it a little. "Cuddle with me Min, I miss it."_ _

__Chuckling, JungMin scooted further up the bed to rest his head beside YoungSaeng's. He wrapped one arm loosely around the older man's waist and snuggled close, being careful not to apply pressure to his ribs. "Better?" He kissed YoungSaeng's forehead before resting their heads together lightly._ _

__"Yes, much," YoungSaeng nodded, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "I wonder what YunHo is going to have in store for us now."_ _

__"Guess we'll find out soon," JungMin sighed, closing his eyes as well. "You don't focus on that, focus on healing those bones."_ _

__"I am," YoungSaeng pouted, but snuggled up against JungMin more. "Min... are we going to even be sharing a room once I get out of here?"_ _

__JungMin was quiet for a long moment, breathing in slowly. "I don't know," he murmured, because he didn't. He couldn't promise YoungSaeng something he wasn't sure of._ _

__"Well if we are because you haven't gotten any further with the engineer I'm going to kick your ass," YoungSaeng said, poking JungMin in the side._ _

__"Yah," JungMin pouted, poking him back lightly. "And if I _do_ get somewhere and you haven't, I have full right to tell you the same." _ _

__"Not fair," YoungSaeng sniffled. "I should get some sleep, you stay awake in case psycho pixie comes back."_ _

__"Yes, I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep for a while," JungMin gave a long-suffering sigh, running his hand along YoungSaeng's arm slowly. "Rest you."_ _

__"Yes, yes," YoungSaeng yawned softly then settled down, falling asleep within minutes, his hand resting lightly on JungMin's chest._ _

__*************************************40*****************************************_ _


	4. Chapter 4

By the time JongWoon came back, GyuRi had discovered JungMin's hiding spot, and had chased him out of the room. The rest of the day unfolded much like a hide-and-seek game, which amused the rest of the crew greatly. GyuRi always found him before long, and the two would banter for a bit before JungMin escaped again.

Finally GyuRi had gone to sleep...in YoungSaeng and JungMin's room. JungMin might have easily gone to the infirmary to stay there, but he didn't feel like watching JongWoon and YoungSaeng dance around each other.

He knew where he _could_ go, but he wasn't so sure he wouldn't be kicked out of there anyways.

Finally after wandering around he found himself outside HyungJoon's room, where he knew the younger man had just gone to sleep not long ago. Pursing his lips a little, the shifter tried the door and found it unlocked, poking his head into the room. 

Curled up around his pillow, HyungJoon was just drifting off to sleep when he heard the door open. Knowing that JongWoon was in the infirmary and wasn't going to be back for several hours, he lifted his head up and looked groggily at the door. "Hm? JungMin?" he blinked and sat up, rubbing at his eyes. "What are you doing here, everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fantastic." JungMin pouted a little at the sleepy man. "GyuRi's invaded our room and I am never trying to sleep in the same room as her ever, ever again. Would you mind?" 

"Should I ask what happened the last time?" HyungJoon snorted, folding his legs up under him and scratching at his bare shoulder. "So, why come here? Why not go to an empty room? Not that I mind though."

"No, you shouldn't." HyungJoon was shirtless. Great, there went restraint out the window. "If you want me to go to an empty room I'll go to an empty room," JungMin sniffed. 

HyungJoon rolled his eyes. "I said I didn't mind, besides, if she wakes up and goes looking for you, she won't look in here."

"That too," JungMin grinned, slipping into the room and closing the door behind him. "Thought you'd be locking your door at night." He slipped out of his shoes and padded over to the bed. 

"Why would I do that? I'm not afraid of anyone coming in and slitting my throat anymore," HyungJoon said, flopping back onto the bed and pulling his blankets up to his shoulders. "You aren't here to kill me right?"

"Of course I am, I just want to take a quick nap before I pull my invisible blade out and cut you into pieces." JungMin climbed up onto the bed beside him, slipping under the sheets and sprawling out on his stomach with a groan. 

"Hey, I don't know what you've got hidden in there," HyungJoon sniffed, poking at JungMin's arm. "Maybe you made a deal with Xander to get me out of your hair and him a meal."

"Nah, Xander likes to make his own meals himself." JungMin poked HyungJoon back under the sheets, turning his head to press his cheek into the pillow and look at him. "He's far too picky for a flesh eater." 

"Oh, I'm not good enough for him then?" HyungJoon snorted, rolling onto his side to look at JungMin. "But why _did_ you come here anyway?"

"He's too fixated on JongWoon to eat you right now. And why not? Do I have to have an ulterior motive for everything I do?" JungMin pursed his lips a little. "I'm seeing if I can do this without pushing you into the mattress, but you being shirtless isn't really helping." 

"I'd offer to put a shirt on, but I don't like sleeping in shirts," HyungJoon said, smirking at him. "You'll have to just deal with it. Not that I mind either way."

"Even if the choice ends up being, sleep fully clothed or sleep in nothing at all?" JungMin raised an eyebrow at the younger man, scooting a little closer. 

"Depends. If I'm sleeping fully clothed, does that mean you're sleeping in nothing at all? Or is it the other way around," HyungJoon mused, watching JungMin with a smirk.

"What do you think?" JungMin snorted. He could see the top of HyungJoon's bare shoulders peeking above the blanket and it was so tempting. His mental arguments and worries could wait for one night. "Have a preference?" His fingers brushed lightly against HyungJoon's arm under the blanket. 

HyungJoon held back the shudder when JungMin touched his arm as he shook his head slowly. "No, not really. Do you?"

"I know I do." JungMin's eyes had darkened slightly, hand running along HyungJoon's arm to his shoulder, fingers tracing along his collar bone. "But if you really don't have a preference, I suppose we should be getting to sleep..." 

"I'm not that tired any more... you kind of woke me up," HyungJoon murmured, his eyes closing as he moved into the touch more. "Are you tired?"

"No," JungMin chuckled, moving closer until his breath ghosted lightly over HyungJoon's lips. "Should I fix that problem?" 

"...Yeah," HyungJoon whispered, his eyes moving back and forth between JungMin's eyes and his lips. If this was what JungMin had in mind when coming here, he wasn't really going to complain about it right then. Besides, JungMin's plush lips were too tempting to bother to resist.

So he didn't, and HyungJoon shifted forward to press their lips together in a hard kiss.

Responding right away, JungMin returned the kiss and brought the hand against HyungJoon's collarbone up and into his hair, twining into the soft strands. He deepened the kiss quickly, wanting to taste more of the younger man. 

Resting his palms on JungMin's chest, HyungJoon sighed softly as his mouthed moved against the older man's. His lips parted eagerly, tongue flicking at JungMin's bottom lip while he shifted even closer, sliding his leg up and down JungMin's.

Parting his lips with a low groan, JungMin's tongue slid against HyungJoon's, sending shivers through the shifter. He pressed up against the human, pressing his own leg between HyungJoon's as he massaged at the back of HyungJoon's neck. 

Caught up completely, HyungJoon rolled them slightly so he was more or less on top of the older man. His hand slid down the man's chest to the hem of shirt where fingers ducked underneath to press against JungMin's side, thumb brushing over his belly.

Making a soft noise into the kiss as he was rolled onto his back, distracted by the change in position for a moment, JungMin groaned and arched up against the fingers against his stomach. Both hands available now, he kept one at the back of HyungJoon's neck to continue the kiss. The other hand slid down the line of HyungJoon's back, and over the material of his jeans. 

Making soft sighs of contentment, HyungJoon settle more firmly on his knees between JungMin's legs. He pushed up on JungMin's shirt lightly with his hand, lips trailing away from the kiss to nibble and mouth at JungMin's jaw and neck.

Panting for breath, JungMin tilted his head back to give HyungJoon more room. YoungSaeng had done this dozens of times, hundreds, but it felt different when done by HyungJoon. And it wasn't a bad difference.

His shirt was getting in the way though, JungMin shifting to pull it off even if that meant detaching HyungJoon from his task. It was worth it though, the shifter's lips parting when their chests rubbed together. 

Appreciating JungMin's form when his shirt was removed, HyungJoon renewed his attack on JungMin's neck, slowly working down to the top of his chest and collar. His hands that had been resting on JungMin's sides were moving down to slide just under the waistline of his pants.

Groaning softly, JungMin let his hands wander around HyungJoon's upper body, fingers tracing along the definition to his chest and smoothing over his belly. "Joon..." He rolled his hips upwards suddenly, against HyungJoon's. 

HyungJoon gasped, nearly falling face first onto JungMin's chest when he did that, and slid his hands further down into JungMin's pants in retaliation. It had been a while since he and JongWoon had last done anything, and he was feeling more than a little anxious about the fact that he was now in this position with JungMin.

That didn't stop him entirely though, biting down lightly on a sharp jut of rib. "Min," he murmured, looking up at JungMin through his bangs.

A strangled noise escaping at the hands moving more into his pants, JungMin looked down at HyungJoon, lips parted and eyes slightly glazed. Hearing his nickname coming from HyungJoon like that made it a little harder to breathe.

The redhead pulled HyungJoon back up, kissing him and biting on his lower lip lightly as his hand undid HyungJoon's pants. 

Returning the frantic kisses, HyungJoon helped JungMin with getting both of their pants off before he hooked the redhead's leg around his waist. He stared down at JungMin for a moment, eyes searching the other's, wondering of this was that good of an idea. It was a little late though, and he quickly pushed away any thoughts as he leaned back in to capture JungMin's mouth.

For a moment as they just looked at each other, JungMin wondered what HyungJoon was thinking, if he really did want this as much as JungMin thought he did. And the doubts began creeping up on him again, but he forgot all about them when HyungJoon kissed him again. Moaning quietly against the engineer's mouth, JungMin tightened his leg's grip around HyungJoon's waist. Questions could wait. 

It was later, when HyungJoon was curled up against JungMin's side, his cheek pressed to the redhead's chest and his breathing had evened out when he finally spoke. "This is okay you know," he said softly, drawing small designs along one of JungMin's ribs. "What we just did I mean. I don't think it's a bad thing for us to sleep together. Obviously we both want it, right?"

Opening his eyes and looking down at HyungJoon, JungMin shifted to wrap one arm loosely around the younger man, making himself comfortable again.

"Yeah," he murmured after a pause. "I just don't want you to think that's all I'm interested in." 

"I know it's not, and it's not all I'm interested in either," HyungJoon said, tilting his head up to look at JungMin. "I already had that, and it was nice at the time but... I want more than just sex, and so do you, right?"

"Yeah," JungMin smiled slightly down at him, feeling more content than he had in a while. Yes, he wanted more than sex with HyungJoon. He could admit that to himself now.

"Though the fact that you're great in bed is definitely a plus," he smirked, running his hand along HyungJoon's back. 

HyungJoon snorted, pressing a kiss to JungMin's chest before leaning up to brush his lips over JungMin's. "You're not too bad yourself."

"Not 'too bad'? I think I'm a lot better than that," JungMin sniffed, before returning the light kiss, wrapping both arms around the younger man and burying his face against HyungJoon's shoulder. 

"Alright, you're a lot better," HyungJoon chuckled, nuzzling against him and smiling softly to himself. "Just don't let that go to your head." He sighed a little before pulling back to look at JungMin, his lips pursed. "So.. what does this make us then? Are we together? Or we still trying to figure that part out."

Thinking about that, JungMin looked down at HyungJoon, meeting the younger man's eyes. "...Closer," he said, smiling as he stroked his thumb over HyungJoon's skin slowly. "I...want to spend more time together first. Sleeping together or otherwise." There was a lot they didn't know about each other. 

HyungJoon nodded, settling back down on JungMin's chest. "Alright, I think I can handle that," he said, taking one of JungMin's hands and curling his fingers around. "Not like we have much else to do for the next few days."

"Nope, just fix engines and train. You're not getting out of training even if we do get together, just to let you know," JungMin chuckled, burying his face in HyungJoon's hair and inhaling slowly. 

"Damn," HyungJoon sighed. "And I doubt you'll take it easy on me either. Though if you hurt me too much you'll have to wait for me to heal before sex," he said, poking JungMin's belly. "I don't heal quick like YoungSaeng."

"No broken bones or sprained wrists, got it," JungMin snorted, abdominal muscles tightening at the poke. "I make no promise with bruising." 

"I'll take what I can get I guess," HyungJoon chuckled, closing his eyes and tangling his legs with JungMin's. "I think I'm ready for some sleep now."

"Sleep sounds good," the redhead yawned, smiling at the feeling of their legs rubbing together. He closed his eyes, slowly drifting off feeling happy. 

**************

"Well Doctor, what's the verdict?" YoungSaeng asked, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at JongWoon with hopeful eyes. It was nearing on two weeks since he'd been a hair's breadth away from dying, and now that most of the bruises had faded he was waiting for JongWoon's okay to finally leave the infirmary. "My bones healed enough?"

JongWoon tapped his fingers against the scanner, lips pursed. While it was true YoungSaeng was healing much faster than he would have if he were truly human, JongWoon was still nervous about letting him go from the infirmary.

"Your hand's going to have to stay in a cast, for at least another week at the rate you're healing..." The negotiator looked from the screen and met YoungSaeng's eyes, melting a little at the hopeful look he was being given. "But...I guess you're okay to leave the infirmary," he said, sighing inwardly. "But no training until your bones are healed completely, and stay away from strenuous activities. Avoid bending over or anything that might agitate your broken rib, okay? And I still need to check up on your condition." 

YoungSaeng perked up, beaming from ear to ear at that, nodding vigorously. "Got it, no fighting, no training, and, sigh, no sex," he said, his eyes dancing. "Thank you JongWoon. You did a fantastic job taking care of me."

Turning bright red, JongWoon smiled in return. "It was my pleasure. I suppose you'll be wanting to escape now?" he chuckled, looking down at the scanner in his hand. He actually hadn't minded looking after YoungSaeng, he'd enjoyed talking with the younger man and getting to know him more. But would YoungSaeng still talk with him like this if he wasn't stuck in the same room as him for hours on end?

"Escape to where though is the question," YoungSaeng sighed, kicking his feet a little. "A pixie has taken over my room, and from what I hear, she's turning the whole room pink. I don't know where JungMin's ended up, but at the moment I'm without a room." He watched JongWoon for a moment, not sure still if HyungJoon had told the older man what had been going on with JungMin or not. JungMin of course had told him everything. "What about you? What are you going to do now?"

"I have no idea," JongWoon smiled sadly, shrugging. "I'll probably clean up here and go find Joonie. There's not much else to do for now." He still hadn't left the ship even though the others had gone on supply runs, and didn't plan on leaving the ship. "JungMin might be with HyungJoon. If not, it'll be a bit of a long search if he's hiding in squirrel form somewhere. Though Xander or SungMin could probably sniff him out." 

"I'm sure he'll turn up," YoungSaeng said, sliding off the edge of the bed to get to his feet. He debated for a moment before looking at JongWoon with a smile. "Are you hungry?" 

Blinking, JongWoon looked up at YoungSaeng. "...Yeah," he smiled after a moment, standing up as well. "You?" He placed the scanner away after clearing the screen. 

"I'm starving," YoungSaeng said dramatically. "Healing takes a lot out of me. Maybe we can go see if Zhou Mi has anything made for lunch?" 

"That would be good," JongWoon brightened. "Something other than the broths and stuff you've been having lately? Just let me clean up a bit, it'll take a minute." He made sure everything was placed away, and that the surfaces were clean. 

"Yes, I need something with some substance to it," YoungSaeng nodded, leaning up against the wall to wait. He watched JongWoon clean up, his eyes lingering in certain places. "I could go for some meat right about now."

"I'm sure he'll have something, he likes cooking a bit too much," JongWoon chuckled, finishing up and turning to look at YoungSaeng with a smile, completely not noticing how YoungSaeng's eyes were wandering. "Okay, all set." 

"Shall we then?" YoungSaeng smiled, pushing away from the wall. "I'm going to miss our long chats JongWoon. I hope we can still spend time together even though I'm pretty much healed now."

Blinking, JongWoon turned pink and nodded slightly. "I would like that too," he smiled at the younger man, a sense of relief in his voice as he headed towards the door. "I don't see why we can't." 

"Maybe because we had other things to preoccupy our time before, or rather, other people, that we didn't really talk before," YoungSaeng said, walking out of the infirmary behind JongWoon. "I enjoy your company JongWoon. I think I may have misjudged you before, and that was remiss of me."

Listening to YoungSaeng, JongWoon ducked his head slightly, smiling a little wider. He couldn't help himself. "I think, I might have too..." He really did like talking to YoungSaeng, hearing his opinions on things, watching his expressions.

As they walked towards the mess hall, he dropped back to walk alongside YoungSaeng rather than in front of him. 

"Well, how about we share those opinions so we can go ahead and dismiss them," YoungSaeng suggested, looking over at him. "I thought you were quiet, in love with your best friend, and utterly hopeless in doing anything practical," he said with a small laugh. "But, I have learned that you're quiet because you listen, you love your best friend as a friend, and you have an amazing way with patients."

Turning even more red at YoungSaeng's words, JongWoon bit his lower lip to try and hide the small smile that had appeared. He didn't know what to say to that, but was glad YoungSaeng had changed his opinion about him. Particularly about being hopeless.

"I...used to think you were distant and hard to approach, and that you weren't interested in anything other than sex," he said, voice quietening as he spoke, stomach clenching a little as he looked down at the ground. "But I know now you're not distant, you're just cautious because it's safer that way...and that you could have more than that, one day, you just haven't found someone yet." 

YoungSaeng couldn't help the bashful smile and he had to look away for a moment before he stopped, touching JongWoon's arm for him to stop as well. "You're right, I do want more than that," he said softly. He looked around for a second before motioning to one of the empty quarters. "Can we talk in private for just a moment?"

Blinking, JongWoon looked back at YoungSaeng, then nodded. "Okay...I thought you were hungry?" He went to the door and nudged it open, making sure there was no one in it before stepping inside and looking back at the shifter. 

"This will only take a second," YoungSaeng reassured, stepping in behind him and closing the door. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before taking in a deep breath. "You're right, that I want more than just sex, and that I just hadn't found the right person yet," he said, looking up at JongWoon. "But... I think I have."

Looking down at the younger man, JongWoon tried to ignore his heart sinking a little. YoungSaeng liked someone then. But who? Then he became confused. HyunJoong and KyuJong were obviously together, and HyungJoon and JungMin liked each other. Who did YoungSaeng like? "...Who?" he asked, searching YoungSaeng's eyes. 

YoungSaeng took a step forward slowly, meeting JongWoon's eyes. "Remember you told me that you would never kiss someone if it didn't mean anything, and that you wouldn't kiss me because it wouldn't mean anything to me?" he asked softly, hesitantly reaching up a hand to JongWoon's cheek. "What if it would mean something to me?"

JongWoon's eyes widened slightly, YoungSaeng's words taking a moment to register. Blush slowly darkening, the negotiator felt his heart beating faster at the hand against his cheek. Was YoungSaeng serious? "It...it would?" he whispered, caught entirely by surprise, one hand lightly touching the hand over his cheek. 

"It would," YoungSaeng echoed in reply, leaning forward a little. "JongWoon, do you want to kiss me?"

Swallowing, JongWoon bit his lower lip, then nodded slightly. He did want to kiss YoungSaeng, knew from the way his heart was still doing backflips in his chest that it would mean a lot to him...just hearing YoungSaeng say all this made him feel happy, so happy. If YoungSaeng truly felt the same way...

His free hand lightly touched YoungSaeng's jaw, cupping it gently and stroking his thumb over the soft skin. JongWoon leaned in slowly, looking into YoungSaeng's eyes. When he could see no trace of a lie in them, he leaned over the rest of the way, lips pressing against YoungSaeng's in a soft and sweet kiss. 

YoungSaeng's eyes slipped closed as he returned the kiss, the hand on JongWoon's cheek sliding back to settle at the back of his head, the other arm wrapping around his waist. Despite all the back and forth thinking and worrying and trying to figure things out that he had done, it really only took JongWoon's words and the effect they had had on him to finally figure it out. He liked JongWoon, and not just as a friend.

Shifting slightly to hold YoungSaeng close with his other arm, JongWoon closed his eyes as well, just enjoying the soft kiss. There was no lust in it, but it was no less intoxicating to the human. In those moments he didn't care about anything else, all his attention on the younger man he was kissing.

Finally he pulled back slightly to breathe, but not without placing a few more light kisses against YoungSaeng's lips as he was doing so. "Did it mean something?" he whispered, and his eyes were bright, looking down at YoungSaeng with their faces inches apart. 

Smiling softly, YoungSaeng nodded, his grip tightening on JongWoon's waist. "It did," he replied, resting his forehead against the older man's. "It did mean something to me. Did it mean something for you?"

"Yes, it did," JongWoon murmured, smiling as he touched their noses lightly, looking into YoungSaeng's eyes. "I like you, YoungSaeng," he whispered, thumb lightly stroking over the younger man's jaw. 

YoungSaeng took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "I like you too JongWoon," he said, meeting his gaze. "Where do we go from here?"

The human bit his lower lip slightly. "Do you want to be together?" he asked quietly. "Try...dating?" He wanted to give it a try with YoungSaeng, but didn't know if that was what the other man wanted. 

"I... I'd like to try," YoungSaeng nodded. "I'll be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing. You're the first person I've even wanted to get close to besides JungMin. But I'd like to try."

"I don't really have much experience with that either, if it makes you feel better," JongWoon smiled a little nervously. "We can figure it out together." He ran one hand along YoungSaeng's back, still finding it hard to believe. 

"Alright, I like the sound of that," YoungSaeng nodded, brushing his lips against JongWoon's again before stepping back. His hand trailed down from JongWoon's hair to his hand, holding it lightly. "How about we go and get that meal, then maybe spend some time together if we can."

"Let's," JongWoon smiled gently, fingers curling around YoungSaeng's hand. "There's a lot I want to understand about you...I'm sorry if I ask a lot of questions sometimes." He went to the door, not letting go of YoungSaeng's hand. 

YoungSaeng followed, shaking his head a little. "It's okay, I'll gladly answer most questions," he said, closing the door once they were out of the room and started for the mess hall.

"You'd tell me if I was making you uncomfortable with questions, right?" JongWoon asked, looking back at YoungSaeng beside him as they walked. He'd have to figure out a way to tell HyungJoon about this; he was still reeling from what had just happened. 

"I doubt you'll make me uncomfortable, there's just some things I can't tell you," YoungSaeng said, smiling over at him. There's a lot I want to know about you too, and I'm pretty sure I will make you uncomfortable," he chuckled, squeezing JongWoon's hand.

JongWoon turned pink. "I-I'll do my best to answer," he smiled a little, looking down at their hands and stroking his thumb lightly over the back of YoungSaeng's hand. "This is nice though." He knew he shouldn't be feeling like a giddy schoolgirl (he was the oldest one here for God's sake), but he couldn't help but be happy. 

Reaching the mess hall door, YoungSaeng stopped in front of it, turning JongWoon to look at him. "It is nice, and we'll go slow with this, so we're both sure," he said.

Meeting YoungSaeng's eyes, JongWoon's smile widened. "I'd like that," he said softly, glad YoungSaeng was willing to go at an easy pace. "Let's see if Zhou Mi's been busy?" 

YoungSaeng nodded and opened the door to the mess hall. Zhou Mi wasn't there that he could see, but on inspecting the kitchen, there was a pot full of stew on the stove. Ladling out two bowls for them, YoungSaeng took the bowls to the table to sit, setting JongWoon's bowl right next to his. "I guess we're alone for just a bit longer."

"I don't have a problem with that," JongWoon smiled, sitting down. "This looks good. You still happy you're not stuck with cooking anymore?" 

"Very happy," YoungSaeng nodded, stirring his spoon around in the stew to let it cool just a bit. "Zhou Mi is by far a better cook than I am, which is funny to me that a Gecko even knows how to cook at all."

"KyuHyun seems to live up to the stereotype pretty well," JongWoon laughed quietly. "They're not that bad though, everyone's pretty nice. It's a lot different than what I thought would be out here while living in Federation space." 

"The Federation's propaganda about alien races clouded your mind," YoungSaeng said, giving JongWoon a pained smile. "Did it help that the first aliens you encountered looked human for the most part?"

"It did help," JongWoon smiled lightly back at him. "Until we could get over the staring thing at least." He and HyungJoon still stared every now and then, but mostly if the alien was just so strange looking even _other_ aliens were side-eyeing them. "You and JungMin helped us a lot, too." 

"It was by no means easy," YoungSaeng sighed, shaking his head in amusement. "At least you've learned to watch where you're going and not step on tails. You're lucky that thing didn't bite your head off."

"I'm sorry, the worst I'm used to doing is bumping into shoulders, not _stepping_ on things," JongWoon flushed in embarrassment, looking down at his stew and stirring it around with his spoon. "And the worst people could do was punch me in the face, not eat me." 

"Well, we're going to make sure neither happens again," YoungSaeng said, patting JongWoon's arm. He was about to say more when the mess hall door opened and GyuRi fluttered in, grinning from ear to ear. She looked over her shoulder once she was in and dropped to the floor.

"Well? Come on then, let everyone see," GyuRi called out into the hall.

"No, I'm not going in there," JongWoon heard SungMin's voice, and the anthro sounded absolutely miserable. "I told you I'm not."

Blinking, JongWoon looked at YoungSaeng in confusion before looking back at the door. 

GyuRi huffed, her tiny hands going to her hips. "Why do you make everything so difficult?" she said, stalking towards the door and reaching around the corner to tug SungMin into the room.

"I think she's found a new playmate to torture," YoungSaeng chuckled, stirring his soup and watching in amusement.

'Torture' was pretty accurate, JongWoon thought. SungMin had bows and butterfly clips stuck in his white fur, pushing his hair up at weird angles around his face. The negotiator had no idea how GyuRi had managed to get the feisty anthro to sit still long enough to apply eyeshadow, blush, and lip gloss, but then again they were roughly the same height so she might have managed to pin him down.

"Save me," SungMin looked at the two at the table pitifully, ears drooped and tail between his legs. "Why is there a _girl_ on the ship again?" 

YoungSaeng had to clamp a hand over his mouth to keep from bursting out in laughter, as it was his shoulders were shaking in mirth.

On the other hand, GyuRi's wings were fluttering in annoyance. "Is there something wrong with having a girl on board? Seems to me there's too many males on board as it is. The walls are just about dripping with testosterone," she said, fixing one of the bows on SungMin's head. "You look adorable."

"I look like a five-year-old's favorite doll," SungMin folded his arms over his chest, the stance doing absolutely nothing to help his situation as his tail puffed up indignantly.

"At least you can get people's guards down by being cute before you beat them into pulps?" JongWoon tried to make the anthro feel better, but SungMin just covered his face with his paws. 

YoungSaeng fell over laughing, not able to hold it in any longer when he saw SungMin's nails had been painted pink.

"I don't see what's so funny," GyuRi scowled at YoungSaeng. "If he did-"

"I smell a pixie," Xander's head popped into the room, sniffing. His eyes landed on GyuRi who froze in the middle of the room. His attention was distracted then by SungMin, and he blinked, repeatedly. "What happened to you?" GyuRi took that opportunity to dart from the room.

"The pixie 'happened' to me, please eat her." SungMin hid under the table.

Blinking at YoungSaeng, JongWoon shifted to help the younger man up and tried not to laugh at the fox's predicament. 

"No, no Xander," YoungSaeng was still laughing as he accepted JongWoon's help back up. "No eating her. And SungMin, how did you even let her get close enough to do all of that?"

Xander was still sniffing the air as he followed SungMin to where he was hiding. "You smell like the pixie now... are you wearing perfume?"

"I might be? The smell's making me nauseous." SungMin wasn't coming out from under the table, busy trying to take out the clips and bows with his stubby paws. "I was asleep, woke up somewhere in the middle of applying lip gloss. This is _never_ going to come out of my fur." 

"You need a bath," Xander crouched down, wrinkling his nose. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up. You should barricade your door from now on."

"I thought I locked it," SungMin replied sadly, crawling out from under the table finally.

"Is this what GyuRi does to people she likes?" JongWoon looked at YoungSaeng, understanding why JungMin was constantly bickering and then running away from her now. 

"Yes, though she's done worse," YoungSaeng nodded, watching the Xander and the anthro leave the mess hall. "She's lucky she's never done that to JungMin though. He'd tear her wings off."

"Something tells me he still doesn't enjoy what she does?" JongWoon laughed quietly, taking a bite of his stew finally. "I don't think there's been one day where he hasn't hidden in the infirmary." 

"GyuRi is absolutely convinced that she and JungMin are going to get married," YoungSaeng said, eating the stew. "She mostly just bothers him about wedding details now. I don't think even telling her he's involved will get it through her head."

Nodding slowly, JongWoon smiled a little. JungMin must have told YoungSaeng well before now. "That must be more than a little frustrating. How're...they doing now, do you know?" He looked over at YoungSaeng beside him. "JungMin and HyungJoon." 

Glancing at JongWoon, YoungSaeng chewed on his lip a little. "Well... good as far as I know, has HyungJoon said anything to you?"

"He's told me that they've been...sleeping together recently, I think I should be finding a different room," JongWoon chuckled, looking down at his stew. "But it's been going good for them, from what he's said, I'm glad for them." 

"Me too," YoungSaeng said softly, watching JongWoon for a moment. "I've known JungMin my entire life. If anyone deserves to be happy it's him, and now someone else can take up the task of looking after him," he chuckled, taking another bite. "I'll need new quarters too, you know," he said after a short pause. "You're welcome to stay with me, unless you think it's too soon."

JongWoon thought YoungSaeng deserved to be happy too, biting his lower lip. "I wouldn't mind staying with you," he said after a moment, smiling up at YoungSaeng. "I mean...sleeping in the same room doesn't mean we're...yeah." He flushed slightly, looking back down at his stew. He knew he didn't want to sleep with YoungSaeng, not so soon, wanting to know the shifter more before even considering that. 

"No, it doesn't, and I meant it when I said we should take this slow," YoungSaeng said, smiling back at him. "I just... I don't like sleeping alone."

"I can relate to that," JongWoon chuckled. He'd snuck into HyungJoon's room often enough, but he could guess YoungSaeng's reasons for not liking sleeping alone were different than watching one scary movie too many. "Guess we're claiming one of the empty rooms after we're done eating?" He took another bite of the stew. 

"I guess so, or we could always kick Xander out of your older room," YoungSaeng mused. "I would kick GyuRi out of mine, but I'm scared to see what she's done with it."

"Xander can keep my room, I don't want it back with how he's been going on about how it smells like human," JongWoon looked at YoungSaeng nervously. "There's more than enough rooms for us to choose from as it is." 

"Maybe one well away from the madhouse going on in that hall," YoungSaeng suggested with an amused smile.

"Agreed," the negotiator chuckled, lips curling upwards again before he finished off his stew. "Things continue the way they've been going, we're never going to have a quiet moment again." It didn't bother him though, the ship had felt too empty before, empty and sad. 

"No, probably not," YoungSaeng agreed, setting his spoon in his empty bowl. "Well, shall we?"

"Yeah," JongWoon nodded, getting up and bringing his dishes into the kitchen to wash. As he was getting the soap out, he looked at YoungSaeng a little sheepishly. "This is probably going to sound weird, but do Shinbi eat the same things as us? Like, cook the same way?" He'd noticed when first meeting the two shifters that the dishes YoungSaeng made were slightly different combinations than what they usually had, especially when spices were concerned. 

Bringing his bowl to the sink, YoungSaeng blinked at the question. "Um... kind of? We don't process foods the same way humans do, and can only eat things from our home planet. If I was in my real form, I would not have been able to eat that stew."

"Why not? Would it make you ill?" JongWoon pursed his lips, curious. Rinsing out the bowls, he started to wash them out. 

"It could probably kill me," YoungSaeng said, smiling sadly at him. "Just another reason why we choose to stay in human form."

JongWoon's eyes widened in shock. "O-oh...that's...a pretty good reason not to eat it," he bit his lower lip, somewhat caught off-guard by how drastic the consequence was. "So in the colony you both were from, all your food was from your home planet? Wouldn't it all go bad after a while?" 

"No, the colony was on a terraformed planet, so we were able to grow our food and keep livestock," YoungSaeng explained.

Nodding in understanding, JongWoon placed a bowl to dry before looking back at YoungSaeng hesitantly. "What was it like, on your colony?" he asked quietly. "Did you have siblings?" 

"No, I didn't have any siblings, that I knew of anyway," YoungSaeng said, taking up the drying towel and drying off the bowl. "Our family structures are quite a bit different than humans, so I may have siblings."

"Different? How so?" JongWoon looked at YoungSaeng as he washed the bowl. They'd started learning a bit more about different alien races, and from what he could tell, the majority of them had a similar family structure. 

"Our... parents, I guess you could call them, most often pair up for a short time," YoungSaeng said, putting away the bowl he'd finished drying. "If a child results, the child goes with one or the other parent, or someone in the community takes the child in. Love, marriage, those things aren't commonplace. There are exceptions of course, but those are rare."

Placing the other bowl to dry and going through the spoons as he listened to YoungSaeng explain, JongWoon blinked in surprise at that. "That's different...well, there are a few human families that do that, but the majority keep together. Which parent were you with?" He wiped off the sink and counter. 

"My mother for a short while, then she left and I was taken in by JungMin and his father," YoungSaeng said, drying the other bowl and putting it away. "Lived with them until we were taken by the Federation."

Saddening at the news YoungSaeng had been left behind, JongWoon bit his lower lip. "So when you say you knew him your whole life, you really mean it," he smiled a little sadly at the shifter. "I'm sorry about your mom..." 

"Don't be," YoungSaeng shook his head, putting his hand on JongWoon's shoulder and squeezing it gently. "Like I said, it's just how the Shinbi are. JungMin is more family to me than she ever would be. We form our bonds through interaction, not by birth."

"I guess it makes sense..." Nodding slowly, JongWoon smiled a little at YoungSaeng before finishing cleaning up and leaning against the counter slightly. He wondered if that meant their own relationship would be like that...just for a short time. It was depressing to think about, gaze on the counter as he thought. 

Watching JongWoon for a moment, YoungSaeng pulled gently on his shoulder so the other man would look at him. "I said that most of Shinbi pairings are short, but I also said that there are exceptions," he said softly, taking JongWoon's hand. "There are some who choose to share their lives with another, to bond with them mind, body and soul."

Looking at the younger man, JongWoon met YoungSaeng's eyes, trying to see what the shifter was thinking. That little bit gave him some hope, even though he wasn't sure what YoungSaeng meant about bonding mind, body and soul. Probably something like marriage.

"Do I have a chance?" he asked softly, searching YoungSaeng's gaze. "Even a small one?" 

"Let me put it this way," YoungSaeng said, brushing his fingers over the older man's cheeks. "You have a better chance than JungMin."

Gaze softening, JongWoon smiled gently and leaned into the fingers against his cheek. "I'll take those chances then." He leaned over slightly, lips brushing softly against YoungSaeng's. He really did like the shifter. 

YoungSaeng returned the soft kiss, smoothing his thumb over JongWoon's cheek before pulling back. "Let's go find us a room," he said, smiling warmly.

"Yeah," the older man smiled in return, eyes lingering on YoungSaeng's before he took a step back as well, looking over the area to make sure everything was cleaned up. Then he took YoungSaeng's hand shyly, starting towards the mess hall door. 

*******************************41*********************************************

 

"Can I go?" GyuRi fluttered around the others who were heading towards the airlock. Having been at the station for a week already, YunHo had finally summoned the crew for a meeting.

"Do you need to go? I think you can stay here with the wonder twins," YoungSaeng said, eyeing the pixie in amusement. "We can't always keep an eye on you, and trouble follows you around."

"I can't believe I'm being treated like a prisoner here," GyuRi sniffed, flying to hover in front of the airlock door, her arms crossed over her chest. "I'll have you know that on my home planet I'm considered a goddess."

"A goddess on the run from your own military," YoungSaeng snorted. "Isn't it rather difficult to start a coup and overthrow a government by yourself?" GyuRi glowered at YoungSaeng before floating back down to the ground and stalking off away from them, nose in the air.

JungMin watched her go, lips quirked. "She'll be over that by the time we get back. Or maybe we'll get to have a quiet rest of the day."

"I like the quiet idea." SungMin was eyeing where the pixie had gone from behind Xander's leg.

HyunJoong shook his head at both of them in amusement. "We still need to find positions for you both here. We can take care of that when we get back." It looked like both aliens were staying with them, as well as GyuRi if the last week had been any indication. 

"What about the pixie?" Xander asked while YoungSaeng opened up the airlock and the filed out. Their guide wasn't there yet though. "Is she even useful?"

"She can be useful, she's very good at convincing people to do things they don't want to do," YoungSaeng said, glancing at JungMin out of the corner of his eye. "Which JungMin can tell you all about."

"Or we can just say she's good at convincing people and leave it at that," JungMin scowled a little, one hand on his hip.

"Let's get to that meeting and share stories after," HyunJoong chuckled, giving KyuJong an amused look as they met with the guide. It seemed YunHo didn't want them straying off-course while going to his office. The group headed out into the hallways, HyunJoong recognizing some of the faces around them now. 

YoungSaeng had come to the same conclusion as the Captain, seeing as they knew their way to YunHo's office pretty well by then. Although they had been allowed to leave the ship for supplies, they weren't allowed out of the promenade area, and YunHo obviously didn't want them seeing what else was on the station. For now at least.

Back in the familiar waiting room outside YunHo's office, KyuJong leaned against HyunJoong a little as they sat in one of the chairs. The guide disappeared into YunHo's office and told them to wait.

"I'm guessing this isn't a social call," KyuJong murmured softly to HyunJoong with a wry smile. "Wonder where we're going next."

"Guess we'll find out," HyunJoong murmured, smiling a little at his pilot before turning his attention to the door.

JungMin watched them both, lips curled slightly. The two of them were obviously very close now, and he was happy for them. Glancing at YoungSaeng beside him, he grinned a little. "Got plans for later?" 

Looking up at the redhead, YoungSaeng raised an eyebrow at him. "Not that I'm aware of... why?" he responded quietly. Xander was looking at the both of them oddly.

"Just wondering," JungMin chuckled. "Why don't we arrange a game or something again?" his eyes danced. 

"Oh? What did you have in mind?" YoungSaeng asked, eyeing the redhead warily. "We're not shoving people into closets again."

"No, I didn't think you'd go for that this time," JungMin smirked. Not that he would have either. His not-relationship with HyungJoon was changing things. "Something more mild. We can ask the others what they want to play." He shrugged a little. 

"We'll have to see what happens with this meeting first," YoungSaeng said, patting JungMin's arm. "I think HyungJoon's been wanting to play Jenga for a while now," he chuckled.

The door to YunHo's office opened, the guide motioning them to come in. Once again they all filed into the room and took seats, the guide closing the door behind them.

YunHo looked up at them and nodded as they all sat down. "Hope everything has been well, Captain? Have there been anymore incidents on the station?"

"No, we've been able to pick up our supplies without interference," HyunJoong nodded.

"Good. You must already have guessed I have another mission to ask of you." The Valis leader tapped his fingers lightly against the table. "This is more serious than the last, but Sylar is moving quickly and we haven't had any choice but to do the same."

"What is the mission?" HyunJoong asked, leaning forward slightly. They hadn't been kept very up-to-date on what was going on between Valis and Sylar, but there were the whispered conversations in the promenade when they went for supplies. Valis and Merin were pushing the factions to merge together faster after Sylar claimed several systems that used to belong to smaller factions.

"One of our double agents was recently stranded outside of Sylar territory by a series of events, and we need him back inside as soon as possible. His position is valuable to us, especially with the recent pushes from the faction."

YunHo tapped a datapad in front of him, and it brought up a holographic map of a star system. "I need you to pick him up from one of our outposts, along with some cargo, and slip into Sylar space to drop him off at this system. As a human ship, you will be able to masquerade as part of the Federation and get in a lot easier than any of my other ships could." 

YoungSaeng frowned at the system that was shown on the hologram. "That's awfully close to Sylar's headquarters. Just how important is this double agent of yours?"

"Important enough for me to send one of my most valuable ships that far into Sylar territory," YunHo answered simply. "I need him to get there in one piece, and since it will be impossible to get in without being found by one of their own ships, we need a ship that can pass for their own closely enough that no one will take a second look."

"If someone _does_ take a second look, and finds out our ship isn't registered as one of their own, we're dead," JungMin said, eyes narrowing.

"With the amount of Federation ships entering and leaving their territory, they don't have the time to screen each ship so thoroughly. They have bigger things to worry about. And my double agent knows how to get in and out with the least chance for detection; he just needs a ship _to_ get in with." 

Nodding slowly, YoungSaeng thought about the plan. It could work, as long as they were careful. "And the cargo? Is that for just in case we are stopped? To make it look like we're on a supply run?"

"Precisely," YunHo nodded. "Although if you find yourself needing any of it while out there, feel free to do so as long as you can still keep the cover of being on a supply run."

HyunJoong frowned slightly. This was a dangerous mission, and from the expressions on the other's faces, they knew it too.

"Not all of us will be able to pretend to be human," SungMin piped up, looking at them.

"My agents tell me that with the Federation and Sylar working together, it isn't uncommon to find other races on the human ships," YunHo replied. "It's even preferable, since Sylar doesn't want to let Federation ships entirely out of their sight." 

Taking a deep breath, YoungSaeng nodded. "Well, it will be dangerous, but I think if we're careful enough we should be able to get through this in one piece," he said, looking at the Captain then back at YunHo. "Just how many of the major factions are left?"

"Not including Sylar, there are five," YunHo replied quietly. "And two of them have been diminished to the point where they can't even be considered 'major' anymore, but we need them as our allies regardless. This needs to be a collaborative effort, Sylar has grown to the point that even combined, Valis and Merin can not hope to take them down on our own. Not with the Federation involved. We need every advantage we can get, no matter how insignificant it may seem, and that is why I need my agent on the inside. We need to stay ahead of Sylar's advances."

HyunJoong drew in a slow breath, looking up at YunHo. He understood how important this was, as much as he didn't like the idea of sending his crew into Sylar territory. After glancing towards the others to assess their reactions to the news, he faced YunHo again. "We will take on the mission then. But we need to be fully prepared before leaving."

"Of course," YunHo nodded, lips quirked slightly. "I wouldn't send you out there otherwise. You will be receiving weapons shortly, along with our most detailed maps of Sylar territory. Your navigator can fill them in as well, of course." 

"How long do we have before we need to leave? I'm assuming we have a small window of opportunity to get this done by," YoungSaeng said, looking at the other bronze skinned man with a frown. 

"I would like you ready to leave first thing tomorrow, which gives you the rest of the afternoon and evening to gather any supplies you need," YunHo said, looking down at his papers before returning YoungSaeng's gaze. "I would like to give you all more time to recover, but unfortunately that is the most we can afford right now."

"We will be ready to leave tomorrow then," HyunJoong nodded in confirmation.

"Good. Here are instructions on where to meet my agent." YunHo slid a piece of paper across the table to them. "Once you have him on board, destroy this. Any further questions?" 

"I think we understand," YoungSaeng nodded, looking around at the others before starting to get to his feet.

"No, wait, I have a question," Xander piped up, looking at YunHo with a broad toothy smile. "There hasn't been any fights recently has there? I'm not going to be able to go on this mission without eating. Maybe there's a prisoner or two that gets lost in the cracks? Hm?"

YunHo sighed, but he looked vaguely amused. "I haven't forgotten about you, flesheater. Those kept here are needed for information purposes, but you'll find something for your appetite at the outpost. Will that do?" 

Xander looked as if he was debating about that but shrugged. "I guess that will work," he said, getting to his feet. 

"Thank you YunHo," YoungSaeng inclined his head, ushering the others to go back out into the waiting room where the guide was set to take them back. Walking alongside JungMin as they followed the guide to their ship, he looked over at the redhead. "I wonder if the Captain will say yes to a game tonight. We might not get another chance."

"Don't see why not, and it'll definitely be more interesting now with more people," JungMin chuckled. "If we can keep SungMin and KyuHyun from killing each other, Xander from eating JongWoon, GyuRi from causing chaos in general...am I forgetting anything?" 

YoungSaeng snorted a laugh, linking his arm with JungMin's as they walked. "How about keeping you and HyungJoon apart once you've had a few drinks in you? You can be a little handsy."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," JungMin blinked innocently at YoungSaeng. "Not like separating us is going to make a difference. And if we're being split up, you and JongWoon are too, because you're worse than me." 

"Am not," YoungSaeng sniffed at him, looking away. "I wouldn't do anything like that. JongWoon and I are taking things slow. Even if it's a little... frustrating," he mumbled under his breath."

"Frustrating?" JungMin tilted his head slightly to one side. "Because you haven't done anything with him yet?" It was a big difference from how JungMin and YoungSaeng would usually sleep together every day, at least once every day. 

"Well, not specifically, but in general," YoungSaeng sighed, pouting a little. "You know very well I'm a very physical person so this has been quite the test for me, taking things slow like this."

"Why are you taking things slow anyways? He likes you, right?" JungMin still didn't understand why YoungSaeng had decided to go out with JongWoon, though he didn't even understand his own 'relationship' with HyungJoon so he didn't really say anything. 

"He does like me, and I like him as well, but it seemed appropriate to let things develop gradually between us," YoungSaeng said with a soft smile. "I don't want to hurt him, and if by showing him that I mean it when I say that I am serious about him means that we don't do anything, then that's what I'll do. I don't want him to think that's all I care about."

JungMin raised one eyebrow at YoungSaeng, before shrugging slightly. "Whatever makes you happy I guess. You must really like the failboat if you're on...what, your second week without sex? Though the first week didn't really count, being bedridden the entire time." 

"Yes... thank you for reminding me," YoungSaeng scowled at JungMin. They were arriving at the airlock, the others already stepping into the ship. "Hence why I said it was frustrating. But I can bear with it."

"Then you have more restraint than me," JungMin snorted as they headed back in through the airlock. He turned around and locked it behind them. "Come on, let's go find the twins. Where did they say they'd be? On the bridge?" 

"I think that's where they said they'd be," YoungSaeng nodded, watching the others disperse. HyunJoong and KyuJong were talking quietly to themselves as they walked towards the stairs. "Captain? JungMin and I were thinking that maybe we should play a game tonight," YoungSaeng said as they passed.

"A game sounds fun," KyuJong agreed, looking to HyunJoong with a smile. "Though I think we can skip any of the kissing games."

"Yes, someone else can pick the game this time," HyunJoong laughed quietly. "Why don't you bring it up with the other two, and pick a game? And I suppose trying to avoid alcohol is a lost cause."

"Why whatever do you mean," JungMin snorted. "Not that it would affect you anyways." 

"I don't think it would be half as much fun if there wasn't drinks," YoungSaeng chuckled, starting up the stairs. "See you in the mess hall in about a half hour then?"

"Yeah, see you then," HyunJoong quirked them a smile as he and KyuJong turned the other way from where YoungSaeng and JungMin were going.

"Do we _have_ to be separated?" JungMin sulked at YoungSaeng as they continued on to the bridge. "Even if I try to be good and not grope him under the table?" 

YoungSaeng rolled his eyes, pinching JungMin in the side. "I don't think I have a say in the matter. He's just as stubborn as you are when it comes to what he wants to do. But do try to be good."

"Try, yes, I'll do that," JungMin grinned cheekily, dancing away from the pinch before stepping into the bridge.

JongWoon looked up from his conversation with HyungJoon, brightening when he saw them. "How did the meeting go?" 

"About as well as any other meeting with YunHo has gone," YoungSaeng sighed, smiling at JongWoon. "We're going on a mission tomorrow into Sylar territory, so we thought a game tonight would be good."

HyungJoon perked up at the idea of a game, but then he frowned at the other news. "We're... Sylar... we're going in there?" he looked at JungMin, swallowing roughly.

JungMin nodded slightly. "We have to pick up and drop off one of their agents." He met HyungJoon's gaze. "It'll be fine, no one's going to look twice at a human ship going through there. We're much more prepared for the job than any of their own ships."

"That's still..." JongWoon bit his lower lip nervously. "We're going to have to act along, if we run into anyone else in there, right?" 

"Yeah," YoungSaeng nodded, giving JongWoon a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll be fine. We've made it this far right?"

"Right," JongWoon nodded at that, smiling lightly in return.

"Before we worry about that though, what game are we gonna play?" JungMin stretched his arms out, leaning back against the wall. "You guys are picking." 

"Jenga!" HyungJoon said immediately, raising up his hand. "We're playing Jenga. No stripping, no kissing, just _Jenga_."

YoungSaeng snorted, shaking his head in amusement as he looked at JungMin. "Told you."

"What about alcohol?" JungMin grinned mischievously.

JongWoon looked at HyungJoon helplessly. "I don't think we're getting out of that one." And their tolerances were the worst for the entire crew. 

"Fine, but I'm not drinking too much, and neither are you," HyungJoon said, wagging a finger at JongWoon.

"I'll make sure he doesn't," YoungSaeng chuckled, eyes dancing in amusement. "We're heading down to the mess hall, coming with?"

"Yeah," JongWoon nodded, standing. "And no alcohol, got it. We can give our shares to the Captain, it doesn't do anything to him anyways." He stretched out a little before heading to where YoungSaeng was at the door. "SungMin, Xander and GyuRi are coming with us?"

"Unfortunately yes," JungMin grumped, making JongWoon laugh. 

"Does GyuRi even know? Have you two seen the pixie?" YoungSaeng asked and HyungJoon shook his head.

"No, we've been up here pretty much the whole time."

"We'll tell her when we see her then, I doubt she'd jump ship though," JungMin said, heading back out the hatch. As they started to walk towards the stairs, the redhead trailed back a little towards HyungJoon. "The others are probably in the mess hall already." 

"Probably. Are the Geckos playing too?" HyungJoon asked.

"I think so, they kind of disappeared after we got back, who knows what they're up to," YoungSaeng said, starting down the stairs.

"Oh, the game! You still have it right JongWoon?" HyungJoon said, chewing on his lip to remember where he last saw it.

"Yeah, it's with my stuff," JongWoon said. He'd moved his things to the room he and YoungSaeng now shared, but he kept finding the odd things with HyungJoon since they shared most of it anyways. He was sure the Jenga game was with him though. "I'll go get it," he chuckled, heading off in the other direction. 

"Wait for me," YoungSaeng said, following after him. "See you two in the mess hall," he called over his shoulder.

Turning around and walking backwards as YoungSaeng caught up, JongWoon smiled at him. "How's your rib and hand?" He asked. 

"Good, I think this cast is about ready to come off, and my rib hasn't hurt at all," YoungSaeng said, smiling back at him. "Turn around and walk properly, or you'll trip and fall."

"That's good, I should take a look at them before we leave tomorrow," JongWoon smiled wider. "And I got over tripping on air months ago!"

That didn't stop him from turning around and nearly braining himself on the corner of the wall, tripping on _that_. 

Sighing, YoungSaeng grabbed JongWoon's arm and pulled him to stand at his side. "It wouldn't do to have our medic nearly kill himself," he chided, keeping JongWoon close as they continued down the hall.

"Yeah," JongWoon stuck close to YoungSaeng sheepishly. "Definitely avoiding alcohol, I'd probably kill myself on a Jenga piece if it were possible." 

"But where's the fun in that? I won't let you hurt yourself," YoungSaeng said, smiling softly at him. Reaching their room, he opened the door and let JongWoon go first before following him in and shutting the door.

"Then I guess it'll be fine?" JongWoon smiled in return, before going to find the game in with his belongings in the cupboard. "Half of this stuff is probably Joonie's, and I'm pretty sure he's still got some of mine...we'll go through it eventually." He pursed his lips as he placed things aside. 

Sitting down on the bed to wait, YoungSaeng watch JongWoon go through the cupboard. "I'm sorry that you keep having to shuffle around rooms. Hopefully this will be the last time you'll have to. Just for the sake of keeping your stuff in order."

"I'm used to moving all over the place, I don't mind it," JongWoon smiled triumphantly as he pulled the Jenga game out, holding it up for YoungSaeng to see. "I find everything eventually. Though I do hope this will be the last time I move around," he smiled a little shyly. 

"It should be, unless we get chased out of this room too," YoungSaeng said, slowly getting to his feet. "The advantage of being an assassin is we didn't have any belongings to keep an eye on. The downside is, we don't have any belongings," he said with a sad smile. "Shall we go?"

JongWoon's expression saddened slightly, before he stood up and smiled again. "Yeah, let's go." He walked over to YoungSaeng, taking his hand lightly. "You know, if you ever want anything that's in there, you don't have to ask," he chuckled. "Though I should probably find out what's Joonie's and what's not." 

"I wouldn't feel right, but thank you," YoungSaeng said, squeezing JongWoon's hand. "No one's ever offered to share their things with me before. I do appreciate it."

"It's not much to share, mostly movies and games, but yeah," JongWoon smiled back at him as they headed out into the hallway. "If you ever want to watch a movie or something, I've got quite a bit stocked up since there isn't much else to do while shipping cargo around the galaxy." 

"I have a confession to make," YoungSaeng said, chewing on his lip. "I've never seen a movie before. Or done much in the way of entertainment."

Blinking in surprise at that, JongWoon looked down at the younger man. "Really? Well, if you want we can watch a movie at some point once we've left," he offered, smiling widely. 

"I'd like that," YoungSaeng nodded, smiling at him. "I'll trust your recommendations as far as what a good movie is, since you seem to know more than I would."

"Well, you'll still have to let me know what kind of movie you're interested in," JongWoon chuckled. "Drama, action, comedy, that sort of thing. Or horror, but I might be under the bed by the end of it," he rubbed his head sheepishly. Horror and him just didn't mix. 

"I'm not sure I'd be scared by horror," YoungSaeng laughed, pulling JongWoon closer and giving him a quick kiss. "I'll keep you safe," he said softly.

Turning a light pink, JongWoon smiled and returned the light kiss, running his thumb over the back of YoungSaeng's hand. "Thank you," he whispered, eyes soft as he looked at YoungSaeng as they walked.

**************************************42*************************************

The walk to the mess hall was quiet, YoungSaeng just enjoying JongWoon's company, as well as the hand in his until he opened the door to let the man go in first. As they had thought, the others were all there. Drinks were on the table already, KyuJong already pouring out shots from where he was seated next to HyunJoong.

"Find the game?" HyungJoon asked when he saw them come in. 

"Yeah," JongWoon held up the box as he and YoungSaeng went to join them at the table.

"How do you play?" SungMin asked, ears twitching curiously as he eyed the box JongWoon put down. He was once more at the opposite end of the table from Zhou Mi and KyuHyun.

"It's fairly simple, you take one block out of the stack without touching anything else and without making it fall over," HyunJoong said, passing out the shots KyuJong was pouring. "And place the block back on the top of the stack. First person to make the stack fall over loses."

"I think I'm at a disadvantage even without alcohol." SungMin looked down at his paws. 

"Your claws could come in handy," KyuJong pointed out, then paused, looking at the anthro. "Can you even drink alcohol?" 

"Nevermind the anthro, what about him," HyungJoon said, jerking his finger at Xander who blinked at him.

"That's a good question. Can you drink Xander?" KyuJong asked, stopping before pouring him a shot.

"Uh... no, no I can't," Xander said sheepishly. "I've only been drunk once, and that's only because my meal had alcohol still in his system."

"Then maybe you and SungMin should be on a team and work together," YoungSaeng suggested, sitting down. "Where's GyuRi? She still off pouting somewhere?"

"Think so," HyunJoong shrugged. "We tried calling her but she doesn't have a com on her."

"She'll probably show up halfway through," JungMin shrugged, trying to figure out how to set up the game. JongWoon chuckled at him eyeing the box and picked it up, carefully turning it upside down and pulling the box off to leave the bricks stacked. 

"Who goes first?" HyungJoon asked, eyeing the game warily. As much as he loved the game, he usually lost.

"I think... JungMin should go first, since it was his idea," YoungSaeng said, taking his shot. "First rule though, whoever knocks down the stack has to take two shots before setting the game back up."

"We're in trouble then," JongWoon laughed to HyungJoon; despite playing Jenga the most, they were horrible at it, and only got worse with alcohol.

"As least you know how to play," JungMin snorted, eyeing the tower. Poking cautiously at two of the bricks, he discovered one moved easier than the other and proceeded to wiggle it out of the stack carefully before placing it on top of the tower. "Done." 

"It's not like it's a hard game," KyuJong said, poking at one of the center pieces near the bottom of the tower then setting it on top. "Not at first anyway."

"I'm only horrible at it when it gets near the end and the whole thing falls over on me, every single time," HyungJoon said, pouting.

"We'll last this time," JongWoon said determinedly, watching HyunJoong go next and easily getting one of the bricks out. "Don't sabotage it so early," he whined when he saw HyunJoong had gotten the brick opposite the one JungMin had taken out, leaving that section of the tower to balance solely on the center brick.

"No fun otherwise," HyunJoong chuckled, taking his shot as SungMin tried to pry a brick out with his claws. It did turn out easier for him to get them loose, but it was up to Xander to pull it out all the way since SungMin's paws didn't allow him to grip the small pieces properly. 

Plucking the brick out, Xander carefully set it on top after he got his hand to stop twitching. "I think we make a good team," he grinned at the anthro.

"Okay, I have a question that I have been wanting to ask," KyuJong said while Zhou Mi took his turn. "What is with the twitching?"

"Wow, even I'm not that rude," HyungJoon tsked, shaking his head at KyuJong.

"No no, it's a valid question," Xander said, smiling broadly. "The longer I go without food, the twitchier I get. That is, until I stop twitching, then you should probably all run."

JongWoon looked spooked at that, looking at Xander with wide eyes.

"He's still good for a while," SungMin smiled, resting his chin on the table and eyeing the tower as Zhou Mi finished his turn and KyuHyun went right after. By the time it was JongWoon's turn, the tower was looking pretty wobbly already, thanks to the large amount of people playing.

Tapping lightly at a few bricks to find one that was easy to get out, JongWoon 'eeped' when the tower wobbled more. Pausing until it was still again, he carefully worked a brick out and placed it on top of the tower. 

Frowning slightly at the tower, YoungSaeng employed his skills as assassin to select the best piece, testing a few with light taps before edging one out and placing it on top. "I don't think this will last much longer," he said, looking over at HyungJoon who looked completely defeated.

"Hey, what's going on in here?" GyuRi flew through the open door, circling around the table, looking at the game.

"GyuRi, down," YoungSaeng flapped a hand at her, watching with wide eyes as the tower began to wobble back and forth violently from the air pushed by GyuRi's wings. 

"Why? What is that?" the pixie asked, flying closer. The increased air pressure was too much and the tower toppled over into HyungJoon's lap.

"That wasn't my fault!" HyungJoon protested immediately, picking up pieces.

"GyuRi should take the penalty then," HyunJoong chuckled. "It's a game. The point of the game is to _not_ make the tower fall. The person who makes the tower fall has to take two shots."

"A pixie, drinking?" JungMin snorted, helping HyungJoon to pick up the pieces that had fallen into his lap and on the floor. 

"Two shots that size would kill her," YoungSaeng said, helping to get the piece back in the box to remake the stack.

GyuRi had settled on the floor, her head barely coming up over the edge of the table. "That's a silly kind of game don't you think? How hard is it to keep a tower from falling over."

"You wouldn't know, would you?" HyungJoon glowered at the pixie, who sniffed and looked way.

"I don't need this kind of treatment," GyuRi said, her wings fluttering.

"I think a nice salt and pepper treatment would be better, don't you GyuRi?" Xander asked, smiling sweetly at the pixie who took one look at Xander and promptly flew off.

"That was quick," JungMin chuckled, carefully flipping the box upside-down once all the pieces were back inside again to form the tower, pulling the box off and setting it aside. "So no penalty this time, HyungJoon starts."

"Can't mess up with this turn, Joonie," JongWoon grinned at his best friend. 

"Nope," HyungJoon grinned, picking out a good piece and pulling it from the tower before setting it on top.

"He's doing too well, you haven't had enough to drink yet HyungJoon," KyuJong commented, though he was already on his second glass, shots notwithstanding, and was pretty tipsy himself.

"I'm pacing myself, unlike some people," HyungJoon replied. "Captain, you should keep an eye on your boyfriend, or you'll be carrying him to bed."

"I'll stop him from drinking _too_ much," HyunJoong chuckled, not commenting on KyuJong finally being called his boyfriend for the first time.

"And I'll stop you from drinking too little," JungMin grinned, pushing HyungJoon's glass towards the younger man before taking his turn, wiggling a block out easily. He downed his own shot and poured more for himself, HyunJoong and YoungSaeng. JongWoon was being very careful with his own drink as well and wasn't letting JungMin get a hold of his glass. 

"I know my limit," KyuJong sniffed, focusing on taking his turn as he pulled out one of the side blocks to set it on top. "I may just choose to go past it a touch."

"I think he's having some kind of drinking contest with himself," YoungSaeng said, watching KyuJong take another shot while he took his own. 

"He's trying to compete with HyunJoong," Xander said, watching them all in various states of intoxication with amusement. "He's losing though."

"KyuJong, _no one_ is able to compete with HyunJoong," JongWoon laughed. "He can drink everyone under the table three times over." HyunJoong was on his third glass, and no one had bothered to count his shots; it seemed every time someone refilled their shot glass, his needed refilling too. And yet his hand remained steady as he took a block off and placed it on top of the pile. 

"I am not trying to compete, I'm just.. it's been so _stressful_ lately," KyuJong sighed, slumping a little onto HyunJoong's shoulder. Xander and SungMin were working together again for their turn. "This was a good idea."

"Agreed," YoungSaeng nodded, glancing down at his hand that was still in a cast. "Little bit of fun to remind us why this is all worth it."

Looking over at him, JongWoon touched his arm lightly with a small reassuring smile. HyunJoong slung one arm around KyuJong's shoulders, rubbing his arm slowly as Xander and SungMin got one of the blocks out safely, and the Geckos went next. 

By the time his turn had come back around to HyungJoon, it was in a worse state than it had been the last round. "Next time, someone on the opposite side of the table goes first," he grumbled, leaning in to poke at the tower, not realizing just how precarious the state of the tower was as it tumbled over onto the table.

"Two shots!" KyuJong laughed, eagerly pouring out two shots for HyungJoon who was scowling at the pilot.

"I think I'd rather play strip poker at this rate," HyungJoon sighed, accepting the shots and down them both with a look of distaste.

"Really?" JungMin grinned mischievously at that.

"Don't give anyone ideas, Joon," HyunJoong chuckled, beginning to pick up the pieces to the tower and place them both in the box as JungMin poured both of them more shots as well.

Downing his shot almost right away, JungMin snorted at JongWoon still working slowly on his first glass. "The tower's falling on you next time, I called it." JongWoon's eyes widened and he shook his head hard. 

"Save the stripping for in private," YoungSaeng chuckled, pouring JongWoon a shot and presenting it to him. "Drink."

"That's right, get him good and liquored up," KyuJong snorted, sipping at his own drink. "What's going on between you two anyway? You move in with each other out of nowhere, and you keep giving the doe eyes to each other. Just friends?"

"They don't reek of each other like the other two do," Xander said, sniffing at SungMin's drink.

JongWoon had turned pink, and was slowly making his way to tomato red as he protested at the shot being offered to him. Finally he reluctantly took it, holding the glass in his hands like he wasn't quite sure what to do with it. "Well..." he looked at YoungSaeng; they'd never talked about any need to hide it from the others that he could remember. "We're kinda...dating now."

"Oh really?" HyunJoong quirked one eyebrow at that, taking another shot once he was done setting up the tower again. "When did this happen?"

"A little less than a week ago," JongWoon smiled now, seeming proud of that now that the nervous part of declaring they were dating was over. 

"Aww, that's so cute," KyuJong grinned, his eyes a little hazy and crossed. "So then what's going on with you two?" his attention diverted to HyungJoon and JungMin.

"They're sleeping together," YoungSaeng said casually, taking another sip. He was starting to get a bit tipsy himself. HyungJoon choked on whatever he had been trying to drink down and he sputtered helplessly, coughing and staring at YoungSaeng in horror.

JungMin snorted at the expression on HyungJoon's face, taking another shot. "What's your problem, it's true."

"We knew ages ago, they smell like each other too much," SungMin said, one paw over his nose.

"We guessed," KyuHyun smirked.

"So KyuJong and I were the only ones not to know?" HyunJoong chuckled, shaking his head. "Has anyone broken it to GyuRi yet that her wedding plans have been canceled?"

"They were canceled years ago, but does she listen?" JungMin sniffed, looking a little tipsy. 

"I think we've been a little too distracted," KyuJong said, looking up at HyunJoong with a sheepish but loving smile.

Xander made a retching sound at that and Zhou Mi leaned over and smacked him upside the head, giving him a chastising look before settling against KyuHyun's side. HyungJoon meanwhile was muttering to himself, cheeks and the tips of his ears red.

"If we're now clear on who's dating who, can we get back to the game?" YoungSaeng asked, though he was smiling.

"Yes, back to the game," HyunJoong chuckled, squeezing KyuJong's arm gently. "JungMin, your turn."

"Yes yes," the redhead grinned, getting the first block from the very bottom of the tower and placing it triumphantly on top. Then he went back to his drink, eyeing HyungJoon beside him out of the corner of his eyes.

"It's not going to make it a full turn, is it?" JongWoon asked, seeing that several of them (KyuJong and JungMin) were looking a little too tipsy to coordinate properly if they kept up with their current drinking pace. 

KyuJong eyed the game warily as he took his turn, going slowly as possible. That didn't stop him from knocking the thing over with his victory flail when he had set the piece on top. He looked at the tumbled tower with a pout.

"Is it even safe for him to take two shots at this point?" YoungSaeng asked, though he was laughing far too hard.

"HyunJoong should take his shots for him," JongWoon laughed. "Maybe if we keep it up that way, they'll both be tipsy by the end of the night."

Joining in on the laughter, HyunJoong hugged KyuJong close with one arm. "Maybe I should, I think he's getting pretty close to his alcohol limit." 

Still pouting at the tumbled over pieces, KyuJong looked up at HyunJoong. "But then who's going to carry you to bed? No, it's my punishment, I'll do it," he said, looking for the bottle and reaching for it. YoungSaeng just shook his head, taking the bottle first and pouring out the two shots.

"Why don't you split it with him. Two more and you're going to be on the floor," YoungSaeng chuckled, pushing the shots towards them.

"Let's avoid landing you on the floor," HyunJoong smiled, taking one of the shots before KyuJong could protest. Making sure the pilot had his own glass steady, the older man downed his shot at the same time, placing the glass back down.

JongWoon watched them both with amusement as he stacked the tower again and set the box aside. "Your turn HyunJoong." The Captain pulled out one of the blocks and set it on top again, holding KyuJong close. 

"He's going to have a hell of a hangover tomorrow," HyungJoon shook his head, though he wasn't that far behind in drunkenness, wobbling a little in his seat. "Is he going to be okay to fly."

"Of course I will," KyuJong hiccuped, blinking blearily at HyungJoon. "I could fly even if I was _dead_ ," he slurred.

"No more for him," YoungSaeng chuckled, watching Xander and SungMin take their turn.

"If they continue like this, I think we're going to win," Xander said to SungMin once he had placed the block on top and Zhou Mi was taking his turn.

"YoungSaeng and JongWoon seem lucid enough," SungMin pointed out.

"That's only because no one's watching JongWoon's glass to make sure he _keeps_ drinking," HyunJoong chuckled.

"We're still playing too, we could win," KyuHyun huffed, taking his turn after Zhou Mi.

Poking at the tower when it was his turn, JongWoon made the mistake of wiggling out one of the supporting bricks and yelped as the entire thing fell. 

"Well now we know he won't be walking straight out of here," YoungSaeng chuckled, pouring out the shots for JongWoon. "Would it make you feel better if I take a shot with you?"

"Aww, how sweet," Zhou Mi grinned, wrinkling his nose cutely at the pair. "You two are adorable together."

Xander made another retching noise and this time YoungSaeng reached over to hit him in the head.

Turning pink at the offer, JongWoon looked at YoungSaeng with a sheepish smile. "I guess, if you want to." It showed that he would greatly appreciate it if YoungSaeng would; one shot was bad enough, and considering he could only get worse as the night wore on, he knew this wouldn't be the only time he knocked over the tower.

"Are we taking the shots in pairs now then?" JungMin snorted as JongWoon picked up his shot glass, eyeing the liquid in it like it was lethal. 

"You can do whatever you want," YoungSaeng said to JungMin with a rise eyebrow. "Though I'm not sure how you're little boy toy would take it."

"Boy toy?" HyungJoon gave YoungSaeng an incredulous look after he had taken another shot. "I'm no one's 'boy toy'," he stated matter of factly. "If anything, he's _my_ boy toy."

"Interesting," YoungSaeng chuckled, picking up his own shot glass and looking at JongWoon as he downed his. 

"I have.. no desire to hear about whatever weird kinks you guys have going," KyuJong said, barely able to keep himself upright, just about draped in HyunJoong's lap.

"Neither do I, really." JongWoon had quickly downed his shot and covered his ears. He had no interest in knowing what HyungJoon and JungMin did in bed.

"Hardly your boy toy," JungMin smirked at HyungJoon. "I'm not wrapped around your little finger."

HyunJoong shook his head at both pairs, fixing up the tower before turning his attention to his boyfriend, running his fingers through KyuJong's hair. 

"Maybe not my finger, but my-" HyungJoon said, lifting up his pinky finger before YoungSaeng cut him off.

"You two can go have your little spat elsewhere, no one wants hear it," he said, shuddering a little. "One of you needs a shorter leash."

"I think he's doing that on purpose," Xander said to SungMin, snickering as he looked at YoungSaeng. The shifter winked at him.

"Game?" Zhou Mi said, having pulled over the pieces and restacked them. His blue cheeks were tinged darkly, obviously embarrassed by the conversation.

"Leashes, figuratively or literally?" JungMin quirked an eyebrow, and released an amused snort when JongWoon made a noise similar to that of a dying mouse. The negotiator had his head buried under his arms and was refusing to sit back up.

"Yes, back to the game, before he finds a way to kill himself with a shot glass," KyuHyun rolled his eyes. "Your turn," he waved one hand at YoungSaeng. 

HyungJoon made a face at JungMin, hitting him in the arm. "Why you have to be like that," he said before looking over at his friend. "JongWoon, let's just run away from these crazy people."

"I don't think you'd make it far," YoungSaeng chuckled, taking a piece out of the tower and setting it on top. "Can you even walk?"

"Yes!" HyungJoon said automatically, before he paused. "Maybe. I don't know yet."

"I'm fairly confident... that I can't," KyuJong said, having slumped over completely into HyunJoong's lap, looking up at him with a silly drunken smile.

"He's not playing anymore is he," Xander asked, trying to peer over the table to see the pilot.

"No, he's not playing anymore," HyunJoong chuckled, tracing one finger along KyuJong's jaw. "You're going to have one massive hangover tomorrow morning, Kyu."

Sitting up finally, JongWoon made a face at HyungJoon before focusing on the game again, cheeks flushed red.

Going on his turn, JungMin nearly knocked the tower over again, hand unsteady now. But he managed to get through, HyunJoong going right after him since KyuJong was officially out of the game. 

They went around again until YoungSaeng was the one to knock the tower over, though he was far too drunk to care. "I think I'll throw up if I take shots," he whined, resting his head on JongWoon's shoulder.

HyungJoon was close to passing out, having been jolted awake by the sound of the tower falling again. "Hm? My turn?" he mumbled, swaying back and forth.

"I think those four are out," Xander chuckled. "Maybe we should call it a night?"

"Yes, time to get some sleep," HyunJoong sighed in amusement, lips curled as he started putting the game away. Then he looked down at KyuJong still sprawled across his lap. "I can't really clean up with you like this," he laughed quietly, running one hand through KyuJong's hair.

The aliens were fine, though Zhou Mi looked somewhat tipsy. The other half of the table though were a lost cause. JongWoon was leaning back against YoungSaeng and if either of them moved, the other would probably end up on the floor. JungMin was playing with one of the Jenga blocks with a lopsided, not-all-there grin. 

"But I'm comfy," KyuJong whined, though he did start to sit up, and with HyunJoong's help was able to sit up completely, though he flopped over onto the table.

"We'll clean up Captain," Zhou Mi said, getting a little shakily to his feet. He was lucky he had a tail to keep him balanced. "You get him to bed while he's still conscious."

"You four are on your own though," Xander said, smirking as YoungSaeng lifted his head up enough to sneer at the flesh eater.

"Alright, let's go," YoungSaeng grumbled, putting his hand on JongWoon's shoulder to hold him steady as he pushed away and started to get up. "At least we don't have far to go."

"No, we picked a good room," JongWoon laughed, watching him get up and waiting for the world to stop spinning before attempting the same. There was a moment where he nearly pitched onto his face, but he grabbed onto a chair to steady himself. "I hate alcohol," he pouted, tottering towards the door slowly. Looking back to see if YoungSaeng was following, he nearly ended up on his face again.

Blinking at them all, JungMin pouted before standing as well, wobbling a little before finding his balance. "Come on you, up," he attempted to haul HyungJoon to his feet.

"You're not going to be able to stand on your own, huh?" HyunJoong chuckled, looking at his boyfriend. "Okay, get on my back." He got KyuJong sitting up in his chair again with a hand against his shoulder, and pushed his chair around so he could get in front of KyuJong, helping him get his arms and legs around the older man's neck and waist. 

KyuJong did not need to be told twice to hold on to HyunJoong, though his grip was a little loose from the alcohol, he was happily clinging to his boyfriend. "Maybe I should drink more often," he murmured, resting his cheek on HyunJoong's shoulder.

"I'm coming," YoungSaeng waved to JongWoon to get him to slow down as he tottered his way to the door. "Just slow down a bit." At least he could stand though, every time HyungJoon got to his feet his legs gave out from underneath him, and from what YoungSaeng could see, was leaning heavily on JungMin to keep himself standing.

It was a good thing JungMin at least could keep himself stable, or they'd both be on the floor. "Come on, I'm not carrying you," he huffed, before finally wrapping one of HyungJoon's arms around his shoulders and his own around the engineer's waist, half-helping and half-hauling the younger man to the door.

HyunJoong got there first. "Not this much, I think," he chuckled to his boyfriend, looking back at the others. "See everyone tomorrow morning," he nodded with a small smile before disappearing.

JongWoon reached the door next, promptly careening into the door frame and falling over. JungMin stepped over his legs, skirting HyungJoon around his downed best friend. 

"Night," HyungJoon waved drunkenly at his friend as he was led through the door.

"You okay?" YoungSaeng tottered over to where JongWoon had fallen. "That sounded like it hurt."

"All good," JongWoon groaned, arms shaking as he carefully pushed himself back into a sitting position, pouting at YoungSaeng. "Not the first time." He took a moment to get back to his feet, wobbly and holding onto the doorframe for support. But he was finally up after a bit, looking somewhat embarrassed. 

"We'll lean on each other," YoungSaeng said, taking JongWoon's hand and pulling him close. "If we fall, we fall together." Putting his arm around the man's waist, he slowly led them out into the hall and towards their room.

"Let's try not to fall," JongWoon smiled, tottering unsteadily and getting his own arm around YoungSaeng's shoulders. By the time they reached their own room, it was a miracle they _hadn't_ fallen over. "No more alcohol for a while," he groaned, closing the door behind them and kicking off his shoes clumsily. 

"I think I've heard, and said that before," YoungSaeng said, sitting down on the edge of the bed and pulling off his shoes. "I doubt we'll be able to drink for a while anyway, but it was a good to have some fun while he can," he said, flopping over onto his back.

"Fun is good," JongWoon agreed, dropping onto his stomach beside YoungSaeng. "I just don't think I'm getting up in the morning."

It was probably the alcohol messing with his usual reservations, but the negotiator squirmed to the side, curling up with one arm around YoungSaeng and his face hidden against the shifter's stomach. 

Looking down at him, YoungSaeng smiled softly and ran his hand through the human's hair. "Me either, hopefully we don't have to leave first thing," he said softly. He wasn't protesting the close quarters though. Even if they shared a room and a bed, there was still a bit of distance between them and didn't often sleep curled up together, staying on their respective sides. YoungSaeng didn't mind of course, letting JongWoon go at his own pace, but he wasn't going to say no to contact. "You ready to pass out?"

"Yeah," JongWoon mumbled, yawning. One hand felt around for the edge of the blanket, only to realize that at the angle they were at, they couldn't possibly pull the blanket up. He tried for a minute before giving up, tilting his head to the side to look up at YoungSaeng with a pout. "...We're going to have to move, aren't we." 

"I think so," YoungSaeng chuckled, sitting up a bit, letting JongWoon keep his head where it was as he shifted up, dragging JongWoon with. "Are you comfortable like that using me as a pillow?" he asked, getting the blanket out from under them and settling it down over JongWoon's shoulders.

"You're comfortable, so yes?" JongWoon grinned up at him. "Unless I'm too heavy?" He yawned, blinking sleepily at YoungSaeng and reaching up to play with a strand of the shifter's hair. 

"Not at all," YoungSaeng said, pushing a pillow under his head and leaning towards the hand in his hair. "You know, you could sleep like this more often if you wanted," he said, untangling his fingers from a knot in JongWoon's hair so he didn't pull too hard. "I don't mind. I like cuddling, just like this."

JongWoon seemed to think about that for a moment, twirling the lock of hair around his small fingers without pulling. "It's nice," he murmured sleepily, lips curling into a small smile. It wasn't that he wasn't a cuddly person; he liked cuddling, when he and HyungJoon had shared rooms for years, they had been practically glued to each other. He wasn't sure why he hesitated with YoungSaeng, some lingering fear that maybe this wasn't what YoungSaeng wanted, that he wanted something much more than just cuddling.

The alcohol dealt with that fear nicely though, and he buried his nose against YoungSaeng's covered belly with a content sigh. "We could keep doing this." 

"Sleep well, JongWoon," YoungSaeng murmured softly, the corner of his lips curled in a small smile. The hand in JongWoon's hair settled on his back between the man's shoulders. Laying here like this, feeling JongWoon's body heat and form pressed against him, that was enough for him. Going slow like this wasn't just for JongWoon's sake, but for his own as well. The smile was still there as he drifted off to sleep.

******************************************43*************************************

 

"Are we taking off soon?"

JungMin leaned into the bridge, seeing both HyunJoong and KyuJong making last-minute adjustments at the monitors. It was getting close to departure time, and all the fuel and supplies had been delivered earlier.

HyunJoong looked back at him, nodding. "Soon, we're just going over everything first." This was going to be a long flight and a long mission, they had to make sure everything was in the best shape possible. "YunHo gave us the locations of safe stations to stop for fuel and supplies en-route."

JungMin nodded slightly. "Good, cause making it to where we're meeting this spy person even on a full ship is a bit tight." 

"We'll be fine," KyuJong said, his eyes on the navigation console. "Long as we don't have to make any emergency stops, then we'll get there with enough to spare. Where is everyone else? I would have thought HyungJoon would be hovering over my shoulder by now."

"No idea, probably in engineering," JungMin shrugged. "I think I saw Xander chasing after GyuRi earlier, if you hear shrieking then he still is."

"Is she coming with us then?" HyunJoong quirked an eyebrow, wondering how he kept gaining all these surprise crew members.

"Unless the flesh-eater chases her right off the ship and closes the airlock on her, yeah," the redhead snorted. 

"I doubt we'd get rid of her that easy," KyuJong chuckled, turning back to the main console. "She seems to have taken a shine to SungMin, maybe she'll leave you alone JungMin."

"I don't envy SungMin in the least, at least with me she stopped short of trying to play dress-up," JungMin chuckled, leaning against the doorway.

"How did you meet her?" HyunJoong inquired.

JungMin winced. "That, is a very long story, one YoungSaeng would probably be more than happy to share." 

"I'll be sure to ask him next time I see him," KyuJong mused, glancing over his shoulder. "Speak of the devil."

"Are we almost ready to go?" YoungSaeng poked his head over JungMin's shoulder, leaning up against his back.

JungMin tightened his grip on the doorframe a little to make sure he didn't fall on his face. "Just about," he replied, looking over his shoulder at the older man with a quirked smile. "Last-minute stuff."

"That and we're waiting for everyone to check in, before we leave someone off-ship," HyunJoong chuckled. "Where are the Geckos?"

"No idea. Zhou Mi's probably in the kitchen." 

"Geckos are in the kitchen, HyungJoon is in engineering, GyuRi locked herself in her room and Xander was hanging upside down from the catwalk in the cargo bay," YoungSaeng said, resting his chin on JungMin's shoulder.

"...Why is Xander hanging upside down from the catwalk?" KyuJong blinked at him in confusion.

"I didn't ask, and I probably didn't want to know anyway," YoungSaeng shrugged.

"Probably not," JungMin snorted. "So, that's about everyone counted...no, wait, we're missing JongWoon and SungMin."

"Those two are off-ship, they'll be back shortly," HyunJoong replied, typing something into a monitor and leaning back in his chair. "And we're all set to leave once they're back." 

YoungSaeng blinked a little at that, glancing at HyunJoong. "JongWoon left the ship? Why did he leave the ship?"

"No idea, he was in one of his babbling moods and no one can understand that besides HyungJoon. Mentioned picking something up. SungMin's with him, so he'll be fine." 

Lips pursed, YoungSaeng looked back over his shoulder down the hall. "How long have they been gone? Should someone go look for them?"

"I'm sure they're fine Saeng, why are you so anxious?" KyuJong asked, raising an eyebrow over at the older man.

"Because I still remember the last time he was off the ship," YoungSaeng said simply, turning away and heading down the hall.

Blinking after him, JungMin glanced towards HyunJoong and KyuJong before heading after the older man. "Hey, they'll probably be back soon. The fuzzball's a good fighter, he'd tear anyone who tried to do anything to pieces." 

"I don't understand why he would go with SungMin and not let me know," YoungSaeng said, heading down the stairs. "I'm just concerned, I'm allowed to be concerned."

"Uh-huh, of course you are. Though you're being a little defensive about it." JungMin slid down the banister after him, landing neatly on his feet. 

YoungSaeng stopped and turned to look at JungMin, hands on hips. "You don't have any room to talk about being defensive JungMin, so don't start with me. And I'm not defensive, I'm concerned."

Blinking owlishly, JungMin put his hands up. "Okay, okay, I give. Though in my defense, you pestered me a hell lot more than I'm pestering you." 

"I just know where this is heading and you're going to needle at me for your own amusement," YoungSaeng said, narrowing his eyes at JungMin. "How would you feel if it was HyungJoon out there?"

Staring at the older shapeshifter, JungMin frowned. "Hey, I was just curious about what was going on in that head of yours. And if it was HyungJoon, okay, I'd probably be going to drag him back right now, which is why I'm wondering what you're thinking. You don't have to get snippy with me." 

YoungSaeng dropped his hands from his hips and sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get snippy. I was caught off guard. He didn't tell me about going off ship," he said, leaning up against the wall. "Oh, Min. What's happening to us?"

"Humans happened," JungMin leaned against the wall beside him, looking up at the ceiling. "Scatterbrained, ditzy humans." He glanced down at YoungSaeng beside him. "Are you...happy, though?" 

"Yes, as odd as it seems, I am happy," YoungSaeng sighed, looking up at JungMin. "Are you happy Min?"

"Yeah." JungMin closed his eyes. "It'll take some...getting used to though. You and I don't normally deal with this sort of stuff." 

"You and I never deal with this kind of stuff," YoungSaeng snorted. "Years of hard military and assassin training and we've been reduced to bumbling fools by two humans."

"It doesn't help that we were too young back on the colony to really get any of those lectures about liking someone or mates or anything," JungMin wrinkled his nose. "We're basically...winging it, I guess."

The ship around them began to hum; the engines were warming up. "Huh, wonder if that means they're back on board." 

"Hope so," YoungSaeng nodded, pushing away from the wall. "We're doing the best we can given our... interesting upbringing. We got a mix of human and Shinbi social rules, neither of which are compatible."

"Compatible? They're practically opposites." JungMin shook his head, watching YoungSaeng. "We don't really belong anywhere, do we? Not that we ever did." Even if they were able to find the Shinbi colonies again, they would never be accepted back. In many ways, they were more human than Shinbi.

"We'll just have to adapt," YoungSaeng said, heading towards the cargo bay. "At the least, we're accepted here. That has to count for something I hope."

"Well it's better than we've had in years, so maybe it does count for something." JungMin followed along beside YoungSaeng, hands behind his head.

They were approaching the cargo bay doors when JongWoon and SungMin appeared, the anthro padding on ahead of him. JongWoon looked down the hallway, his eyes landing on YoungSaeng and expression brightening. "Hey, Sae—gwah!"

He nearly fell over when the ship started to move, lifting away from the dock. 

YoungSaeng stumbled into the corridor wall when the ship moved, scowling at not getting any warning from the bridge. "Where did you go?" he asked JongWoon, looking between the human and the anthro.

Straightening, JongWoon grinned a little sheepishly. "I went to get something...since I don't think we're going to be landing anywhere in between here and right beside Sylar territory." He was hiding something behind his back.

"...." JungMin quirked an eyebrow at the pink across the human's cheeks, before turning around. "I'm going to see what's going on in the bridge. You coming fuzzball?"

"Yup!" SungMin padded on ahead of him. "And don't call me that." 

Waiting until the other two were gone, YoungSaeng looked at JongWoon with suspicion. "What is it you had to get? And why didn't you tell me you were going?"

"Well..." JongWoon shuffled a little at the look he was given. "I-I'd have to answer the first question before the second. So...close your eyes?" 

"Close my eyes?" YoungSaeng pursed his lips, looking at JongWoon warily. "This had better not be a trick," he grumbled, closing his eyes after a moment.

"Why would it be a trick," JongWoon protested, pouting. Looking at YoungSaeng as the shapeshifter did as told, his lips curled into a soft smile.

A moment later something small, soft and fuzzy was pressed lightly against YoungSaeng's chest, tickling his neck. 

"I can never be too careful," YoungSaeng said, his brow furrowed at what was being pressed against him. "What is this? Can I open my eyes?"

"Yeah, go ahead," JongWoon smiled widely and watching YoungSaeng's expression as his eyes were opened.

The human was holding a plushie about as tall as his arm against YoungSaeng's chest. The color was different than in the Federation, the tail longer, but it was impossible to mistake the otter for anything else.

"It's not exactly like the otters back home, but I guess it's as close as it can get out here...it reminded me of those stories you and JungMin were telling us weeks ago. I thought you might like it." 

YoungSaeng's eyes opened slowly and he peered down at the plushie. "This... it's... you got this for me? Why?" he asked, taking the stuffed otter and holding it lightly.

JongWoon turned pink, looking down and scuffing his foot against the floor. "I just...wanted to get you something. Even if I'm not the best at picking out presents and don't know what you like...and haggling with aliens to get a decent price in Federation money kinda gives me the creeps. I wanted it to be a surprise, so I asked SungMin to come along instead. I-if you don't like it, that's fine, i-it just occurred to me it might not have been such a good idea to buy something based off of JungMin picking fun at you..." Realizing he was starting to babble, the negotiator shut up. 

The expression on YoungSaeng's face softened and he reached out to curl his fingers into JongWoon's shirt and pulled him closer. "This is perfect JongWoon, thank you," he whispered before leaning in to give him a kiss.

Breaking the kiss after a long moment, he rested his forehead lightly against YoungSaeng's. He didn't know what to say, but he smiled anyways, cheeks bright red as he looked into YoungSaeng's eyes. "...Glad you like it." 

"No one's ever given me a present before," YoungSaeng said, keeping JongWoon close to him. "I feel like I owe you something in return now."

"You don't," JongWoon frowned slightly, shaking his head a little without removing his forehead from YoungSaeng's. "That's not the point of a present, silly. I-I..." The red in his face intensified and he mumbled something that couldn't be exactly understood even with them being so close. 

"You what?" YoungSaeng asked, pulling back a bit to look at JongWoon properly. "What is it you want to say?"

The human shuffled a little, looking down and to the side. He couldn't have turned into more of a tomato without exploding. "I-I...just wanted to make you smile for something that didn't involve braining myself on any walls," he mumbled. 

"I never smiled because you brained yourself," YoungSaeng chuckled, looking down at the plushie again with a soft smile. "I do appreciate this though, truly. No one has ever given me a present before."

JongWoon smiled a little, peeking up at YoungSaeng from under his bangs. After a moment he leaned forward again slightly to kiss YoungSaeng, before straightening. "What did I miss here?" 

"Nothing much, I think we just launched," YoungSaeng said, still not letting go of JongWoon. "I don't think we're needed anywhere, so what should we do?"

"Not sure," JongWoon mused, lips pursing slightly. "We could track down the others...or just relax somewhere. Or we could watch a movie." 

"I think I'd like to watch a movie," YoungSaeng said, his smile widening. "It'll be my first one, so make it a good one," he chuckled, pulling JongWoon down the hall towards their room.

"O-okay," JongWoon blinked, following along beside YoungSaeng. "Er...what kind of movies do you like again? Or think you'd like? I think we agreed no horror, right?" 

"We can watch horror if you'd like, but I don't think I'd be scared," YoungSaeng shrugged, glancing at him. "Whatever you want to watch is fine JongWoon."

"I'm not...a horror person," JongWoon shivered. "I'll see what I have though, there's bound to be something." They turned the corner and walked towards their cabin. 

"I thought you and HyungJoon used to watch horror movies a lot?" YoungSaeng asked, slightly confused. "Was HyungJoon the horror fan then?"

"Yes," JongWoon grumbled, cheeks puffed out in a pout. "And that's 80% of the reason why I usually ended up sleeping in his room after." 

"Well I won't make you watch anything you don't want to," YoungSaeng said, putting his arm around JongWoon's waist. "But it is a good thing we already share a room," he mused, giving JongWoon a coy smile.

Meeting YoungSaeng's gaze, JongWoon turned slightly pink again, nodding a little. "Y-yeah. Though I don't think you'd appreciate me trying to hide behind you at every single thing that pops up." 

"That I think is something I've come to expect," YoungSaeng teased. At their room he opened the door and let JongWoon go in first. "So, I don't mind."

Pouting a little more, JongWoon slipped into the room. "All the same, I think I'll pass on looking like an idiot." Letting go of YoungSaeng reluctantly, he padded over to the cupboard and opened it, crouching down to go through his movie collection. 

YoungSaeng sat down on the bed, pulling off his boots. "You know you don't have to worry about looking like an idiot. I have seen you at your worst, and I'm not going to judge you for it. It's kind of... endearing."

Going through a small pile of movies that were his favorites, JongWoon blinked and looked over his shoulder at the younger man. "...I don't see how, but okay," he pursed his lips a little. Embarrassing, yes. Frustrating, yes. But endearing? No one had ever said that about any of his episodes before.

Finally finding a good movie that he remembered to be very funny, JongWoon stood up and closed the cupboard, padding back to the bed and holding it out to YoungSaeng. "What about this one?" 

Briefly looking over the box, YoungSaeng shrugged and handed it back. "Sounds okay to me. Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's one of my favorites," JongWoon replied, smiling a little before he headed to the opposite wall to put the dvd in. Grabbing the remote, he dropped down onto the bed beside YoungSaeng and scooted back against the headboard while the screen lit up and the machine processed the dvd. 

"Well then, I'm sure I'll like it as well," YoungSaeng said, leaning against the headboard next to JongWoon. "Thank you again," he whispered, placing the stuffed otter in his lap.

Smiling, JongWoon turned slightly pink. As the movie started, he hesitantly wrapped one arm around YoungSaeng's waist, settling in close.

It was different than watching a movie with HyungJoon. Okay, he'd been somewhat tormented each time his best friend got too close and he had to stop himself from doing anything stupid, and that was sort of the case again here...

But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel so content, happy butterflies in his chest as he felt YoungSaeng pressed lightly against his side. 

YoungSaeng put his arm around JongWoon's shoulders, glancing at him briefly before looking at the screen. It was odd to him just how comfortable he had become around the older man, despite the fact that they still didn't know each other that well. The more time he spent with him though, has made the shifter realize how important it could be to take things slow.

Attention back on the movie, YoungSaeng was trying to understand the plot, and how this could be considered entertainment. He had to admit some aspects of the dialog were funny, but some he just didn't understand.

Relaxing slowly as the movie went on, JongWoon's lips curled upwards at what happened, his shoulders shaking every now and then with laughter. While he did enjoy other genres, comedy was quickly becoming more of his favorite. With everything that was going on, he needed something light and airy without a super-complicated plot just to relax.

Not that he could take his attention off YoungSaeng entirely, his head falling to rest against the younger man's lightly at some point during the movie. 

The longer the movie played, the more YoungSaeng found himself enjoying it, and for more than just a chance to understand human relationships and humor. "Are you comfortable like this?" YoungSaeng asked softly when there was a transition scene in between dialog.

"Hm?" JongWoon tilted his head slightly to look down at YoungSaeng, nose brushing against the other man's soft hair. "Yeah, I am," he smiled a little. "You?" 

"I am, this is nice," YoungSaeng nodded, his grip tightening slightly. "Is this what humans consider a date? Watching a movie like this?"

"U-um...." JongWoon turned pink again at that. "It can be, yeah...though we usually go out for dates. Not that there's anywhere we can go right now in the middle of space." He'd never thought about it that way, but wouldn't that make this their first date? 

"Wouldn't be an appropriate time either, with heading into a dangerous faction controlled space like we are," YoungSaeng chuckled softly, looking up at him. "This isn't so bad like this though, is it?"

Meeting YoungSaeng's eyes, JongWoon smiled softly. "No, it isn't." He kissed the younger man's lips softly before leaning back again, making himself comfortable. 

****************

The trip to the pickup point was long, but rather uneventful as opposed to anything they had encountered thus far. They had settled into a bit of routine, everyone pitching in to take on shifts and help with maintenance duties (except maybe for GyuRi, who admittedly would go in any direction she pleased if given control of the bridge). The alien members of the crew had merged in seamlessly onto the ship, and the humans becoming more and more accustomed with each passing day.

The flight took a bit more than a week to arrive at the designated planet, KyuJong letting the rest of the crew know when they had docked. "Someone from the station is trying to get a hold of us," the pilot blinked, looking over at HyunJoong when the message showed up on the communications console.

HyunJoong looked up from the monitor. "Huh...think that might be the spy we're supposed to be picking up?" He leaned over to see the message.

"It's a notice to meet in an hour, in...I'm not even sure where that is," he frowned at the location listed. "A warehouse?" He brought up a map of the planet's surface on his monitor. "Yeah, a warehouse about fifteen minutes shuttle from here. We'll have to take our own shuttle, doesn't look like there's any community routes going there." 

"I'll let HyungJoon know to get the shuttle ready," KyuJong said, scooting over to reach the com line. Flicking it on, he got a hold of HyungJoon who was in the maintenance bay and told him about what was going on. "Who are you taking?" he asked HyunJoong.

"Either YoungSaeng or JungMin for sure, whichever feels like coming along," HyunJoong replied, lips slightly pursed. "SungMin, and HyungJoon." He glanced over at KyuJong. "We're going to have to find proper positions on the ship for them all eventually," he chuckled. 

"I'd like to see what position you think up for GyuRi," KyuJong snorted, powering down the engines. "Are we picking up the cargo at that warehouse or getting it from the station? I don't remember the orders being specific on how this is supposed to go. I guess that was kind of the point."

"No idea," HyunJoong shrugged. "Since we're dealing with spies now, it doesn't seem that strange to be left in the dark. Our best bet is to meet up with whoever we're bringing in and find out then. Either way, we need to stick around long enough to refuel and stock up on more of our own supplies." YunHo had paid them nicely in the local currency so they wouldn't look strange with Federation money. 

"Alright, I'll get those arranged while you're going to meet up with him then," KyuJong said, turning to face him. "You'll be careful, right?"

HyunJoong's lips quirked. "Of course I will. Radio in if anything comes up here." He leaned over, kissing KyuJong softly. "We'll be back within an hour." 

"Better be," KyuJong replied, kissing him again. "We'll be ready to go when you get back."

" _Captain? Shuttle's ready to go_ ," HyungJoon's voice called over the coms.

"Good luck," KyuJong smiled, sitting back in his chair.

HyunJoong's lips quirked in return, squeezing KyuJong's knee lightly before standing and leaving the bridge.

Heading to the cargo bay, he found SungMin along the way, bringing the tiny anthro with him. YoungSaeng and JungMin he saw were already in the shuttle bay.

"So we're going to meet with this spy person?" JungMin asked, swinging his legs back and forth from where he was perched on the catwalk.

"Yes, we have a location and a time, but no other information for now," HyunJoong nodded, looking at both shapeshifters. "I'll need one of you to stay here with the ship."

"I'll stay," the redhead shrugged, waving one hand at YoungSaeng. "Your turn to have some fun."

"HyungJoon?" HyunJoong turned to his engineer. 

"I'll go, someone needs to pilot the shuttle," HyungJoon shrugged, leaning up against the wall. 

"Can I go?" GyuRi came fluttering into the room, hovering over the group in the shuttle bay.

"No," YoungSaeng's scowl transferred from JungMin to the pixie. "You do not need to go."

The pixie huffed, settling down onto the ground and marching up to HyunJoong. She looked up at him with a pout, hands on hips. "I never get to do anything fun on this ship. I'm being suffocated!"

"You could always join an entertainment ship," HyunJoong replied wryly, the corners of his lips quirking slightly. "But if you're staying with us, then you're staying here this time."

"Oh thank you," SungMin sighed in relief, half-hiding behind HyungJoon's legs. JungMin snorted in amusement. 

"Besides, you haven't done _anything_ on board other than be a nuisance," YoungSaeng said, patting GyuRi lightly on the head. "You're the one who wanted to stay on board with us, we can't suffocate you when you're here by choice." The pixie's wings fluttered irritably and she turned to storm from the room.

Shaking his head, YoungSaeng looked at the others. "Is JongWoon joining us or no?"

"He's busy gathering together a list of medical supplies to restock on," HyunJoong shook his head. "Where we're going, we need to have enough on hand in case. So it's just us for now." He started towards the shuttle. SungMin gratefully padded after him, hopping up into the shuttle.

"Have fun," JungMin grinned. 

"I'm volunteering you next time," YoungSaeng shot up to the red head as he followed behind HyungJoon into the shuttle.

"We have coordinates for this meeting place?" HyungJoon asked, taking the pilot's seat and making sure the door was sealed, the cabin pressurizing. YoungSaeng took one of the empty seats and strapped in, just in case.

"Yes, entering them in now," HyunJoong nodded as he took up the co-pilot's seat and set about doing so. The others cleared the shuttle bay around them, sealing the airlock. "From the looks of it, it's a warehouse disconnected from the main arteries. Probably not in use anymore." 

"Great, so we could be walking into a trap?" HyungJoon sighed, releasing the docking clamps. KyuJong had opened the shuttle bay door and HyungJoon eased them out slowly.

"We are not going in to this with our eyes closed," YoungSaeng said, looking out the window at the planet's landscape. "I did bring arms with me and we have SungMin who can sniff out any traps."

"So I'm going out first then?" SungMin asked, tail waving slightly as he stood up on one of the chairs to look out the window as well. "You can't breathe this planet's air, right?"

"Not enough oxygen," HyunJoong shook his head.

"I don't need as much oxygen, it's a little uncomfortable, but still. If it makes you feel better, I can do a full perimeter check around the warehouse before we dock." 

"I'm going with you, you two will stay here and keep the door locked until we get back," YoungSaeng said, tapping his finger on the arm rest of the chair.

"Don't you need oxygen as well?" HyungJoon asked, glancing briefly over his shoulder before looking back, making minor adjustments.

"In this form yes, but I won't be going out in this form," YoungSaeng shrugged.

"Which form will you be in?" HyunJoong frowned, most of his attention on the monitors before he glanced back at YoungSaeng. "SungMin's species? Or..." 

"Something else," YoungSaeng smiled broadly at HyunJoong. "It's a surprise."

"I really don't like surprises anymore," HyungJoon groaned, slumping a little in his seat. "Why does everyone have to be so secretive out here? Is there some kind of rule saying that you have to keep secrets?"

"Is he pouting?" YoungSaeng laughed. "JungMin keeping secrets from you?" HyungJoon just scowled out the window.

HyunJoong glanced at his engineer, lips quirked slightly. Honestly he had been very surprised to hear HyungJoon and JungMin were an item, though not officially 'together'. They got along so poorly most of the time it was hard to see them as a couple. There just seemed to be some sort of block in communication between them that they couldn't get around.

"We just about there?" SungMin asked, bored already with the trip as he dropped down into the chair.

"The warehouse is fifteen minutes from the ship, we've still got a bit to go," HyunJoong shook his head. 

"Someone else can go on these adventures next time," HyungJoon grumped, but focused on piloting. The planet like most he had seen that had colonies, barren and mostly made of rock. It seemed finding a planet with plant and animal life was rare no matter what part of the galaxy they were in.

They were approaching a small cluster of buildings, mostly warehouses all surrounding a shipyard. HyungJoon sent a landing request, and brought the ship in for a slow landing, setting down on the landing strip.

"Well that was a nicer landing than we're used to with your pilot, HyunJoong," YoungSaeng chuckled, unbuckling his seat belt and getting to his feet. "Come on SungMin, let's go."

"Yup!" SungMin dropped down off the chair, padding over into the small space between the shuttle's airtight double doors

"You have your com with you?" HyunJoong asked YoungSaeng, turning around to face them. 

"Yes, we'll be in touch," YoungSaeng nodded before he closed his eyes. His skin rippled, clothing melting into his skin as he slowly shrank. HyungJoon yelped and tried to back up into the console when YoungSaeng was finished shifting.

"What... is _that_?" HyungJoon whispered. "Is that a bird?"

It looked like a bird, half the height of SungMin fully standing. It's wings opened and flapped as the bird lifted off and perched on the chair back. It was the oddest bird he had ever seen though, no feathers that he could see, because it was that same glass like substance that the shifters were made of. There were a myriad of colors swirling around in the birds form though, like a rainbow. The bird made a clicking noise before it turned around with a hop and flew to the airlock with SungMin.

"Something from their home planet I'm guessing," HyunJoong replied, watching with interest before turning back to the controls. "Don't take long."

"Give us ten," SungMin grinned, squatting down.

Closing the first airlock, HyunJoong waited for the green light to signal it was air-tight before depressurizing the space between the doors, slowly letting outside air filter in. When the second green light went on, he opened the outer doors and watched the two get off the shuttle. "Now we just wait." 

"So we have no idea who it is we're supposed to be meeting?" HyungJoon asked, tapping his fingers on sensor display. "I don't like this, what if it's all just a ruse? What if he's another assassin?"

"YunHo seemed pretty sure we can trust whoever it is," HyunJoong shrugged, looking outside the window. "But we're not going to be unprepared. We'll all be keeping a close eye on this spy, during and after the meeting. Other than being as careful as we can, we don't really have much of a choice." 

"No, but I'm still allowed to complain about it," HyungJoon said, leaning back a little in his chair. "How long you think it'll take us to get in and out of Sylar space in one piece?"

"If we're lucky, we'll be in and out within a week," HyunJoong replied. "The drop-off location is farther away." He looked over at HyungJoon. "You know I can't promise that everything will be fine, but I will do everything in my ability to make sure we get out again as soon as possible." 

HyungJoon looked back at the captain, nodding a little. "I know," he said quietly. "We've always trusted your decisions Captain, this is no different. We'll do our part too."

HyunJoong smiled a little, clapping HyungJoon's shoulder lightly before leaning back in his seat. He checked the sensors around the shuttle again, seeing nothing to be suspicious of. There was also no sign of YoungSaeng and SungMin.

"How are things with yourself and JungMin?" he asked after a moment of silence, glancing at his engineer. 

Wincing, HyungJoon looked away and tried to busy himself looking at things on the console and pushing random buttons. "Do we have to talk about that? We're fine, I guess. How are you and KyuJong?"

Quirking one eyebrow, HyunJoong watched HyungJoon before turning his attention back outside the window. It was pretty obvious that HyungJoon wasn't comfortable with talking about his own relationship. "We're doing very well, now that we've talked things through. I enjoy being around him."

"That's good," HyungJoon nodded, flicking a switch back and forth. "I think he's good for you, you know. You've been much nicer lately... not that you were mean or anything, just that you're.. friendlier? Yeah, friendlier," he floundered. "Like... you're back to your old self, that's all I meant."

HyunJoong chuckled, leaning back in his chair. "Relax. And I suppose you're right." He closed his eyes for a moment. "Though I suppose it's also with having so many more people on board. Even if most of them are stowaways." His lips curled upwards in amusement. 

"Yeah, well I think Kyu has more to do with it than anything," HyungJoon said, glancing at HyunJoong. "JungMin and I don't really you know, talk that well. I don't know what we're doing exactly."

The older man cracked one eye open. He'd figured the two weren't talking easily. "You've tried speaking with him about this? If you don't know what you're both doing, chances are he probably doesn't either." 

"We... don't communicate that well," HyungJoon sighed, looking out the window. "It's not that we don't try, it just seems like we end up either fighting or... other things. I don't even know _how_ to talk to him, he's just so frustrating."

HyunJoong chuckled quietly. "I think from how he keeps storming all over the place, he thinks about the same of you." He sobered a little. "I'm not sure what to tell you Joon. Only that until KyuJong and I were perfectly clear with one another, we weren't getting along so well either." 

"Perfectly clear? What do you mean?" HyungJoon asked in confusion. "If this is about communication, then you should know Kyu is much better about saying what he's feeling than JungMin is."

"Kyu was clear, but I wasn't," HyunJoong admitted. "And it caused a lot of confusion because it wasn't clear what I was thinking, even if it made sense to me." 

"Well he definitely isn't clear," HyungJoon mumbled. "Trying to talk about anything just ends in us yelling at each other."

" _We're back Captain, open the airlock._ " YoungSaeng called out over the coms.

"At least you're trying to talk," HyunJoong shook his head, leaning forward to open the airlocks. "It'll get through eventually."

The outer airlock opened and HyunJoong waited until the two were inside the ship again before closing it. A minute later the green light turned on, and he opened the inner doors. 

YoungSaeng was slowly shifting back from his true form to human. "No sign of a trap Captain, we should be okay to go in. You two have atmo masks?"

"In storage, I'll get them," HyungJoon nodded, getting up and working his way around to get the storage locker open.

"There was only one person that we could hear," SungMin said, shaking the dirt out of his white fur. "Waiting in the warehouse."

"Must be our spy then," HyunJoong murmured, setting the ship on standby before getting up to get his own atmosphere mask. 

"Couldn't get a good smell off of him, too much dust in the air," YoungSaeng said, wrinkling his nose lightly. "But there was still only one person."

"One person can still be trouble though," HyungJoon frowned, playing with the mask in his han.

"That's why you've got two bodyguards," SungMin piped up, pawing at one large ear as he grinned up at them.

"Or one and a half?" HyunJoong teased the tiny alien as he fitted on his mask, the anthro pouting at him. 

"Let's go," YoungSaeng rolled his eyes, opening up the airlock again and ushering everyone in. "I don't want to be here any longer than we have to."

"Should someone stay here though?" HyungJoon shuffled nervously. "I mean, just in case, don't want to leave the shuttle unmanned right?"

HyunJoong looked back at HyungJoon. "You can stay here if you want, Joon," he replied through the mask, stepping into the airlock. "Let us know if anything happens out here." 

"Okay," HyungJoon nodded. "Be careful!" he chirped, shutting the door with a grin.

"He seems a little too pleased with that," YoungSaeng snorted, looking at HyunJoong as he shifted into his true form, silver eyes shining.

HyunJoong shook his head in amusement, waiting to be given the green light. SungMin pawed at his muzzle a little uncomfortably as the air in the small space was exchanged for the air outside, the outer door opening a minute later.

HyunJoong stepped out, glancing around the barren landscape for a moment before turning towards the warehouse. "Well, let's go."

"Should I scout around outside in case?" SungMin asked. 

"Wouldn't hurt, we'll be right back," YoungSaeng nodded, following out after HyunJoong. "Make sure nothing tries to steal our ride." He glanced towards the Captain as he started towards the building.

HyunJoong walked beside YoungSaeng, SungMin disappearing. "I'm guessing since this warehouse doesn't look to be in use anymore, I'm going to have to keep the mask on inside as well?" 

"Probably, just to be safe," YoungSaeng nodded, eyeing the door as they approached. "We'll take this slow. Stay behind me until we're sure whatever it is in there isn't going to kill us on sight."

Nodding, HyunJoong eased behind YoungSaeng and kept an eye on their surroundings. The warehouse looked very much abandoned, he couldn't see signs of anyone being here recently.

The door opened slowly with plenty of creaking, HyunJoong wincing a little at the noise. Definitely not a building in use anymore. "Are you going to stay in that form?" He asked softly, looking at YoungSaeng and how the light reflected off glass skin. 

"I can't breathe if I go human, and this is just a good a shape as any I could come up with," YoungSaeng murmured, looking around. "At least I can speak with this one. Otherwise I'd be chirping at you right now."

"Point taken." HyunJoong fell silent after that, watching warily as they slowly made their way inside the warehouse. The hallways they walked through first were spooky, but otherwise empty. Some lights were on, probably emergency generators from how few there were. 

Checking doors as they went, YoungSaeng was getting a little irritated that their contact wasn't showing itself. "I give him ten minutes, then we're heading back to the shuttle," YoungSaeng whispered to HyunJoong as they reached one of the large storage rooms. Sliding the door open, he poked his head in. "Hello?"

"Hello."

************************************44*************************************

The reply came not from in the room, but just down the hallway behind them. Not noticing they had been watched until then, HyunJoong turned around quickly, thinking that maybe they had been ambushed after all.

There was just one figure standing not far away, watching them. The young man wore a mask like HyunJoong over his mouth and nose. Skinny and half a head shorter than YoungSaeng, he didn't look like any spy the Valis would have employed.

"Are you from the _Proteus_?" 

"We are, and you are the contact we are to pick up?" YoungSaeng asked, stepping back in front of HyunJoong, moving closer to the figure.

HyunJoong could see the unknown man's eyes widen slightly as he took in YoungSaeng's appearance, obviously caught off-guard. But then he nodded slightly, stepping forward once and extending a hand.

"I apologize for leaving you to wander, but I had to make sure you are who I came to meet. My name is Kim RyeoWook." 

"Well then, we can make introductions later on the ship," YoungSaeng said, eyeing the extended hand. "And you can explain why a human is working undercover for the Valis."

"..." The spy withdrew his hand, eyes slightly narrowed above his mask. "My personal decisions are none of your concern."

HyunJoong frowned slightly, glancing from the man who called himself RyeoWook to YoungSaeng. "Let's return to the ship then." 

"After you then," YoungSaeng inclined his head, motioning for them to go ahead of him. "There anyone else here we need to worry about?"

"No, I'm here alone." The spy paused before following a bit behind HyunJoong. The Captain frowned and glanced over his shoulder slightly, not liking the man being behind him. But he knew YoungSaeng was watching the spy carefully, so he turned his own attention to around them.

Reaching the door to outside, HyunJoong pushed it open, one hand up to guard from the blowing dirt as they stepped outside. 

"Interesting spot for a meeting," YoungSaeng said as they made their way back to the shuttle. "Time to go fuzzball!" he called to the anthro.

SungMin appeared over an outcrop of rocks, ears perking straight up as he eyed the spy. "There's no one else around," he replied, padding on all fours towards the shuttle. 

"Good, we're leaving," YoungSaeng said, the com device reappearing in his hand. "Open up HyungJoon, we're getting out of here."

" _Everything okay_?"

"Yes, now open, the door," YoungSaeng repeated, then closed the device. "I hate having to repeat myself," he said in exasperation as the airlock opened with a hiss.

SungMin jumped up into the airlock, squishing himself into a corner so they all could fit. Getting in as well, HyunJoong watched RyeoWook climb up and straighten, dusting the dirt off his clothes. Once YoungSaeng was in, the outer door closed.

A minute later they were stepping inside the shuttle itself, HyunJoong pulling off his mask and setting it aside. RyeoWook did the same, shaking his head a little before looking around the inside of the shuttle without saying a word. 

HyungJoon blinked at RyeoWook, and then at the others. "So this is him then?"

"Yes, can we get going please?" YoungSaeng said, taking his seat. "This took much longer than it should have."

"Fine fine," HyungJoon put his hands up and turned back to the console. "Boy is he grumpy."

HyunJoong sat back down, strapping himself in. RyeoWook slowly did the same, frowning a little as he looked from one person to the other.

"Any communication with the ship while we were gone?" HyunJoong asked HyungJoon, flicking through the sensors. 

"Nope, been pretty quiet," HyungJoon said, starting the engines back up. "That's a good sign though, right? Isn't it?"

"If there was a problem, they'd have gotten a hold of us," YoungSaeng said, buckling back up. He slowly shifted back to his human form, his eyes staying on RyeoWook.

As the shuttle eased off the landing strip and headed back towards the ship, HyunJoong glanced over at RyeoWook. "We weren't given very much information about you or the mission," he frowned, eyes serious.

"And I apologize, but it needs to stay that way," RyeoWook said, glancing at him and YoungSaeng. "For everyone's safety."

"You mean so we can't squeal on you if we're caught," SungMin piped up, swinging his feet back and forth. 

"Understandable, and as long as that mission doesn't involve putting any of this crew at risk, then we'll leave it that way," YoungSaeng nodded, drumming his fingers on the arm rest. "Though I have to ask, what has YunHo told you about us?"

"He gave me the ship name, and mentioned there would be other humans on board, as well as several aliens. That was the extent of what I was told." The spy's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched YoungSaeng. "I was more than a little surprised to see there is a shifter on board, but it will make this easier if we can pretend there are more humans on board than there actually are." 

"That is the goal, yes," YoungSaeng agreed, eyeing the spy. "YunHo probably didn't tell you about there being a shifter on board to keep you on your toes. I hope there's no prejudice towards shifters, or we may have a problem."

"None," RyeoWook replied, looking out the window.

"We were told to pick up some cargo along with you, to give us an excuse to cross the border," HyunJoong said, watching the spy as well. "Will supplies from the station do?"

"No," RyeoWook shook his head. "We'll need something better than that. The other side of the planet is used for mining resources...we can pick up the cargo there. I would have done it myself already, but I'd fallen behind." 

"Why didn't we just meet you on the other side of the planet then? Why were you hiding over here?" YoungSaeng asked, his tone suspicious.

"What's with the interrogation?" HyungJoon frowned, glancing over his shoulder once they had lifted off. "You're acting like he's the enemy."

"We have no idea if he is or isn't," YoungSaeng said. "We weren't told anything about him."

"I had other business to take care of before going back out on the front line," RyeoWook replied shortly. "And I wasn't told anything about you, shifter, so I guess we're even."

"Calm down," HyunJoong sighed, looking back at them. "We'll be back at the ship soon." 

YoungSaeng bristled, but said nothing, looking out the window. He hated situations where he wasn't in any kind of control and was being kept in the dark. It was unlikely he would be getting along with this spy during his stay.

"I think you're making him uncomfortable, that's a first," HyungJoon chuckled, glancing over his shoulder. "Hi, I'm HyungJoon, what was your name? I don't think I caught it."

The spy looked up at HyungJoon, eyes narrowed for a moment before his expression eased into a smile. "RyeoWook. A pleasure to meet you."

"Please watch where you're flying," SungMin whined, burrowing himself into a corner. 

"I am," HyungJoon sniffed, turning back around in his seat. "Why do people not have any faith in me?" he complained to HyunJoong.

"Because we know you?" YoungSaeng supplied with a shrug. "You're not as good a pilot as KyuJong."

"Just keep your eyes in front," HyunJoong chuckled, patting HyungJoon's shoulder.

A few minutes later, the ship docks came into view. HyunJoong flicked on communications. "We're back Kyu, open the bay doors." 

HyungJoon watched the doors opening and slowly flew the shuttle into the bay. Setting the shuttle down smoothly, he powered down the engines and opened the airlock. "Home sweet home," he sighed.

"Don't sound so enthused," YoungSaeng rolled his eyes, unbuckling his seatbelt and getting up.

SungMin scrambled off the shuttle first, grumbling about dirt in his fur. HyunJoong unbuckled and stood up as well, turning to RyeoWook who was doing the same. "I'd like to speak with you about this mission further."

RyeoWook nodded, following HyunJoong off the shuttle and looking around briefly before returning his attention to the others. 

"Are you hungry or anything? We can get Zhou Mi to cook you up something," HyungJoon said, bouncing a little on his feet as he followed them out. "He's a good cook, even if he's a gecko."

"I think JungMin should be there for this meeting, meet in the mess hall?" YoungSaeng said to HyunJoong as he headed to the stairs.

"A gecko?" RyeoWook's lips quivered at that. "I'm fine, thank you."

Casting HyungJoon an amused expression, HyunJoong shook his head and started up the stairs after YoungSaeng. "Let's go then. We'll show you to your room after the meeting, RyeoWook sshi." 

"Yeah, two geckos on board, also some other... things," HyungJoon said, seeing Xander at the top of the stairs waiting for SungMin. "You ever met a flesh eater before?"

"U-uh..." RyeoWook's eyes widened slightly at that. "No, I haven't...not one that wasn't hungry, anyways."

"Xander's very hungry," SungMin piped up, climbing up the stairs. "YunHo promised him some food here."

"Make sure you eat then before we leave," HyunJoong sighed, frowning slightly at that. A hungry flesh eater on board while they went into Sylar territory wasn't a good idea. 

One of Xander's eyes was twitching repeatedly as the group got closer. "I was hoping you would bring the food with you," he said with a pout.

"It would probably be with the other supplies on the _other_ side of the planet," YoungSaeng said grumpily, pushing past Xander. "JungMin? Where are you?" he spoke into his com device.

"He's not in a good mood," HyungJoon said lowly to Xander as they got the top.

 _"Bridge,"_ JungMin replied. _"Where are you going to be?"_

HyunJoong stepped out into the hallway, heading towards the mess hall. RyeoWook followed along behind him, keeping away from YoungSaeng it seemed. 

"Mess hall, I'll meet you on the way," YoungSaeng replied, closing the com and putting it in his pocket. He turned and headed up another stairway towards the bridge.

"He's usually nice, well, nicer than JungMin is, I'm not sure what's going on with him," HyungJoon said to RyeoWook with a sheepish smile. "Everyone else is really nice too, he'll come around."

RyeoWook smiled a little in return. "It's fine, really."

Stepping into the mess hall, HyunJoong looked around. "Zhou Mi?" 

"Hm?" Zhou Mi popped up from behind the counter, looking a little flushed. "Oh! Hi! Who is this?" Zhou Mi scrambled from the kitchen and scurried towards the new human. "Another human? Are you people multiplying? Is that your human ability?"

HyungJoon yelped as he was nearly run over and backpedaled into the table. "You sure are excitable at the moment. KyuHyun in here with you?" Zhou Mi didn't say anything to that, too busy sniffing at RyeoWook.

Laughing softly, RyeoWook held up both hands peacefully. "No, we do not multiply. My name is RyeoWook. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, _ящерица_."

KyuHyun poked his head out of the kitchen, staring. "...He did not just say that." 

Zhou Mi's eyes widened and started babbling at RyeoWook, gesturing wildly and shuffling closer and closer.

"Don't tell me you can understand that..." HyungJoon said, looking at RyeoWook in surprise.

"I...Some of it..." RyeoWook blinked owlishly at the babbling, backed up against the wall. "Please speak slower, I'm a little rusty." He then tried to reply to whatever Zhou Mi was saying, his words a little halting and awkward.

"Oh, I like him, where did he come from?" KyuHyun came over, pulling Zhou Mi a little back from RyeoWook before he could physically press the human into the wall. 

"He's the Valis spy," HyungJoon said, amused at how even though Zhou Mi was trying to speak slower, it was still coming out too fast. "And, he's human. Where were you last month when this gecko wouldn't leave me alone?" he pointed at KyuHyun.

"I'm sorry," RyeoWook chuckled, still backed against the wall.

"What's going on in here?" JungMin blinked owlishly as he and YoungSaeng came in.

"It turns out he knows the Gecko's language, and their real name," HyunJoong mused, keeping clear of the crowd 

"Where does a human learn that?" YoungSaeng asked, eyes narrowed as he stood next to JungMin, his arms crossed.

"Probably wherever it is that he learned to be a spy," HyungJoon shrugged. "Why are you being so mean?"

"I'm not being mean, I'm being careful," YoungSaeng said, giving HyungJoon a pointed look. "Where's JongWoon?"

"Last I heard he was just finishing up with the medical stuff," JungMin shrugged. "He'll probably be down soon."

RyeoWook glanced up at them at that, blinking slightly before turning to HyunJoong. "Is this all the crew?"

"We're missing JongWoon and our pilot KyuJong." HyunJoong sat down. "So, the mission is to bring you into Sylar space...where exactly?"

"One of the base planets," RyeoWook replied, shuffling away from the geckos. The Captain motioned him towards a seat, the spy taking it. "Yenor."

"That's fairly deep into Sylar space," YoungSaeng frowned, glancing at the door as KyuJong came in. "We'll have to be very careful. Did Tablo do anything to this ship that would be helpful in avoiding detection?"

"We have wider sensor ranges than any other ship out here," HyunJoong replied. "With as minimal a beacon as he could give a ship of this size. He wasn't able to do more in the short amount of time he had."

"And if we are caught?" KyuHyun frowned, sticking next to Zhou Mi.

"RyeoWook sshi?" HyunJoong looked to the spy. "Any suggestions?"

RyeoWook leaned back a little, thinking. "This ship can easily pose as one of the Federation's own. Most of the Federation operating here know me; they won't look further into the ship's records. Non-humans can either pose as Sylar allies, or hide... _ящерица_ can camouflage, right?" 

"Yes, the geckos can camouflage, it's just the other three I worry about," YoungSaeng sighed. "I think... GyuRi would be our biggest problem. She'd give us away in a heartbeat without meaning to."

"But she can hide, she'd hide wouldn't she?" HyungJoon spoke up, glancing between them.

"Oh, talking about me?" GyuRi floated into the room, looking around with a grin. Her eyes settled on the new human and she squealed, zooming towards him. "Oh my gosh, you are adorable!"

The spy squeaked a little in alarm at the pixie coming towards him, scooting to one side just enough to avoid GyuRi crashing into him. "Uh...nice to meet you?"

"GyuRi, try not to terrorize him," HyunJoong sighed. SungMin had dove under the table the second GyuRi came in. "And that's a good question. GyuRi, do you think you can hide somewhere and stay quiet if we're ever boarded by Sylar?" 

"Hm? What? Sylar?!" GyuRi's eyes widened and she darted from the room in a streak of gold. YoungSaeng snorted and rolled his eyes.

"I think that answers that," the shifter said, shaking his head. "KyuHyun, how long will it take us to get to Yenor?"

"Three days past the border," KyuHyun replied, head in his hands. "We're about a day from the border right now, so four days."

"Four days once we pick up that cargo and leave," HyunJoong amended, looking to RyeoWook who nodded.

"That shouldn't take too long, I sent a message over earlier for the cargo to be ready when we get there."

About to reply, HyunJoong glanced over at JongWoon's voice, the negotiator coming inside with a few papers. "Captain, I've got the supplies all settled, should I go out later today and pick them u—...RyeoWook?!"

He stared at the spy in shock, RyeoWook quickly getting back to his feet. "...YeSung hyung?" 

" _YeSung_?" HyungJoon blinked, looking between the two of them. "You two know each other?" he asked, startled. YoungSaeng had stiffened slightly, his lips pressed into a thin line.

"We..." YeSung blinked, still staring at RyeoWook as he stepped into the room. "What are you _doing_ here, Wookie?"

RyeoWook's lips quivered slightly, and then he hurried to the older man, throwing his arms around JongWoon in a hug. "What am _I_ doing out here, what are _you_ doing out here?! It's not safe!"

"Okay, I'm confused," JungMin blinked, looking from the two to YoungSaeng's expression.

JongWoon hugged RyeoWook tightly, taking a moment to recover before looking up at them. "We took pre-military training together, and several other courses before then." 

"Oh... so... you guys were friends then? And why'd he call you YeSung?" HyungJoon asked, trying to keep the hurt from his expression.

"There were five different JongWoons in our courses, he wanted a nickname and we figured we'd help him out before he named himself something totally ridiculous. And he's a good singer anyways," RyeoWook sniffed a little, leaning back after a moment to look up at JongWoon. "Hyung, _why_ are you out here?"

"That's a bit of a long story," JongWoon winced. "And you're..." His eyes widened as it finally clicked why RyeoWook was here. "You're the..."

"The Valis spy, yes," RyeoWook nodded, sighing softly as he took a step back. "We'll...talk about this later, okay hyung?" JongWoon nodded, frowning in worry. 

"Right, later," YoungSaeng said, looking to KyuJong. "Have the supplies been delivered yet?"

"Yes, just before you got here, and I think Xander's meal arrived as well," the pilot nodded, chuckling at how the flesh eater bolted from the kitchen. "You had better take that somewhere other than main areas to eat!"

"I'm... gonna go check on some stuff in engineering," HyungJoon said, getting to his feet. "Make sure all that sand out there hasn't gotten in places it shouldn't."

"Oh, HyunJoong, that reminds me," KyuJong said, sighing heavily. "We're going to be stuck here for a bit. Station personnel contacted me just after you left.... sandstorm heading in, they're shutting down all traffic to and from the station."

HyunJoong frowned a little at that. "Well, that gives us time to make sure we're properly stocked up again," he sighed.

"Sandstorms here can last a while, hopefully this one doesn't," RyeoWook shook his head, sticking close to JongWoon now.

"Should I go get medical stuff now then?" JongWoon looked up at HyunJoong. "Those weren't in the supply shipment that came in.

"Show your friend to his new room first," HyunJoong replied, standing. "Make sure you take someone with you when you do go, JongWoon, we don't need you eaten in a misunderstanding."

"So that hasn't improved any?" RyeoWook mused, peeking up at JongWoon through his bangs, and JongWoon nudged the tiny man's side. 

"Guess we'll just wait around then," YoungSaeng said, looking between the two friends. "JungMin? Let's go spar. SungMin can go with JongWoon."

"I'll be in engineering," HyungJoon left first, keeping his head down. YoungSaeng wasn't waiting on any confirmation from JungMin, following the engineer out.

KyuJong watched them go with a frown, glancing at HyunJoong. "Well what now?"

"Now we just wait," HyunJoong sighed softly, watching where the others had gone, JungMin shrugging and following YoungSaeng. JongWoon was blinking at the door in confusion as well, before looking down at RyeoWook. "I guess I'll show you your room now. We have a bit of catching up to do."

"Yeah," RyeoWook nodded. He bowed politely to the others in the room before following JongWoon out.

HyunJoong waited for them to be gone, looking at KyuJong. "He seems polite enough, though YoungSaeng doesn't trust him," he said quietly. "Finding out he used to be JongWoon's friend...not sure what to make of that."

"I don't either," KyuJong shook his head, leaning against his boyfriend. "I don't blame YoungSaeng for not trusting someone, especially a human considering what it is we're doing. Was it my imagination though, or were both HyungJoon and YoungSaeng upset?"

"It wasn't your imagination," HyunJoong shook his head. "Not exactly sure why though. We're just going to have to keep a closer watch on them for a while, I think." He wrapped one arm around KyuJong lightly, seeing the Geckos disappear back into the kitchen. "We don't have much else we need to do in the meantime anyways, not while the sandstorm's over us." 

"Does that mean I can take a bit of a rest?" KyuJong smiled up at him. "Or were you wanting me to actually work."

"You need some rest every now and then," HyunJoong's lips quirked, thumb stroking KyuJong's side lightly. "Though I might join you if you don't mind." 

"Of course not," KyuJong mused, leaning up to brush his lips over HyunJoong's. "Let's go before we get roped into whatever drama I foresee coming."

Kissing him back, HyunJoong shook his head in amusement as he pulled KyuJong towards the door. "Probably won't take long. Hopefully they won't break anything." 

"You give them too much credit," KyuJong snickered, following HyunJoong. "And things were just getting settled down around here too."

*************************

"So, that's what happened?" JongWoon frowned, watching RyeoWook in worry. They were sitting on the bed in RyeoWook's room, just catching up. Though RyeoWook was careful with his words at times, his reservation with sharing information didn't seem to extend to his friend.

The younger man nodded, eyes on the ground. "I'm sorry hyung. I did what you told me not to do, and got involved with the wrong crowd. But Valis is helping me get out. The second I came out here, I wanted out of Sylar. This is just wrong."

"I'm worried about you spying out here, Wookie," JongWoon hugged him. "You might be a better spy than I remember, but...it's dangerous, and no one will be able to protect you there."

"I'll be fine hyung," RyeoWook closed his eyes, returning the hug. "But thank you. You have no idea how much it means to be able to see you again, though I wish you weren't out in this mess too..." 

Standing outside the door, HyungJoon was warring with himself on whether or not to interrupt. He knew JongWoon and RyeoWook were old friends and were getting caught up, but after a couple hours of that he was getting a little impatient. JongWoon was his friend too, and he hoped that he could be friends with the Valis spy as well, he seemed like a nice guy. Taking a deep breath, he tapped on the door.

Looking up at the knock on the door, JongWoon glanced down at RyeoWook, the smaller man turning his head away slightly and wiping the corners of his eyes a little. Frowning, JongWoon sighed and squeezed his friend's shoulder lightly before getting up and going to the door, opening it. When he saw HyungJoon on the other side, he managed a small smile. "Hey. What's up?" 

"Hey, was just seeing what you two were up to... haven't seen you in a couple hours," HyungJoon said, smiling hesitantly. "But... if it's a bad time, I can go.."

JongWoon bit his lower lip lightly, glancing back into the room a little. He didn't think RyeoWook was up to talking to anyone right now, nor did he want to leave his friend alone.

"I...I'm sorry, I don't think it's a good time right now," he said quietly. "Maybe a little later." 

"Yeah, that's fine," HyungJoon said, forcing the smile. "We've got a few days right? Maybe we can all hang out later?"

"Yeah," JongWoon nodded, smiling a little in return. "Sorry Joon, I'll see you later." He stepped back into the room, closing the door 

HyungJoon stood at the closed door for a moment, trying to not take it too personally. Obviously the had been friends before him and were just catching up, that was all. Turning, he headed down the hall towards the cargo bay. It's not like JongWoon was going to replace him, RyeoWook would be gone soon.

Of course, that brought up an unbidden thought. What if HyungJoon had just been the replacement friend in the first place?

****************************

Biting back a swear, JungMin avoided a hit to the stomach and rolled out of the way, sweeping one foot out and just missing taking YoungSaeng down. Panting a little, he blinked back the beads of sweat from falling into his eyes as they broke away to circle a little. "Geez Saeng, you're being vicious today."

They'd been practicing for a couple hours now, with short breaks every now and then. But even JungMin was getting tired, ready to call it quits. 

"Just keeping you on your toes Min," YoungSaeng replied, taking in JungMin's stance. "But you look ready to fall over, I guess we can take a break if you want," he said, running the back of his hand over his forehead to wipe away the sweat and get the bangs out of his eyes.

"Keeping on our toes is one thing, but we could have gone through about a hundred people by now," JungMin sighed, relaxing a little as YoungSaeng called a break. He brushed his hand over his eyes as well, blinking. 

"We haven't been training as much lately Min, I think you're going a little soft," YoungSaeng said, leaning up against one of the containers. "If anything we should all be training even harder now that we're heading into enemy territory."

"I know, I know," the redhead grumbled. "That doesn't change that we need a few breathers every now and then. He dropped to sit down against a container, resting his head back against the metal. "You're going a little soft too, don't point fingers at me." 

YoungSaeng's eyes widened slightly at that. " _I'm_ going soft? What's that supposed to mean?" he balked, kicking JungMin lightly on the shin.

Yelping, JungMin shifted his legs away and pursed his lips at the older man. "Don't act like you have no idea what I mean. Sure I've not been training, but you haven't either. You've been going on mini movie dates with the failboat instead." 

"And? Is that so wrong?" YoungSaeng sniffed, rolling his eyes. "What about you JungMin? Pondering your feelings for a human? Sleeping with him because you actually like him and not just because he's a target?"

"Why are you so _prickly_ ," JungMin scowled. "And, so what? You're not one to talk, moaning about having a lack of target after HyunJoong until recently." 

"I am not _prickly_ ," YoungSaeng bristled, kicking JungMin again. "I _did_ have a target, remember? You're the one who told me to go after JongWoon, and look where that's got me."

"I didn't see you exactly complaining at the idea," JungMin retorted, elbowing YoungSaeng in return. "Except for having to wait for sex of course." 

"I went from having sex multiple times a day to nothing, yes, I'm going to complain about it," YoungSaeng grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're lucky HyungJoon seemed to want it more than you."

"Yes, I got sex in exchange for headaches, I'm so lucky," JungMin rolled his eyes. "Guess that's just what happens when there's a limited amount of people to have fun with on board."

He knew they were both being bitter over really nothing; both of them were happy with who they were seeing now, but it was such a drastic switch for them. 

"Too bad the pilot's off limits now," YoungSaeng chuckled, patting JungMin's arm.

Neither of them had heard or seen HyungJoon who had come out onto the catwalk while they were still sparring. He had been about to go down to talk to JungMin when they had started their conversation, and now he was slowly backing up into the hatch. Bottom lip quivering, he wished he hadn't heard anything they had said.

They had just been playing games with JongWoon and himself? With the whole crew even? Was everything that JungMin had said to him a lie then? 

Blinking back the tears, he ran towards RyeoWook's room when he was through the hatch, pounding on the door when he reached it. JongWoon needed to know.

Jumping at the sudden pounding on the door, JongWoon exchanged a confused look with RyeoWook before standing and going to the door. When he opened the door, he had to step back quickly to avoid being rapped off the nose. "Joon? What is it?" Hadn't HyungJoon just left a minute ago? 

"We need to talk, in private, it's about YoungSaeng and JungMin," HyungJoon said, wiping at his eyes. "It's important."

About to ask if it couldn't wait (they had just gone over this), JongWoon stopped when he realized something. "Joon, are you crying? What happened?"

He glanced back at RyeoWook, who made shooing motions at him with his hands. The negotiator stepped out into the hallway, closing RyeoWook's door. 

Taking JongWoon's hand, HyungJoon pulled him into one of the empty rooms and closed the door. He was trying to stop crying, taking a deep breath before he started telling JongWoon everything he had heard the two shifters say in the cargo bay. He wasn't able to hold off the tears by the end of it, frantically wiping at his eyes. "... We're just a _game_ to them JongWoon," he sobbed.

JongWoon just stared at HyungJoon as he explained, his mind refusing to process the information. A game? That couldn't be...it had been all too much to be a game. Hadn't it? He'd thought, YoungSaeng had wanted more than that, had been happy...

"Y-you must have misheard, Joon," he whispered, fighting back the tears that were trying to appear. "That can't be...they wouldn't have done that." YoungSaeng wouldn't have done that to him, right? 

"I didn't mishear anything," HyungJoon shook his head, feeling his temper rising. "They don't care about us, they never did. They slept with the Captain and Kyu and when they weren't available anymore went to the next two people available on the ship. If you don't believe me, then ask YoungSaeng if he slept with HyunJoong, ask him if you weren't just another target."

JongWoon's hands trembled. "For months? Months they did that? But h-he said...Joon, you had to have misheard, we never heard of them sleeping with anyone. We couldn't be a game to them!" 

"How would we have heard? We were sleeping together at the time," HyungJoon said crossing his arms over his chest. "It's not like the Captain and Kyu were broadcasting what was happening over the ship you know? There was that period of time where they weren't talking and JungMin and Kyu were getting close, and they're good friends now. God, I am an idiot!" he threw up his hands and began to pace. "No wonder JungMin started being so nice to me all of a sudden. He didn't want me, he just didn't have anyone else. Screw this, you can not believe if you don't want to, but I'm going to go and get some answers," he said, starting for the door.

Staring after him, JongWoon ran to catch up. "Wait, what are you going to do?" He didn't want to believe HyungJoon was right, _couldn't_ believe it. Because he'd never felt better than when he was with YoungSaeng, and he didn't want to lose that.

But as much as he wanted to deny HyungJoon's words, tell him he was wrong, he couldn't stay away and question everything that had happened since he and YoungSaeng had gotten together. 

Out in the hall, JungMin and YoungSaeng were walking toward them. HyungJoon's eyes narrowed as he marched up to JungMin. "You! Both of you, we need to talk," he said angrily.

"About?" YoungSaeng's brow perked, seeing JongWoon following behind.

"About the fact that you both have been playing games with us from the start! What'd you call us? Targets?" HyungJoon said, glaring at JungMin.

"Huh?" JungMin blinked in confusion, glancing at YoungSaeng. How did this come up? ...Had they heard their conversation earlier?

"Hey, wait a second," he started, only to cut himself up as JongWoon finally came to them, stopping in front of YoungSaeng. Tears shimmered in the back of the older man's eyes as he looked up at the shifter, but they didn't fall.

"Did you...sleep with HyunJoong?" he asked, voice soft, eyes pleading YoungSaeng to prove them wrong. 

YoungSaeng's expression was impassive as his eyes turned from HyungJoon to JongWoon. He was quiet for a moment, knowing this wasn't going to end well, but he couldn't lie to JongWoon. "Yes, JongWoon. I did sleep with HyunJoong," he said quietly.

"And did you sleep with KyuJong?" HyungJoon demanded from JungMin.

JungMin stared at HyungJoon, seeing the anger in his eyes. What was he supposed to say? "I did," he said after a moment, unable to deny it.

Looking utterly lost, JongWoon could barely meet YoungSaeng's eyes as he drew up the courage to ask, "And was I...your target after him?" he whispered. 

YoungSaeng took in a slow breath, closing his eyes. "That's.. please understand..." he started to say, but HyungJoon cut him off.

"Just answer him!"

YoungSaeng's eyes opened and he looked at JongWoon, his eyes sad as he nodded. "Yes," he said softly.

JongWoon's lower lip trembled slightly, and he lowered his gaze, trying to process that. He couldn't. It felt like his heart was breaking in his chest, and he was in too much shock to cry despite the tears misting over his eyes.

"...That was all I wanted to know," he said quietly, and he turned and walked away. 

"... JongWoon, let me explain," YoungSaeng started to go after him but HyungJoon stopped him with a hand on his arm. 

"I think you've done enough, both of you," the engineer said, glaring between them before turning and following after JongWoon. YoungSaeng looked up at JungMin helplessly.

JungMin watched them go, hands clenching and unclenching before he looked at YoungSaeng. "That didn't go well at all," he said, eyes slightly wide. "What are we supposed to do now?"

They hadn't been able to fully explain that they _didn't_ think of those two as targets anymore. 

"At the moment? Nothing," YoungSaeng murmured, shaking his head. "Let them cool off, then try to talk to them. One on one would be safest. I just want to take a shower and go to bed, but I don't know if I can even go to my own room now."

JungMin swallowed a little, nodding. There was nothing that could be said now that wouldn't get them all into even more arguments. "I know _I_ can't," he sighed. "Looks like we're taking up one of the spare rooms for now." There was a bad feeling in his stomach that wasn't leaving, an uncomfortable pain. 

"We'll just take KyuJong's old room, I don't think he'll mind," YoungSaeng said softly, turning and heading down the hall. There wasn't a question that they'd share a room, having spent a lifetime together they knew the would need each other.

JungMin followed after him, head down and quiet for once. Somehow he had a feeling even after giving time to cool down, talking to HyungJoon wouldn't be easy. 

After having taken a long shower, YoungSaeng curled up on the bed, staring at the wall. His mind had been working the entire time he had showered, trying to think of a solution to the problem. Just giving JongWoon some space might not be enough. 

"Min... what if we can't fix this?" he whispered.

JungMin was sitting on the bed beside him, knees drawn up to his chest and thoughts about the same.

"I don't know, Saeng," he said quietly. "We can try to explain, but..." He shook his head. "We messed up badly." 

"We didn't do anything wrong Min, except maybe not telling them what had happened with HyunJoong and KyuJong," YoungSaeng said, rolling over slightly to look up at him. "We didn't pick them as targets because we were bored, not this time."

"But they think we did, so we messed up," JungMin groaned, dropping his head against his knees. "We shouldn't have even been talking about that." His hands gripped the material of his pants tightly. 

"No, probably not," YoungSaeng shook his head, curling up a little more. "I just don't know what to do now Min. Are they even going to listen to anything we have to say?"

"I don't know Saeng," JungMin sighed, tilting his head to one side to rest his cheek against one knee, eyes sad as he looked at YoungSaeng. "I just don't know." He reached out a little, fingers brushing against YoungSaeng's arm.

"We're in that deep, aren't we?" 

"Yeah, I think so," YoungSaeng sighed heavily, rolling closer to nuzzle against JungMin. "This is exactly what we wanted to avoid isn't it? Relationships are so complicated."

Easing himself down onto the bed, JungMin shifted close to YoungSaeng, eyes closing. "They are," he mumbled. "But...I don't think I want to avoid them anymore..." 

YoungSaeng was quiet for a moment as he picked at JungMin's sleeve. "Me either... I was... happy. He makes me happy Min, I don't want to lose him."

JungMin sighed softly, hugging YoungSaeng tighter. "We'll talk to them in the morning, and explain properly. We're not going to just let them go without a fight." 

Burying his nose in JungMin's collar, YoungSaeng took a steadying breath, tears slipping out of his eyes. "No, we're not. Not now."

Shutting his own eyes as he felt the slight touch of dampness against a bit of exposed skin, JungMin rubbed YoungSaeng's back slowly, wishing he could just tell him that everything would be fine. But he just didn't know.

All they could do was try and minimize the damage done as much as possible. 

*********************************45**************************************

"JongWoon?" HyungJoon knocked on his friend's door, opening it up a crack. He thought the older man had come here after the confrontation. "You in here?"

The older man was sitting on the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees and head bowed. Holding on to the otter plushie loosely in his hands, he looked up when he heard HyungJoon's voice.

"Joon?" he whispered, eyes glassy and tears staining his cheeks. 

"Hey," HyungJoon smiled softly at him as he stepped in and shut the door. Sitting down next to JongWoon, he put his arm around his friend's waist. "How are you doing?" he asked, his own eyes red rimmed and cheeks splotchy from crying.

Lower lip trembling, JongWoon placed the otter down and leaned against his friend. "Not that good," he admitted after a moment, a few more tears slipping down his cheeks as he sniffled. "You were right, Joon." 

"I didn't want to be," HyungJoon whispered, sniffling a little. "I was really hoping I misheard, that they were just joking or something. I'm so sorry JongWoon."

"I'm sorry too," JongWoon wibbled, wrapping his arms more securely around HyungJoon as he buried his face in his friends shoulder. "What are we supposed to do now, Joon?" 

"I don't know, I just want to kick JungMin's ass right about now for lying to me, and using me," HyungJoon said, his grip tightening on JongWoon's waist. "We didn't deserve this, not with everything that's going on."

"Why us, Joon?" JongWoon whispered, swallowing thickly. "We didn't do anything to them." He just didn't know what to do, wanting to leave the whole situation behind. Not be stuck on a small ship with a small crew, and have to see YoungSaeng again eventually. 

"Because we're human, and they hate humans," HyungJoon said, though he wasn't sure if he believed that. "We've still got each other right? We'll get through this."

"Yeah," JongWoon sniffed, keeping his eyes tightly shut. "We'll be fine. A-and after all this is over, they probably wouldn't want to stick around anyways..." He tried to keep his voice from wavering. 

"Probably not, why would they? Not like there's anything keeping them here," HyungJoon's tears started all over again, and he ducked his head down to rest against JongWoon's. "I think I was falling in love with him JongWoon," he whispered, shoulders shaking.

Lips quivering a little, JongWoon tilted his head to bury his nose against HyungJoon's neck. "Me too," he sniffled, holding onto the younger man tighter and rubbing one hand slowly along his back. "I'm so, so sorry Joon..." 

HyungJoon nodded, not trust his voice to try and say anything. All he could do was cry. Cling to his best friend and cry. All the while feeling so silly that he had let himself get so swept up by a good looking alien. He had never felt so stupid in his entire life.

When he was able to compose himself, he pulled back a little, wiping at his eyes with his hand. "Why don't you come back and stay in my room?"

Sitting up a little straighter, JongWoon tried to wipe away his tears as well, sniffling. He looked down at the otter plushie sitting on the bed beside him, and nodded. "Okay," he whispered, shakily standing. He'd have to apologize to RyeoWook later for leaving so suddenly, but he needed HyungJoon right now

"Let's just get some sleep, and try and forget about stupid aliens," HyungJoon said, standing up as well and putting a supportive arm around JongWoon's waist. "Did you need anything?" 

"No," JongWoon shook his head, wrapping his own arm around HyungJoon's shoulders. He just didn't want to think anymore. "Let's go," he whispered, heading towards the door and not leaving HyungJoon's side. 

"Okay," HyungJoon nodded, walking with him slowly out of the room and down the hall. "Did you want to say anything to RyeoWook? I'm sorry I kind of dragged you away like that."

"It's fine," JongWoon murmured. "I should...probably let him know he isn't being locked up in his room though." He looked to the closed door, pretty sure RyeoWook was still in the room.

Stopping as they reached the spy's room, JongWoon gave HyungJoon a trembly smile before knocking lightly, opening the door. "Wookie?"

RyeoWook got up from the bed, eyes wide with worry when he saw the tear tracks on their faces. "YeSung hyung? What happened?" he asked quietly, padding over.

"Found out some things," JongWoon shook his head, trying not to cry more. "I-I'll be in Joonie's room if you need anything, okay? See Zhou Mi in the kitchen if you're hungry."

"Okay hyung," RyeoWook nodded slowly, looking between them both. 

HyungJoon tried a shaky smile as he looked between RyeoWook and JongWoon. Hearing JongWoon's nickname reminded him again of what he had thought earlier. As they left the room and started down the hall again, he couldn't help but let that doubt seep in after everything that had happened already.

"JongWoon..." he asked just as they reached his room. "I'm...I... I wasn't like a replace friend for him, was I?"

"...Eh?" JongWoon blinked, looking at HyungJoon as they walked into the younger man's room. Realizing what HyungJoon was talking about, the negotiator's eyes widened and he shook his head. "No, no, never." He gripped HyungJoon's arms, making the younger man look at him.

"Wookie is like a brother to me, I didn't have many friends and he was the only one I didn't have to worry about trying to stab me in the back. I wasn't expecting to see him again, ever, so I'm a little overwhelmed."

He gave a trembly smile, running one hand through HyungJoon's hair. "But you're my _twin_ , Joon, remember? No one's more important to me than you. Not this ship, not stupid aliens, not Wookie." 

HyungJoon started crying all over again as he listened to JongWoon. The whole problem with JungMin and YoungSaeng was distorting his reason, he knew it. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be jealous, it was just so hard seeing you with him and I wasn't included, I'm sorry," he repeated, putting his arms around JongWoon's shoulders and hugged him tight. "I just can't lose you too."

Hugging him back, JongWoon sniffled a little, small fingers twining into the material of HyungJoon's shirt. "I'm not going anywhere, Joon ah. We'll always be best friends, we'll always be twins, okay?"

He pulled back a little after a moment, smiling at the younger man with glassy eyes. "I'm sorry if I wasn't including you...RyeoWook's going through a hard time too and he's pretty secretive, he doesn't like people he doesn't know hanging around when he's in those moods. But I think you'd get along with him if you give him a chance to relax a little." 

Nodding, HyungJoon straightened JongWoon's shirt, smoothing out any wrinkles. "Okay, yeah, I hope we do get along, not that he's going to be here for long," he said looking at JongWoon sadly. "Is he even really safe out here?"

"No, he isn't," JongWoon's eyes were pained. "And he knows he isn't. I'm really scared what's going to happen to him once we drop him off in Sylar territory." He sighed and went to sit down on the bed, bringing HyungJoon down with him. 

"And there's nothing we can do for him... not if we don't want every faction out on the hunt for us as well," HyungJoon sighed, leaning against JongWoon.

"I know," JongWoon sniffed, closing his eyes. "He chose to work with the Valis because he believes what the Federation is doing is wrong...and he's probably going to be killed for it, Joon," he whimpered, feeling fresh tears falling. 

"Well.. I don't think we're in a much better position," HyungJoon sighed, hugging JongWoon tight to him. "Maybe when this is all over we can see about getting him out of there"

"Yeah," JongWoon nodded a little, keeping his eyes closed. "Can we just go to sleep now?" he whispered, not wanting to think about any of this anymore. Not finding out he didn't mean anything to YoungSaeng, not worrying about RyeoWook's safety, not worrying about their own. 

"Okay, sleep it is," HyungJoon nodded, pulling back a little to pull the blankets back and lay them both down. "Tomorrow will be better," he whispered, hugging JongWoon close and burying his nose in his collar. "It has to be."

*****************************

The following morning was nearly as dark as the night before, the sound of a raging sandstorm cutting through the ship walls. Slowly stirring, JongWoon couldn't open his eyes for a minute, they stung too much to try. He felt absolutely horrible. Lying there, it took a moment to remember that the person he was wrapped around now wasn't YoungSaeng, and that he wasn't in the room he shared with the shifter.

Cracking an eye open, his lower lip quivered a little before he buried his face back against HyungJoon's hair, soaking in his best friend's comfort. They would get through this, they had to. 

JongWoon stirring in his arms brought HyungJoon around, and luckily he didn't hit him for waking him up like he usually did with JungMin. Sighing softly, he hugged JongWoon a bit tighter. "Hey, you sleep okay?"

"Not really," JongWoon murmured, fingers curling into HyungJoon's shirt. "Someone stuffed my head with cotton and needles. You?" 

"Same," HyungJoon grumbled, freeing one arm to rub at his head. He lay there for a moment just thinking about what to do. The sandstorm was still raging outside, and it was too small of a ship to avoid JungMin and YoungSaeng forever. "JongWoon... I know you're going to say this is a bad idea, but I think I want to go talk to JungMin today."

"Eh?" JongWoon pulled his face out of HyungJoon's hair to look down at him. His eyes were still red and puffy from the crying last night. "But...Joon, what are you going to say? That won't turn out good at all." JungMin and HyungJoon had trouble communicating even in the best of times, and he didn't want HyungJoon to be hurt anymore. 

"I don't know, well... no, I do know, but doesn't mean I'll be able to say it when I see him, but I have to try," HyungJoon said, smoothing down JongWoon's hair. "I just can't leave it like that. I need to know why they did that to us."

Sniffing a little, JongWoon nodded slowly, swallowing. "Okay," he whispered. "Can I...stay here?"

He didn't want to know why. He just didn't know if he could take it. 

"Of course, I shouldn't be gone long okay?" HyungJoon said, kissing the top of JongWoon's head before slowly sliding out of bed. "You want me to bring you back some breakfast?"

Nodding, JongWoon sat up and tried to flatten his messy hair. "Yes please...be careful, Joon," he whispered, watching him. 

"I'll be fine, you just stay here and relax," HyungJoon smiled, pulling his boots on and heading to the door. "Be back in a few." Closing the door, he put his hands in his pockets and headed down the hall. He had no idea where JungMin would have gone to stay for the night, so he was going to start with all the rooms close by first.

As luck would have it, YoungSaeng emerged from KyuJong's old room. Seeing HyungJoon, the older man's expression tightened and he turned to head down the hall away from him. Following, HyungJoon stopped at the door YoungSaeng had just left, taking a deep breath before he knocked.

Looking up, JungMin blinked at the knock. Was YoungSaeng back already? No, he would have just came in, not knocked. Standing up, he scrubbed one hand over his face before going to the door, thinking it was probably the Captain or KyuJong.

He wasn't expecting to see HyungJoon standing on the other side of the door. "...HyungJoon?" Biting the inside of his cheek and ignoring how his throat closed on him, he hesitantly opened the door wider. 

HyungJoon had come close to running when the door opened, but he came here with a purpose and he wasn't going to chicken out. Squaring his shoulders and lifting his chin up a bit, he glared at JungMin. "I just want to know why," he said calmly as he could muster. "Why you felt it necessary to play this game, to lie to me. Do you hate humans that much?"

Meeting HyungJoon's eyes, JungMin wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't expected HyungJoon to seek him out after that, expecting to have to track the younger man down himself no matter what arguments it started. Though this could still very well turn into a yelling match. No matter his intentions, JungMin's temper was impossible to contain sometimes, and he knew he would regret it if he ended up arguing with HyungJoon now.

Drawing in a breath, the redhead didn't look away from HyungJoon's angry eyes. "I don't hate a single human on this ship," he said quietly. "And I don't hate you. Not once did I lie to you, Joon." 

"Is that so?" HyungJoon snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "Somehow I just don't believe that. So tell me something then JungMin, since you've never lied to me, then you didn't choose me as a target like you did with KyuJong?"

JungMin knew he'd have to be careful with this. "It was an idea at the beginning," he admitted. "That's how YoungSaeng and I have always been, so I did have the idea of you being another target at first." He was going to tell the truth, no matter what.

"But when I said I wanted to give being with you a try...I didn't mean it as a target." 

HyungJoon's eyes narrowed at that, masking the confusion he felt over what JungMin was saying. "You're not making any sense. Either I'm a target, or I'm not. You just said that I was, but now you're saying that I'm not? What do you want from me?"

JungMin blew his hair out of his eyes, closing them for a moment before reopening them. "You _were_ a target, well before we started anything. But people aren't supposed to actually have feelings for their targets," he said quietly, looking down. 

That startled HyungJoon a bit, and he shifted back slightly. "Feelings? You're trying to tell me you have feelings for me now?" Any other time and that might have made him happy, but now? He didn't know what to think. There was something in the way JungMin was standing though that sparked a small amount of hope. "You're.. not just messing with me right?" he asked quietly.

The corners of JungMin's lips quirked slightly. "Why would I be making such a horribly sappy statement just to mess with you, idiot." 

"I don't know," HyungJoon shifted uncomfortably. "I just... you could have told me all this beforehand, and not hear you and Saeng bragging about it. I didn't know what to think."

"We weren't bragging about anything, we were just confused how two of the Federation's best alien assassins could be completely outdone by a pair of silly humans," JungMin snorted, though he gave a tentative smile. "Especially since we'd decided not long before that relationships were to be avoided. That idea went down the drain pretty fast." 

"Yah, we're not silly humans," HyungJoon protested with a pout, but it was wavering into a bit of a smile. "So... I probably should have let you guys explain before yelling like that huh?"

"Yes, but then again since when have our conversations ever ended without a yelling match," JungMin sighed, relaxing a little at the hint of a smile he could see. "Do you...want to come in, rather than stand in the doorway?" They had a lot to talk about. 

HyungJoon glanced down the hall towards his door, wondering what JongWoon would think before he nodded. "Okay, we should probably talk now.. not yell huh?"

"Yes, no yelling, we'll do our best anyways," JungMin stepped to one side to let HyungJoon in. "Just keep in mind I'm a little new to this 'relationship' idea, I'll try not to say anything too stupid." 

"That'd be a first," HyungJoon said, stepping into the room. He sat down on the edge of the bed, hands on his knees. "Okay, so... why don't you explain what this game thing is all about then?"

Blinking at him, JungMin sat down after closing the door. "It was just that, a game...we got bored easily, and there wasn't much else for us to do on the ship at the beginning. We had no attachments to anyone, didn't have any belongings or anything to occupy our time with...and okay, we like to meddle in things. So when things were going badly between HyunJoong and KyuJong, we were sleeping with them on the side. They knew we weren't serious about any of it, they weren't either, so it was fine." 

"And then... what? They got tired of you two and went back to each other so you went after me and JongWoon?" HyungJoon asked, giving JungMin a look. "That's kind of... mean you know? We weren't aware it was a game. Did the Captain and Kyu know it was a game?"

"They didn't get tired of us, we were just stand-ins until they figured out what they were doing with each other," JungMin rolled his eyes. "We got sex out of it, so we weren't complaining. And it helped HyunJoong get his head on straight at the same time, so it all worked out."

He shook his head a little. "Like I said...we had the _idea_ of going after you two, but the reasons why we actually _did_ go after you weren't related to the game at all. Even if we pretended they were at first because neither of us know what the hell to do about actually _liking_ someone." 

HyungJoon took a deep breath, looking down at his hands that were clasped together in his lap. "So... you _do_ like me then?" he asked quietly. "This isn't just some elaborate ruse... you have actual feelings for me?"

"Yes, I do, how many times do I need to say it," JungMin groaned. "I don't care about elaborate ruses, take too much time and effort. If games were all I wanted, I would have made it clear. And _you_ were the one pressing to sleep together, not me, remember?" He rubbed his temple a little. "I was trying to get it across that sex wasn't all I was interested in from you, but I guess that didn't work very well," he muttered. 

"It's...it has nothing to do with the sex," HyungJoon said, clenching his hands slightly. "If that's what you had wanted from the beginning, then that's fine. This wouldn't be a big deal. It was more that I felt like I had been lied to, and that hurt me a lot."

"I didn't lie to you," JungMin sighed, pushing his hair back. "Not once. The only thing I did wrong was not tell you about KyuJong. I'm sorry, okay?" There was a defeated note in his voice. "I'm sorry."

HyungJoon laughed softly, shaking his head. "You know I'd wondered why you and he were even friends, guess that kind of explains what happened there," he said, looking up at JungMin. "Even though you were being an idiot, I forgive you." 

"Who was the one who jumped to conclusions without letting us say anything?" JungMin pouted, but the corners of his lips quirked slightly. Seeing they'd reached some sort of an understanding, he cautiously scooted a little closer on the bed, wary he might be suddenly punched. 

"Who was the one who didn't say anything about sleeping with other crew members in the first place?" HyungJoon countered, but didn't say anything about JungMin moving closer. "There's nothing else you're hiding from me is there? You weren't sleeping with JongWoon behind my back or anything right?"

"Ew, no. One, YoungSaeng would probably have my head. Two, just, no." JungMin shook his head hard. 

"Ew?" HyungJoon blinked at him, though he was a little relieved. "Why ew? That's my best friend you know."

"Yes, and I'm still saying ew." JungMin gave him a pained look. "Contrary to popular belief, I am _not_ tempted to sleep with anything that walks." 

"Guess that makes me special then?" HyungJoon asked, his lips curling in amusement.

"No need to get a fat head," JungMin snorted, but he was smiling again. "So, are we...okay now?" 

"We're... getting there," HyungJoon said, smiling as well. "I just want you to promise me that you tell me things that come up like this, okay? I mean I don't need your history or anything, but anything that could come up that would surprise me, I'd like to know."

"Okay, I can promise that," JungMin nodded. "I'll try my best. I guess...that's what people in relationships do, huh?" 

"Yeah, it's called communication," HyungJoon said, tapping JungMin on the nose. "If we want this to work, we have to be honest with each other... and that means there's something I should tell you too."

Wrinkling his nose, JungMin blinked at him. "Like what?" 

"That um.. JongWoon and I, before you and me that is, we were sleeping together," HyungJoon said, wringing his hands a little. "We stopped just before you and I got together."

Blinking in surprise at that, the redhead nodded slowly. "...Okay..." That was...very weird to think about. "...I thought humans frowned on incest?" 

"...Incest?" HyungJoon looked at him in utter confusion. "We're not _brothers_ you sicko. I have a brother already thank you and that's just _wrong_."

"It's just you two are practically identical twins as it is, blood relation doesn't really matter in this case." JungMin gave him a pained expression. "At least we're even now, me with Kyu and you with...your twin. That's just _weird_." 

"Why is it so weird? He and I liked each other for a time, you said it yourself that you thought he and I were together," HyungJoon bristled. "Fine, we're even. Let's not talk about who we've slept with before again, okay?"

"Deal," JungMin shivered. "This communication thing can be scary." He flopped back onto the bed. 

"Yeah well, get used to it," HyungJoon grumbled, poking him in the side. "I should probably get back to JongWoon and see how he's doing."

"Yeah," JungMin nodded, poking him back and propping himself on his elbows. "...Should I be not sneaking into your room for the next while?" 

"Umm... I'll let you know, okay?" HyungJoon said, getting to his feet. "Maybe I can smooth things over for JongWoon and YoungSaeng.... as long as YoungSaeng's story is the same as yours?"

"It is," JungMin nodded, watching him. "He doesn't think of JongWoon as a target, or a game." 

"Okay, good, I'll go talk to JongWoon then," HyungJoon nodded, heading for the door. When he stepped out into the hall, YoungSaeng was down at his door, knocking.

Hearing the knock at the door, JongWoon looked up, wondering if HyungJoon was back. Maybe he had his hands full. Scrubbing at his eyes, JongWoon stood up and padded to the door, opening it.

The second he saw who was knocking, red-rimmed eyes widening slightly, the negotiator quickly closed the door again. 

YoungSaeng wasn't even surprised when JongWoon shut the door in his face, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt any less. "JongWoon... please let me explain," he said, knocking again. "Please..." 

"I'll talk to him Saeng," HyungJoon said when he approached, the shifter not even looking towards him. "JungMin explained, so... I'll talk to him, okay?"

Jaw clenching, YoungSaeng nodded and turned away, heading down the hall back to where JungMin was. HyungJoon watched him go. That wasn't the walk of someone who was playing games. YoungSaeng looked absolutely despondent. If JungMin's words hadn't assured him, then seeing that did. Sighing, HyungJoon opened his door and looked in. "Hey..."

JongWoon had retreated back to the bed, not quite managing to stop tears from reappearing. He didn't want to talk to YoungSaeng. He just wanted to be left alone.

Hearing HyungJoon's voice, he looked up at his best friend. "Is he gone?" he whispered. 

"Yeah, he's gone," HyungJoon nodded, closing the door behind him and sitting down on the bed. "Um... well I talked to JungMin, and... we should have let them explain JongWoon. It's not what it sounded like."

Tears falling faster, JongWoon shook his head slowly. "I don't want to hear any of their excuses, Joon," he whispered, clutching a pillow to his chest. "I really don't. I gave him a chance, because he said I m-meant something to him, but I don't. Why would I?" 

"But you do, I could see it in the way he looked after you shut the door," HyungJoon said, shifting closer. "He does care about you, it's just a misunderstanding, that's all this is."

"No he doesn't!" JongWoon's voice cracked a little. "You said it yourself, and they admitted to it, you heard them!" He stood up, moving away. "They don't actually care, they were just using us. They can say all the pretty words they want, but they used us. I don't want to be used anymore, Joon, never." 

HyungJoon actually flinched back at JongWoon's words. "They weren't using us! They weren't lying about sleeping with HyunJoong and Kyu, but that's not the whole story. JungMin actually admitted to me that he has feelings for me JongWoon. They're not using us."

"How do you know that's not just to get your favor back?" JongWoon countered. It was clear he wasn't thinking straight, shoulders shaking as he clung to the pillow almost hard enough to tear it. "If we're targets, why would that have changed any? They're just saying what you want to hear." He turned away from his friend. "Please Joon, just stop." 

Getting to his feet, HyungJoon pulled JongWoon around to look at him. "Look, I'm just as skeptical as you are about everything okay? You honestly think I would believe what he had to say if I thought for one second he was trying to pull the wool over my eyes? Just... talk to YoungSaeng, listen to what he has to say. He _cares_ for you JongWoon, I know he does."

"Stop saying that," JongWoon kept shaking his head, eyes glassy with tears. "I can't, Joon, I just can't." He stepped back out of HyungJoon's hold, wiping at his eyes in vain as he retreated to the door. 

"Why are you so unwilling to just listen? Where's the harm in just listening to what he has to say?" HyungJoon followed after him. "They could have just as easily lied about using as targets, but they didn't, they told the truth. They have always told us the truth JongWoon, and how many times has YoungSaeng said that he cared about you?"

"Listening's never helped me, I just keep ending up back in the same situation over and over again. I don't care what he has to say, I'm tired of being tricked and lied to and used." JongWoon pulled the door open, stepping out of the room. "Just leave me alone, please." 

HyungJoon watched him go helplessly. What else could he do? JongWoon didn't want to listen to him, or anyone. "I would never lie to you JongWoon, or let anyone else lie to you. I'd kick their ass."

JongWoon could only shake his head, unable to speak past the constriction in his throat before hurrying off down the hallway, stumbling over nothing as he wiped at his eyes. 

"Well... that couldn't have gone worse," HyungJoon sighed, putting his hands in his pockets and heading back down to the room JungMin and YoungSaeng were staying in for the time being. Knocking on the door first and opening it, he saw YoungSaeng was back in the room with JungMin. HyungJoon gave YoungSaeng a pained smile. "I'm sorry, I tried. He doesn't even to listen to me."

YoungSaeng nodded, looking down at his hands. "Thank you for trying at least."

Looking at them both, JungMin rubbed YoungSaeng's back slowly, biting on his lower lip. "What now, then?" he asked quietly. "Give him time to cool down?" 

"I guess, not much else we can do," HyungJoon said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "He ran away from me, and I think he's mad at me now."

"It's up to him to believe," YoungSaeng said softly. "I'm not going to try and force him. I just wanted to apologize, that was all. If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone please."

Looking at YoungSaeng with concern, JungMin frowned before sighing, squeezing YoungSaeng's shoulder lightly. "I'll be just outside, okay?" he murmured, standing after a moment and nudging HyungJoon's foot before walking to the door. 

YoungSaeng nodded, laying down on the bed and curling up. HyungJoon watched him for a second before getting up and following JungMin out into the hall. Closing the door, he looked at JungMin with a frown. "I don't like just leaving it like this," he said softly.

JungMin leaned against the wall, shaking his head. "Neither do I, but what are we supposed to do? I don't know JongWoon as well as you do, and if he isn't listening to you..." 

"Then the only person he'd listen to is the Captain, and we probably shouldn't get him involved in this," HyungJoon said, crossing his arms and started to pace.

"It isn't something the Captain can really give orders on," JungMin frowned. "Order him to listen to YoungSaeng? I don't think that would work," he sighed, watching HyungJoon pace. 

"No, probably not, we just need to get them into a room together, one that JongWoon can't run out of," HyungJoon said, thinking. "Then he'd have to listen right?"

"If stuck there long enough, I guess so," the redhead replied, watching him. "I don't think stuffing them both in a closet again would have the desired effect." 

"No, probably not," HyungJoon shook his head. "Especially if JongWoon thinks it's us doing it, then he'll just be pissed. No, we need to do it so neither of them are aware of what's going on. But how?" He looked up at JungMin. "I need to talk to the Captain..."

"He's probably in his room with Kyu still," JungMin nodded down the hallways. "I'm staying here, in case Saeng needs someone." 

"Okay, I'll be back in a bit," HyungJoon said, giving JungMin a small smile before trotting down the hall. At HyunJoong's door, he knocked a couple of times and waited. He had an idea, but he needed the captain to help.

Hearing the knock, HyunJoong shifted just enough to bury his face against KyuJong's shoulder, promptly going right back to sleep. One thing KyuJong had not had any influence on was the fact that he slept like the dead. 

Unlike his boyfriend, KyuJong was a light sleeper, and at the knock he opened his eyes and looked towards the door. Rolling over, he poked at HyunJoong's sides for a moment before it became clear the man wasn't getting up to get the door. "You're impossible," he grumbled, giving up and getting to his feet, pulling on his clothes as he padded over and opened the door. "Yes?"

"Hey, Kyu, sorry to bother you guys, but there's a little problem and I kind of need the Captain.. is he awake?" HyungJoon asked, shifting from foot to foot nervously.

"No, he's impersonating a rock," KyuJong sighed, looking over his shoulder. "Hyun, wake up, you need to be the captain," he said, leaving the door and crawling back up onto the bed to poke at HyunJoong some more. "Wake up."

Stirring reluctantly at the insistent pokes, HyunJoong would have just pulled KyuJong back down and made him leave him alone. But then 'captain' got through and he cracked one eye open after a moment, blinking blearily at KyuJong. "Hm?"

Looking towards the door, he saw HyungJoon and sat up slowly, the blanket slipping down into his lap. "HyungJoon?" 

"Sorry Captain, but I have a problem, can I come in?" HyungJoon asked, looking away when he realized HyunJoong wasn't wearing anything. "It's... important."

"Don't mind me, I'm just going back to sleep," KyuJong yawned, curling back up under the blankets.

Chuckling at his boyfriend, HyunJoong returned his attention to HyungJoon. "Give me a moment." Leaning over, he picked up his boxers from the floor beside the bed, changing into them quickly and pulling on his shirt.

"Okay, come in. What's wrong?" 

Stepping into the room, HyungJoon closed the door behind him and started to pace. "So, yesterday, I overheard JungMin and YoungSaeng talking about... something, something not very nice concerning well, you two," he said, wincing slightly. "And it included JongWoon and myself as well so I went and told JongWoon without really hearing the whole story. So now JongWoon and YoungSaeng are broken up, and JongWoon isn't talking to me or to anyone really and won't listen to me when I say it was all just a misunderstanding so I kind of need your help to get them talking again."

Blinking at that, HyunJoong frowned. That was a little more drastic than what he and KyuJong had thought was going to happen when things started getting tense the day before.

"I'm not sure what you want me to do to help. He listens to you more than he listens to me." 

"We just need to get them into a room where JongWoon can't run away so YoungSaeng can apologize, that's all he wanted to do," HyungJoon said.

"That sounds familiar," KyuJong murmured from within the pile of blankets.

"There's no guarantee that will work twice," HyunJoong said, glancing down at KyuJong. "Most likely we'll be the ones in trouble." He frowned thoughtfully, leaning back against the headboard as he pondered that.

The sound of the raging sandstorm outside made him think of something. "Did we decide who was going to pick up that cargo once the storm dies down? YoungSaeng and RyeoWook?" 

"Yeah, but I don't think RyeoWook's going to want to listen to...oh!" HyungJoon blinked and looked at HyunJoong with wide eyes. "You mean, send JongWoon and YoungSaeng instead? That could work, right?"

"It might," HyunJoong nodded. "I'll have to speak with RyeoWook and make sure it's possible for someone else to go in his place, or if he needs to be present to pick up the cargo. But if he's JongWoon's friend, then he might be willing to help out." He looked towards the window, darkness outside. "We still can't do much until this storm dies down...but if they haven't talked by then, it might work." 

Nodding, HyungJoon chewed on his lip. "Maybe, hopefully, I just... I feel like it's my fault for telling him that stuff in the first place without finding out the truth. They really do like each other..."

"If they do like each other, then they'll work it out once JongWoon's listened to YoungSaeng," HyunJoong sighed. "We'll just have to make sure JongWoon actually listens." 

"Well if they're stuck in a shuttle together for a bit, then hopefully he'd have to listen," HyungJoon said. "Thanks Captain, I'll get going," he said, nodding to them both before heading to the door. Once he had closed the door, KyuJong pulled the blankets down from over his face.

"Wonder what was so bad that someone like JongWoon could be mad at someone," KyuJong said with a frown.

"No idea," HyunJoong murmured, looking down at him. "JongWoon's a little quirky at times, but he's too mellow to really get mad. Hopefully he'll have some time to cool down and they'll be able to resolve this on their own." 

"Hopefully," KyuJong nodded, glancing at the clock. "How much longer you think this storm is going to last? It's giving me a headache."

"No idea, never been on this planet before. Sandstorms on desert planets can go anywhere from an hour to several days," HyunJoong shrugged. "Well, I'm going to go to the station later and get those medical supplies since it looks like JongWoon's not in any state to be doing negotiating right now." 

"Sounds good, though I hope you meant later as in not now," KyuJong said with a smile, reaching out to take HyunJoong's hand and tug on it. "I think we can rest for a bit longer."

"I guess so," HyunJoong quirked a smile in return, sliding back down and wrapping one arm around KyuJong's waist, kissing his lips.

 

******************************46**************************************

 

JungMin shuffled a little in front of the door, glancing down the hallway when he heard HyungJoon coming back. "How did it go." 

"Good, I think," HyungJoon said, glancing at the closed door. "HyunJoong's going to order JongWoon and YoungSaeng to go on the supply mission together, as long as RyeoWook gives the okay on him not going that is."

"Hopefully that works," JungMin sighed, looking back at the door as well and keeping his voice low. "Saeng still hasn't come back out." He was restraining the urge to go inside, hands clenching and unclenching nervously at his sides. 

"Maybe he just needs a bit more time," HyungJoon said softly, his eyes concerned. "Have you ever seen him like this before? This upset?"

"Not since we were kidnapped," JungMin shook his head, looking back at HyungJoon before returning his gaze to the door. "Saengie doesn't get emotional over things, especially relationship things." 

HyungJoon was about to say something when the door opened, YoungSaeng looking out between them. He didn't say anything, but he looked JungMin in the eyes before turning and heading back into the room, leaving the door open.

"I guess I'll be in my room," HyungJoon said softly, watching YoungSaeng lay back down on the bed.

"Yeah," JungMin murmured, sighing softly, as he glanced at HyungJoon. "I'll...see you later."

Stepping into the room, he shut the door behind him and went to sit down on the bed beside YoungSaeng. "Saengie?" 

"He wouldn't even let me say anything," YoungSaeng murmured, looking up at JungMin. "He just shut the door in my face. Am I really that horrible? Is what I did, how I lived my life, just that horrible?"

JungMin sighed, shaking his head. "You're not horrible, Saeng. It's how we've always been, it wasn't as if we ever had much reason to think about relationships with our situation." 

"I don't like this Min, I don't like this feeling of pain, like my heart is breaking in my chest," YoungSaeng whispered, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I don't know how to deal with this."

Biting his lower lip, JungMin laid down on the bed beside YoungSaeng and wrapped his arms around the older man in a hug. "We'll figure something out, okay?" he whispered. "Give him a bit of space to think. Pain takes time to heal, any kind of pain." His heart ached for his friend.

Burying his face in JungMin's chest, YoungSaeng's shoulders shook at the sobs he couldn't hold back. "I love him Min, why doesn't he believe me?"

"I'm sorry Saeng," JungMin closed his eyes, rubbing one hand along YoungSaeng's back. He had to fight back tears of his own, wishing there was something he could do for his friend. "I'd drag him here and make him listen if I could, but if he isn't even listening to HyungJoon, then he isn't thinking clearly. He adores you Saeng, anyone can see it, just let him figure out what's what."

YoungSaeng loved JongWoon...it caught JungMin by surprise, though not as much as it probably should have. Though he wished his friend could have realized that at a happier time. 

"Thank you," YoungSaeng sniffled, his fingers curling into JungMin's shirt. "I'm glad for you and Joon, that you were able to figure things out. You're good for each other."

JungMin's lips quirked a little. "Glad you think there's something else there besides the yelling matches. Hopefully things will be better now." He kissed YoungSaeng's forehead softly. "You and JongWoon are good together too, Saeng. It'll be fine. JongWoon's a little loopy anyways, remember? He might need to run into the doorframe a few times first." 

YoungSaeng let out a watery laugh at that, rubbing at his eyes. "Maybe," he murmured, looking up at JungMin. "I guess I should just wait for him to come to me then."

"Yeah," JungMin smiled down at him softly as he wiped away stray tears. "And to think just months ago you swore you'd never fall in love with anyone short of a rich, handsome alien who wanted more than to pamper you all day."

“I was doomed from that moment on,” YoungSaeng sighed as he picked at JungMin's collar. “I guess that means you'll be transforming into a horse now for me?”

"Not right now, I'll probably break the bed," JungMin sniffed. "I shouldn't have said that, I was just jinxing myself."

“We both were,” YoungSaeng said, closing his eyes. “You don't have to stay here you know, I was thinking about going and getting something to eat. You and HyungJoon should probably spend some time together.”

"I'm not going to leave you alone," JungMin shook his head. "What kind of friend would I be? Come on, let's see if Zhou Mi's cooking something then," he sat up, pulling YoungSaeng up with him. 

YoungSaeng sat up a little reluctantly, pouting at JungMin. "You're not going to obsessively mother over me are you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," JungMin sniffed. "I'm being a good friend, aren't I?" He stood up, pulling on YoungSaeng's hands. 

"Yes, you are being a good friend, and I appreciate it," YoungSaeng said, getting to his feet. "But I don't want to be in the way."

"You're not in the way, don't even get that idea in your head," JungMin tweaked YoungSaeng's nose. "Now, are we getting food or what?" 

"Yeah, let's get some food," YoungSaeng nodded, swatting at JungMin's hand for the nose tweak. "What about HyungJoon?"

"I think he's in his room. Should I drag him along?" He walked to the door, looking back at YoungSaeng. 

"Sure, why not?" YoungSaeng nodded, following JungMin out into the hall. "And you don't need to worry about me Min, if you want to spend time with him I understand."

"I'll be able to spend lots of time with him once you and the failboat are back to acting like mushy lovebirds," JungMin replied, heading down towards HyungJoon's room. Knocking on the door, he rubbed one hand along YoungSaeng's back slowly. 

HyungJoon opened the door slowly, looking out. "...Hi?" he said quietly. "Everything okay?"

"We're going to get something to eat, would you like to join us?" YoungSaeng asked, resisting the urge to lean against JungMin standing next to him.

"Uh... sure?" HyungJoon looked to JungMin, making sure that was okay.

JungMin quirked a smile. "Come on, let's see what there is to eat." He stepped aside so he wasn't blocking the door. "Not much to do anyways while the sand storm's still going." 

"No, except listen to the wind," HyungJoon said, stepping out and following after the shifters towards the mess hall. "You know how much sand we're going to be cleaning out of the engines once it's passed? It's going to be a nightmare."

"Sand planets are some of the worst," JungMin groaned. "Besides the volcano planets, and ones with acid rain. You ever get stuck on a ship with a death wish on an acid planet? Not fun." 

"... Acid rain?" HyungJoon's eyes widened. "Wait, what do you mean a ship with a death wish?"

"You've been out here long enough HyungJoon, you don't think there's such things as sentient ships?" YoungSaeng mused, glancing at him as they entered the mess hall.

"...He's joking right?" HyungJoon asked, looking to JungMin. "Right?"

"Is he?" JungMin smirked. "It would get rid of half the work to have a ship that could avoid asteroids and stay on course by itself, no?"

"Unless it decides it wants to dump everyone on it into space." KyuHyun was perched on one of the counters in the kitchen, swinging his legs back and forth. 

"No, there's no way there's such thing as a living ship," HyungJoon said, shaking his head. "Not going to believe it until I see it for myself."

"Suit yourself," YoungSaeng shrugged, taking a seat at the table. "You making lunch Zhou Mi?"

"Yes, it shouldn't be long," Zhou Mi called from the kitchen.

Sitting down next to YoungSaeng, JungMin placed his chin in one hand, lips pursed. There had been no sign of JongWoon on the walk here, he was probably hiding somewhere. "The idea's not _that_ far-fetched," he grinned at HyungJoon, taking great amusement in the expression on the human's face. 

YoungSaeng leaned his head against JungMin's shoulder and closed his eyes. He was trying to not let the situation get to him, but he wasn't in the mood for goofing off. Sitting down across from them, HyungJoon frowned slightly, looking between the two shifters in worry.

"JongWoon not joining you?" Zhou Mi had come out of the kitchen, plates in hand and set them down in front of the three.

"No." YoungSaeng said simply, lips pursed.

"Is he okay?" the gecko asked, blinking a bit at them.

"I don't know!" YoungSaeng snapped, getting to his feet. "I'm sorry, I'm not hungry anymore," he said lowly, and headed for the door.

"Saeng, wait." JungMin quickly got up, following the older man. Outside in the hallway, he caught YoungSaeng's arm and stopped him from going any further. "Calm down, okay? This isn't helping anything." This was a first, _him_ telling YoungSaeng to calm down.

"Mi doesn't know, Saeng, it was an innocent question." 

Taking a shaky breath, YoungSaeng covered his eyes with his hand and leaned against JungMin's chest. "I can't do this Min, I can't pretend everything is okay," he said softly. "I don't like these emotions."

"You don't have to pretend everything's okay," JungMin sighed, wrapping his arms around YoungSaeng and resting his head against the older man's. "Just try not to explode at anyone, cause then you're going to feel worse. It'll be fine, okay?" 

"You don't know that," YoungSaeng whispered, fingers curling into JungMin's shirt. "And if this is what it's like to be in a relationship and to have feelings, then I don't want it."

Frowning lightly, JungMin looked down at the older man. "So none of the relationship was worth it? If you could go back to being happy with him, it's not worth a few moments like this?" 

"Nothing is worth this pain," YoungSaeng replied, keeping his head down. "I tried, it didn't work. I'm an emotional wreck over a silly human. This is not me, Min."

"No, it's not you, but neither is running away with your tail between your legs over a misunderstanding," JungMin sighed. He tucked one hand under YoungSaeng's chin, making him look up. "You just finished telling me you're in love with him. And he must have some strong feelings for you to have taken this so badly. You really want to just toss everything away because he's under the impression you were just toying with him, and is too hurt to even listen to his best friend right now?" 

"I'm not thinking clearly Min, I shouldn't have let him get so close," YoungSaeng said, shaking his head. "Whatever this feeling is I have right now will go away, that's how it should be."

"..." JungMin sighed, shoulders dropping. "No, you're not thinking clearly." And there was nothing he could do about it, YoungSaeng was stubborn. "Come on, let's eat something, you'll feel better when you're not on an empty stomach." 

YoungSaeng nodded, smiling hesitantly up at JungMin. "Okay, but if anyone else brings up JongWoon, I'm going back to my room."

"Kinda hard when there's only so many people on the ship, but whatever you say," JungMin sighed, kissing YoungSaeng's forehead and wrapping his arm around his friend's shoulders, bringing him back into the mess hall. "Food's not cold yet, is it?" 

"I can heat it up again," Zhou Mi said, shuffling nervously at the table, picking up the plates and scurrying back into the kitchen. YoungSaeng sat back down, feeling much calmer about everything now that he'd come to his decision. He wasn't going to let thoughts of JongWoon keep him from doing what needed to be done.

"Sorry, I started without you," HyungJoon said, poking at his half eaten meal. He glanced at JungMin, wondering what had happened since YoungSaeng seemed to be acting more like himself.

Frowning back a little at HyungJoon, JungMin gave a slight shake of his head while YoungSaeng's attention was elsewhere. KyuHyun blinked at them all, opening his mouth to say something before thinking better of it and just retreating to the kitchen with Zhou Mi.

"Well, the storm sounds like it's easing up a little," JungMin sighed, returning his attention to his friend. The racket outside the ship wasn't as deafening as it was before. 

"That's good, maybe we'll be able to leave soon then," YoungSaeng said, smiling appreciatively when Zhou Mi brought their plates back out. The gecko murmured an apology before retreating to the kitchen again.

"Well, it'll take a couple days to get the sand flushed out of the system," HyungJoon said cautiously. "Plus there's the supply run."

"Oh right, I had forgot about the supply run," YoungSaeng sighed, poking at his food. "Maybe I can talk to the Captain about someone else going. I don't think it would be a good idea for me to be going with JongWoon's friend, who knows what he's said about me."

JungMin glanced towards HyungJoon, before shrugging. "We'll figure that out when we get to it. Though in the time it takes to get to the other end of the planet and back, that should be enough time to get all the sand out of the engine." He really hoped the Captain would go through with their idea, it looked like it was going to be needed if both sides weren't cooperating now. 

"Yeah, if enough people help it shouldn't take that long," HyungJoon nodded. "Though you know talking to RyeoWook wouldn't be so bad though, maybe JongWoon would be more willing to listen to him?"

"Why should I care? Let JongWoon do whatever it is he wants," YoungSaeng said, not looking up. HyungJoon blinked in confusion a that. "This is very good Mi, thank you," YoungSaeng called back to the kitchen where the gecko had been poking his head out.

JungMin's frown deepened a little, but he bit his tongue to refrain from saying anything. "There's enough people here to clean up the ship pretty fast. Though don't count on GyuRi to help, she wouldn't want to get sand under her nails." 

"Why is she here exactly if she doesn't actually do anything on the ship?" HyungJoon asked.

"GyuRi goes where she wants to go, and stars help whoever gets in their way," YoungSaeng chuckled softly.

"That's a pixie for you," JungMin snorted.

*************************

The sandstorm eased up throughout the afternoon, the noise outside the ship dying down. Three hours later the sky was clear again, and though there was now a huge mess in the engines to clean up, the end of the storm meant they could launch the shuttle again.

It had taken a bit of time to get RyeoWook on his own earlier (it turned out JongWoon had been in the spy's room, and HyunJoong could hardly explain the situation with the negotiator right there. Thankfully it didn't take much for the tiny spy to agree to play along.

"This is going to be fun," HyunJoong remarked wryly to KyuJong, picking up his personal com and turning away from the monitors on the bridge. He sighed softly before turning it on. "YoungSaeng, could you come up to the bridge?"

RyeoWook would be bringing JongWoon in later, but that was only half of the problem. Hopefully JungMin would decide to tag along for damage control. 

" _On my way_ ," YoungSaeng replied through the com.

"You going to tell them before you shove them into the ship together?" KyuJong asked, going through the ships sensors in case anything had been severely damaged from the storm.

"I think if I didn't, they'd just refuse to start the shuttle and stay in the bay," HyunJoong sighed. "JongWoon will be here in a few minutes, I'll tell them at the same time. JongWoon doesn't like starting fusses when we're talking about serious issues, so he'll hopefully keep his mouth shut. And YoungSaeng...well, I told HyungJoon to tell JungMin if he doesn't show up he's going to be hogtied and given to GyuRi as a dress-up doll." 

KyuJong snorted and looked over at HyunJoong. "Part of me is hoping he doesn't show up then," he chuckled, turning back to the monitors. "You think this will work?"

"Honestly, no idea," HyunJoong sighed, head in one hand. "If they haven't killed each other by the time they get back, it'll be a miracle. Though I do hope something's resolved from this, they obviously like each other. Bad time for JongWoon to finally get a stubborn streak." He quirked a wry smile at KyuJong. "I'm about to play 'evil captain', wish me luck." 

"I'll be watching," KyuJong grinned, glancing over his shoulder when he heard the hatch open, YoungSaeng stepping through.

"You wanted to see me captain?" the shifter asked. "Is this about the supply run?"

Sitting up straight again, HyunJoong nodded. "It is." He saw JungMin poke his head into the bridge after him. "Why don't you both sit down?"

As JungMin pulled YoungSaeng to a seat, HyunJoong looked over a monitor before turning back to them. "The storm's gone, so the shuttle's being prepared for the run right now. With the rest of the crew working on cleaning the sand out of the engines, we should be ready to leave the planet once you return." 

"Good, I have one request though captain," YoungSaeng said, frowning slightly. "I don't think I should go with RyeoWook for.. personal reasons. Would it be possible for someone else to go with me?"

Well, that was easier than expected. HyunJoong appeared to consider that for a moment, tapping one hand against the metal. "I think we could do that. I've spoken more with RyeoWook about the nature of the trip, and he himself isn't needed to pick up the supplies. He is a little iffy about letting someone else go in his place though, because the miners in the area like trying to get away with more than they're allowed."

He looked at the time. "I asked him to come up as well, to brief you both, he'll be here in a minute and then we can figure out who should go in his place." 

"Thank you Captain," YoungSaeng smiled, sitting back in his seat. He looked over at JungMin with a frown. "That probably means you won't be coming though, you'll be needed in engineering. Maybe I can take SungMin."

"Maybe," JungMin shrugged, biting the inside of his cheek. Oh, this would be interesting. "The fuzzball complains about getting sand in his fur often enough."

HyunJoong glanced at KyuJong beside him, giving an inward sigh as the bridge door opened. RyeoWook bowed a little as he stepped in, JongWoon right behind him. The negotiator looked more composed now at least, though his face was still flushed a little too much, especially around his eyes.

The second JongWoon looked up from the floor and saw YoungSaeng there, he tried to backpedal out of the room, mouth opening to make up an excuse.

"What are you doing JongWoon, get back in here," HyunJoong motioned at him. "I need to talk to you about the medical supplies anyways."

Looking like a fish out of water, JongWoon looked at RyeoWook who smiled reassuringly at him before shuffling back into the room, gaze firmly fixed on the floor. 

YoungSaeng stiffened slightly when JongWoon came in, but remained calm. Of course RyeoWook would bring him, since they seemed attached at the hip now. That didn't mean anything though, and YoungSaeng could ignore him easily enough. "I was thinking SungMin could go with me instead," YoungSaeng said to HyunJoong and RyeoWook, avoiding looking at JongWoon altogether.

"SungMin...sshi?" RyeoWook blinked at that, looking at HyunJoong.

"The fox anthro," HyunJoong clarified.

"I...don't know about that," RyeoWook frowned. "The miners are more than a little rough around the edges, I don't think they would appreciate _anything_ coming from a...a..."

"Miniature white fuzzball?" JungMin supplied, seeing how RyeoWook was having trouble thinking of a diplomatically-correct way of saying it.

"Yes," RyeoWook winced. "For SungMin sshi's safety, though I'm sure he can take care of himself, it wouldn't be advisable." 

"That probably leaves the flesheater out as well," KyuJong supplied, looking up from his work. "Or the geckos, and there's no point in even asking GyuRi."

"That just leaves JungMin and the humans," YoungSaeng said with a frown. "JungMin and HyungJoon will be working on the engine. You probably need to stay on board Captain, so then KyuJong?"

"I have work to do unfortunately," KyuJong shook his head, turning back to the monitors.

"That's narrowing down our options a lot," HyunJoong frowned, looking at them. His eyes landed on the oldest of the group, carefully avoiding everyone's eyes and scuffing at the floor lightly with one foot.

"I think JongWoon would be able to handle it."

JongWoon's head shot up at that, eyes wide. "C-Captain?"

"You're our negotiator JongWoon, time to do some negotiating," HyunJoong replied. 

"I don't think that's a good idea," YoungSaeng protested, his hands clenched into fists. "You know very well how much of a disaster he has been outside of the ship before."

JongWoon shrank down a little, hands clasped tightly in front of him and jaw clenched as he looked down again.

"He's been relatively less of a disaster lately, and he even managed an unscheduled visit to a Valis station recently, remember?" HyunJoong replied. "SungMin reported back he handled the situation nicely without any help. RyeoWook sshi?" He looked at RyeoWook for his opinion.

RyeoWook met his eyes for a moment, and HyunJoong knew he was weighing the distress this was causing JongWoon over the chance it could turn out well. The spy nodded. "YeSu—...JongWoon hyung's problem is with tests and evaluations, he performs well in situations where it's needed. I think it would work."

JongWoon looked at RyeoWook beside him, eyes wide with alarm and shaking his head stiffly. When RyeoWook didn't appear to notice (pretended he didn't notice), the negotiator bit down on his lower lip hard and looked back down at the floor, body stiff. 

"I still don't think this is a good idea," YoungSaeng said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm not getting any say in this matter though am I?"

"It's the best option we have," HyunJoong shrugged, turning back to the monitor. "The trip will probably take a day and a bit, you both should head out while it's still light if you want to get back before sunset tomorrow." 

"Yes, sir," YoungSaeng said tersely, getting to his feet. He didn't look at JongWoon as he passed. "I'm lifting off in ten minutes, you'd better be on board or I'm leaving without you," he said as he went through the hatch.

Getting up to follow YoungSaeng, JungMin sighed to himself. Well, that could have gone worse. Neither of them flat-out refused to go.

Glancing at JongWoon as he passed, the redhead could easily see the older man's eyes glazed over with tears despite JongWoon keeping his head down. That did a lot to discourage the idea that YoungSaeng didn't care about him, JungMin thought with an inner sigh of frustration as he followed YoungSaeng out, jogging to catch up.

"Hey. You okay?" 

"Fine," YoungSaeng said shortly, going down the stairs. "I'm finding it a little odd that JongWoon and I are being made to go on this trip, when I could have been just as easily replaced on the trip as RyeoWook. This wouldn't happen to be your meddling would it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," JungMin lied. "You didn't ask for _yourself_ to be replaced, you asked for RyeoWook to be replaced. And he was." 

"I'm not going to argue semantics with you," YoungSaeng grumbled, glaring over at him. "I don't enjoy being manipulated JungMin, and if that's what this is, I am going to be very cross with you. I already told you I've given up on him, why can't you just leave it?"

Blowing his bangs out of his eyes, JungMin sighed, one hand on his hip. Well, he was in trouble no matter what. "Because I think you're giving up way too early, and you're scared. I'm no romanticist, but anyone with common sense knows things aren't sunshine and roses the entire time, and you're running away the second you hit a problem." 

"I'm not running away, I'm doing what I should have from the start and ignoring stupid emotions," YoungSaeng said, stopping the hall and turning to JungMin. "It was a bad idea to try and now I know why. There is a reason why our people live the way they do, we aren't meant for this."

"Well we aren't with our people, are we?" JungMin retorted. "We're out here with a bunch of different races, humans one of them, and being out here made us different from other Shinbi. I think you're being an idiot, quite frankly, and you're only going to make yourself miserable."

He folded his arms over his chest. "And even if you do decide to torment yourself needlessly, this is a small ship, and you both are going to have to learn to at least tolerate each other, and lashing out at him is _not_ tolerating." 

"I'm not lashing out at him, I'm lashing out at _you_!" YoungSaeng corrected, starting to walk again. "I'm not saying anything to him which is the best thing I can do at the moment since we are stuck on this ship together. He'll get over it soon enough since he already hates me."

"Yes, he hates you so much he starts crying the second you give him lip," JungMin rolled his eyes, watching YoungSaeng go before following. "Whatever you want to think." 

"And if he didn't hate me, he wouldn't run every time he saw me," YoungSaeng replied quietly, fingers clenched tightly as he continued on to the shuttle bay.

"I don't know how many more times I can tell you _he doesn't hate you_ without wanting to put my head through the wall, so I give up," JungMin threw his hands up in the air. When they reached the shuttle bay, he didn't follow YoungSaeng down the stairs, staying at the top. "Just that something better be resolved by the time you get back, or both of you are getting spaced 

"Then I guess we'll see what happens when I get back," YoungSaeng said, glancing up at him before opening up the shuttle door and heading inside to get it ready to go.

Sighing, JungMin looked down at the shuttle, lips pressed firmly together. And people said _he_ was the thick-headed one, they hadn't seen anything.

Turning around, he headed back out into the hallway, grumbling to himself. The grumbling stopped when he saw JongWoon and RyeoWook take the corner, JongWoon holding on to his friend, and clearly trying to plead his way out of the situation. RyeoWook shook his head over and over, nudging JongWoon to keep walking. "It will be fine hyung, it's just for a day," he said reassuringly. "It's an easy trip, then you can go back to hiding in my room, okay?"

Swallowing thickly, JongWoon shut up and kept walking. RyeoWook glanced up at JungMin as he ushered his friend into the shuttle bay and down the stairs, JungMin watching them go. 

YoungSaeng didn't look back when he heard someone entering the shuttle, though he heard the protests. If JongWoon didn't hate him, then why was he putting up such a fight about going on this trip? He was going to kill JungMin when he got back, because this was going to be a nightmare. Engines were ready, and he buckled up. "I'm ready to go," he said calmly.

Looking over his shoulder at YoungSaeng, JongWoon swallowed and looked back at RyeoWook, on the verge of tears again as he mouthed 'I can't do this'.

"Yes you can, hyung," RyeoWook whispered, smiling gently at him and giving him a hug before stepping back and closing the airlock from the outside.

Staring at the closed airlock, JongWoon closed his eyes and tried to gather himself. A day. He could last that long, right? YoungSaeng wouldn't get to him, not again. He was done being a playtoy, and he would make that clear if the shifter started anything. All he had to do was get through this without breaking.

The human wiped at his eyes and tried to stop his hands from shaking, taking deep breaths before making his way to the copilot's seat. Not that he could pilot anything. "Ready," he said quietly, sitting down and buckling in. 

Pressing the coms button on the console, YoungSaeng let KyuJong know they were ready and watched the shuttle bay door open. The wind was blowing slightly, but not kicking up any sand like it had been. YoungSaeng eased the shuttle out of the bay and set the course for the supply station. It was going to be a very long trip as it would take most of the day just to get there.

***************************47*****************************************

It was a few minutes after they had left the station behind when YoungSaeng finally spoke, having battled with himself about saying anything at all.

"Look, just so we're clear," he said simply, not looking away from the window. "Just because we're forced into this doesn't mean we have to talk to each other since it's clear you hate me. I can accept that and don't expect you to be pleasant towards me. We can just sit in silence the whole time."

That nearly did JongWoon in again, the human biting the inside of his cheek hard. Who hated who?

No, this was just another game. If it was a reaction he was looking for, JongWoon wouldn't give him one. "Let's just go," he muttered, gripping the sides of the seat tightly. 

Getting more comfortable, YoungSaeng sighed inwardly, trying to focus more on the piloting than to JongWoon next to him. He wished there was auto pilot on this thing, but shuttles weren't equipped with them. JongWoon should be grateful that YoungSaeng would be able to pilot it all himself.

The trip was boring, but YoungSaeng had thought it would be. With nothing but sand and rocks to look at, it seemed like they were flying in circles and not going anywhere. It was getting close to the halfway mark of the trip when he sighed. "Are you hungry?"

It was the first they had spoken in several hours, and JongWoon nearly jumped, glancing at YoungSaeng out of the corner of his eyes. He had done his best to ignore the shifter, but there wasn't much else to think about out here, and several times he had to stop himself from crying again.

"A little," he murmured, which was a lie. He was getting pretty hungry. "I'll...get out some food." It gave him something to do. Unbuckling, JongWoon stood and went to the back of the shuttle to where he knew provisions for day trips were kept. 

"Sorry, I would have got my own if I could," YoungSaeng remarked, glancing over his shoulder briefly. "We can eat again at the supply station before we head back. If that works for you."

"It works," JongWoon replied, keeping his sentences brief. He found the food locker, pulling out a few travel meals. They were all dried food that would keep for a long time. Closing the locker again, he headed back with two containers in hand.

Glancing out the side window, he stopped and did a double-take, blinking. "...What's that?" 

"What's what?" YoungSaeng blinked, turning away from where he had his hand outstretched for the food. His eyes widened and he bit back a curse. "Sit down, now!" The mile high wall of sand was baring down right on top of them, the sandstorm having come up out of nowhere.

Eyes widening slightly, JongWoon quickly sat down, pushing the containers into a slot in the wall and pulling the buckles back on.

He'd barely gotten himself buckled in when the first wave hit. The shuttle was tossed to the side like a toy boat in a bathtub, JongWoon yelping and seeing stars as he hit his head hard against the side of the wall. The shuttle's sensors were going crazy, red lights flashing on the consoles. 

Holding tight to the controls, YoungSaeng was trying to get them turned around to ride out the storm, but after that first hit they were lost in the sand. YoungSaeng couldn't tell up from down and the sand was blocking the sensors. "Hold on!" YoungSaeng said as he felt the ship lurch, the engines dying, the sand clogging up the intake. The ship pitched wildly and then they were in freefall, YoungSaeng gripping the controls that were useless at that point.

They slammed hard into the ground, the side of the shuttle buckling from the impact. YoungSaeng's chair was violently ripped from the flooring and he was sent crashing into the bulkhead. Covering his head with his arms, he felt a sharp pain in his side seconds before he blacked out.

***************

It took a while for JongWoon to pull himself back from a dizzying haze, the sensors beeping repeatedly in his ear finally catching his attention. A low groan escaped him before he started to cough, completely winded. What had happened?

Opening his eyes, he found his chair was still half-attached to the flooring, and he'd ended up flipped over onto his stomach in between the chair, the floor and the bulkhead. It was probably the reason why he was still alive, having been too disorientated to properly cover his head or do much of anything else.

The ship was stationary, and the storm was still raging, but it was a little fainter now. Not directly on top of them. So it was moving on then...

"YoungSaeng?" he coughed, trying to get out from underneath the chair. The chair was being jammed in place by something, and he had to wiggle his way out, gasping as something dug into his leg and tore through a thin layer of skin.

Getting himself out, JongWoon realized there had been no answer. "...YoungSaeng?" he tried again, squinting to see in the darkness and flickering emergency lights.

When he saw YoungSaeng's chair was missing, it and the shifter pressed up against the bulkhead, his eyes widened and JongWoon scrambled to his feet. A yelp escaped him as he was nearly dragged back down by pain in his legs, but he got back up and hurried to the unmoving man. "Saeng!"

There was no response. Going to pull the shifter and the chair back off the bulkhead, JongWoon's hand slipped in something wet and he nearly faceplanted against the bulkhead.

In the flickering lights, his hand was dripping with red.

"O-oh no..." JongWoon checked YoungSaeng's pulse with a shaking hand, checking to make sure he was alive. He was, but he was also unconscious. A moment later the human saw why; pieces of the metal overhang had broken off and stabbed through YoungSaeng's side, soaking him in blood.

Lower lip trembling but in too much shock to cry, JongWoon hastily cleared away the mess from the center of the shuttle before unbuckling YoungSaeng from the broken seat. He half-dragged the shifter away from the bulkhead, laying him down and hurrying to get the emergency kit. 

It was a moment before YoungSaeng started to come to. He had barely registered being moved, but the beeping noise from the console finally brought him around. Not to mention the throbbing pain up and down his side and the headache. Bits and pieces of what had happened started to filter through and his eyes fluttered open.

The inside of the shuttle was a twisted wreck. Paneling and wires sticking out and the ship was laying at an angle, the flooring on an incline. There was an occasional spark from exposed wiring, but otherwise it could have been much worse.

Trying not to move too much from the pain, YoungSaeng tried to look around. "JongWoon? Are you okay?" he croaked out, not seeing the negotiator anywhere.

Looking up at YoungSaeng's voice, JongWoon winced as he hit his head off a hanging panel. He grabbed the kit out of the locker he'd just forced open and crawled to where the shifter was. "R-right here. Don't move, you've got metal in your side," the man said, voice trembling as he set the kit down. It took a moment for him to get his hands to stop shaking, carefully rolling up YoungSaeng's shirt and swallowing thickly at the blood.

The chair had shielded JongWoon himself from the worst injuries, but one leg was bleeding sluggishly, his pants torn up. He was also bleeding from minor cuts and scratches, and had one hell of a headache, but he didn't care about those. 

Relieved when he hard JongWoon's voice, YoungSaeng closed his eyes and tried to breathe, focus on anything other than the pain. "Just a bit of metal huh? Could be worse," he said, smiling shakily. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," JongWoon sniffled, lips pressed together as he examined the piece of metal. It looked easy enough to pull out, but he knew better. "This is going to hurt, a lot, but I need to get it out," he whispered, using a bit of gauze from the kit to clean up the wound enough to see what he was doing, careful not to apply pressure. "Ready?" 

"Ready," YoungSaeng nodded, clenching his jaw and bracing himself. "Do it quick, I can minimize any internal damage," he said softly. "This is going to hurt like a bitch."

"It is," JongWoon swallowed, determining the best angle to pull the metal out. Once he was sure he could do so without it catching and doing even more damage, he drew in a breath and gripped the end of it, pulling the short piece of metal out from YoungSaeng's side. 

YoungSaeng couldn't hold back the cry as the metal was pulled out, his hands clenching tightly. Soon as it was out though there was a bit of relief and he started the healing process, repairing the worst of the damage as quickly as he had the energy for. "Was that it?" he asked once he had caught his breath.

"Th-that was the worst of it, yeah," JongWoon answered, dropping the metal to the side and returning to the injury. "I need to check and make sure there's no more shards stuck, and clean it...you lost a lot of blood..." Wiping away the tears in his eyes, he just ended up smearing blood on his cheek 

"I know, I'm very tired now," YoungSaeng laughed dryly, opening his eyes. "Are you sure you're okay? You weren't hurt?"

"Just a few scratches," JongWoon whispered, putting all his attention on the injury. Once he was sure there was no metal left, he cleaned YoungSaeng's side carefully before starting to wrap it. "If you sleep...you'll wake up again, right?" 

"Yes, I'll wake up," YoungSaeng nodded, looking up at JongWoon. "I promise, I'll wake up."

"Okay," JongWoon swallowed, finishing wrapping up YoungSaeng's injury and securing the end with tape. "I should see how bad things are, you'll be okay? Do you want painkillers?" 

"Yes, please," YoungSaeng smiled shakily. "This hurts, a lot. Don't let me sleep too long, we need to figure out how to get a hold of the ship, so find out if any of the coms are still working okay?"

"Okay," the human nodded hard, wincing as his head throbbed. Going into the kit, he found a vial of painkiller and loaded it into a syringe. He cleaned a spot on YoungSaeng's arm and injected the painkiller. "There you go, you won't be able to feel your toes in a few seconds," he gave a wobbly smile, placing everything away and drawing in a breath as he looked up at the flickering lights overhead. There was no way the shuttle was going anywhere.

Reminded about his leg by a particularly painful throb, JongWoon scooted back away from YoungSaeng and rolled up his torn pant leg, getting out antiseptics to clean out the long but shallow slice down his leg. 

Watching, YoungSaeng blinked slowly as his vision started to double. "You're hurt?" he murmured, frowning slightly. "You.. said.." he didn't get the last of it out as his head rolled to the side and he passed out.

"Saeng?" JongWoon looked up to see YoungSaeng had passed out. Sighing softly, the human went back to cleaning and binding his leg. "Just a scratch," he whispered, glancing at the gauze against YoungSaeng's side that was slowly being soaked in red.

Once his leg was taken care of, JongWoon carefully got back to his feet. His injured leg shook and both legs were numb from being stuck in an awkward position, but they could hold his weight so he hobbled back to the front of the shuttle to see what was still working. 

When YoungSaeng woke up hours later, he felt considerably better. The pain in his side was dulled from the pain-killer and his headache was gone. Rubbing at his forehead, he slowly tried to sit up. "JongWoon?" he mumbled, still waking up.

Hearing YoungSaeng's voice, JongWoon climbed out of the mess that was the front of the shuttle to kneel down beside the younger man. "How are you feeling?" he whispered, checking his side again. He'd changed the bandages while YoungSaeng was asleep, but they looked like they'd need to be changed again. 

"Like I got stabbed," YoungSaeng said with a smirk. "I've been through worse though, at least I can think straight. How long was I out for?"

"I don't know....four, five hours? None of the clocks are working, but it's dark outside." It would be cold soon. "Stay down you," he stopped YoungSaeng from sitting up. "We're on emergency and solar power now. External communications are down...and I tried to send out a distress signal, and it wasn't working, one of the wires below much be cut," JongWoon swallowed. 

"Well that's not good," YoungSaeng sighed, not fighting JongWoon and laying back down. "How long would it take before they realize something's wrong? A couple of days?"

"Probably," JongWoon said quietly, looking down at the floor. "They wouldn't think it weird if we didn't check in along the way, and we're only due back in 24 hours." He'd gone through the food rations, and they had enough for two days. The containers he'd taken out for them to eat before the sandstorm appeared were broken and lost somewhere in a hole in the shuttle's side. 

"So we have to just hold on for a couple days," YoungSaeng nodded. "Have you checked what the conditions are outside? Are we buried under ten feet of sand?"

"I can see light from the side windows, so no," JongWoon shook his head. "The sand's blocking the airlock though, wouldn't be able to get it open if we tried. It's about halfway up the side of the shuttle, and the top's still clear." He bit his lower lip. "Are you hungry? I got the locker open again, the door was jammed." 

"I am," YoungSaeng nodded, looking towards the window. "If I wasn't hurt I could have just shifted and flown back to get help. Why am I always getting hurt?"

"Bad luck I guess," JongWoon whispered, looking down at his lap for a moment before shuffling to the side, getting his legs back under himself and limping to the locker. He found a container of food that would hold them over for now and made his way back, nearly wiping out on the uneven floor before he settled back down next to YoungSaeng. "Here, start eating and I'll change your bandages." 

"You're hurt," YoungSaeng frowned, taking the container from him and setting it on the floor next to him. "Is it bad?"

"No, it's just annoying," JongWoon shook his head. "A few scratches." He turned his attention to YoungSaeng's side, carefully starting to undo the bandages. "You, on the other hand, are going to have no blood left if you keep this up." 

YoungSaeng smiled softly at that, eating slowly. "Lucky for me I can just make more blood then," he said, watching JongWoon. "I'm sorry you have to talk to me, I know it's not what you wanted to do."

Hands pausing in their movements, JongWoon blinked rapidly a few times to clear his eyes before swallowing, focusing on what he was doing. "I-I think...life and death situations take priority," he whispered, managing not to start on the waterworks again.

Even if he didn't mean anything to YoungSaeng, he couldn't ignore that YoungSaeng meant something to him so easily when the shifter was bleeding all over the floor. 

"Yeah... guess so," YoungSaeng nodded, eating a bit more "Thank you, for helping me. I'm sure I would have bled out by now if it wasn't for you."

"I wouldn't just leave you bleeding to death," JongWoon whispered, throat constricting. "No matter what you think of me." Finishing cleaning up YoungSaeng's side, he bandaged it up again before scooting away, scrubbing at his fingers that were stained red. 

"What do you mean, what I think of you?" YoungSaeng asked, his brows narrowed in confusion. "You're the one who seems to hate me. Wouldn't even talk to me, or let me explain."

"I'm tired of people trying to toy with me," the human said, a watery and slightly angered tone to his voice as he looked at YoungSaeng. "Just because I'm the 'soft one', and easily persuaded, and easy to manipulate. It's always happening the exact same way, over and over and over. I'm sick and tired of being used."

JongWoon pushed himself to his feet, sniffling a little. "So I don't want to hear it. I'm going to see if I can find the problem with the distress beacon." He limped to the front of the shuttle. 

Jaw clenched, YoungSaeng pushed away the food and closed his eyes. There was no getting through to JongWoon, even if he wanted to. All the explanations in the world weren't going to change JongWoon's mind about him. He didn't bother trying to stop the tears, no one was there to see them.

Wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand, he kept replaying what JongWoon said. He'd been used before? Is that what that meant? Taking a deep breath, YoungSaeng looked up at the bulkhead, his lip trembling. "I never used you," he whispered.

JongWoon heard YoungSaeng whisper something, but didn't hear what, and didn't ask. Kneeling down in the front of the shuttle, he wiped at his eyes before drawing in a breath and looking at the bottom of the consoles. The panels over the wiring were intact in most places, and he flinched a little at a wire sparking not that far from him.

He hadn't been best friends with an engineer all this time to be scared of a sparking wire though, and squaring his jaw he started to remove the panels, shoving the problem with YoungSaeng to the back of his mind. 

YoungSaeng had fallen back asleep at some point while JongWoon was working, sleeping fitfully on the harsh metal. He would need as much sleep as he could get if he was going to be of any use. When he woke up again, he glanced down at the bandage and gently pulled it up. The wound had scabbed over completely and wasn't bleeding anymore, though it would still be another few hours before it wouldn't be tender.

Slowly getting to his feet, YoungSaeng picked his way over to one of the viewing windows to look out. There was an odd noise coming from outside that he couldn't figure out what it was, but he couldn't see anything.

The sound of movement behind him made JongWoon jump, and he yelped when he ended up slicing his hand on a piece of cut metal. "...Great." Wrapping his hand up in his sleeve to stop from bleeding all over the wires, he pulled his head out from under the controls and peeked out to see YoungSaeng was awake and moving.

"...You shouldn't be moving," he murmured. 

"I sped up my healing three fold," YoungSaeng replied, glancing over his shoulder. "I'm not bleeding anymore so you don't have to take care of me now."

"Doesn't that drain more energy though?" JongWoon asked, before sighing and looking back at the wires. He was sure he'd almost had it, going through the wires and figuring out which were connected to the emergency systems, and which ones were cut. He couldn't do much without electrocuting himself, but he did know how to patch up wires temporarily.

If he could just stop slicing his hand open. Marking the wires that needed to be fixed with yellow tape, he got up and hobbled over to the first aid kit, keeping his injured hand in his sleeve as he fished out gauze. 

"Yes, but you can't do this by yourself," YoungSaeng said, moving away from the window. "Did you cut yourself? Do you need help with that?"

"It's fine, it's just a small cut," JongWoon muttered, wincing a little as he got his hand unstuck from the inside of his sleeve, the beige material now stained red with blood as well as black with dirt and grease. Trying not to move his fingers on that hand too much as he tried to open the rubbing antiseptic, he nearly dropped the bottle. 

"You're just going to bleed all over it," YoungSaeng sighed, stepping over and taking the antiseptic from him. "Let me," he said softly, taking JongWoon's hand and holding it open so he could dab at the cut with the antiseptic when he got it open. "Just because it's me you're stuck with doesn't mean you can't ask for help."

"I was fine though," JongWoon mumbled, but he didn't pull his hand away. The antiseptic stung even more since he'd gotten dirt from under the consoles in the injury, but he bore with it. "It should be morning in a few hours."

He'd been up the entire time, trying to fix the distress beacon, and the exhaustion was showing in his eyes. 

"You should probably get some sleep, I can take over on whatever it was you were doing," YoungSaeng said, setting down the antiseptic and starting to wrap up JongWoon's hand. "Did you eat? If you haven't eaten you really should, you need to keep up your energy."

JongWoon shook his head slowly. "We should be careful with the food...we don't have much, and if we can't get the distress beacon fixed then it might be more than a few days before we're found. They'd be combing the route manually." He watched YoungSaeng wrap up his hand, shoulders a little slumped. 

"If that's the case, you can have my share," YoungSaeng said softly, taping off the gauze and dropping his hands away. "When I'm healed completely, I can shift to my true form and save energy."

"But you need to eat too, to keep healing properly," JongWoon protested, looking up at him. "You were always hungry when you were injured last time with all the healing." He pulled his hand back slowly, holding it against his chest. 

"JongWoon, we are not discussing this," YoungSaeng said, turning away and looking back out the window. "We don't know how long we'll be out here and I'm not going to let you go hungry. I'll be fine. Get some rest."

"You're not going to go hungry either," JongWoon grumbled, looking at his back. After a moment he sighed, pushing himself away and into a corner where he couldn't be crushed by anything that might fall. Lying down and curling up on his side, he just looked at YoungSaeng for a long minute.

Finally he closed his eyes, shoving upsetting thoughts away and focusing on sleep. He was out a few seconds later, exhausted. 

YoungSaeng wasn't as mechanically inclined as JungMin, but he knew enough to know what he was looking for. JongWoon had given him a good start on repairing the beacon, and while the negotiator slept, YoungSaeng had set about trying to repair it.

The sun had risen, YoungSaeng still hunched over underneath the console when he heard a strange noise again. Blinking a bit, he finished connecting a wire before he sat back up and went to the window. "Oh.... shit..." he hissed, turning around and crouching down next to JongWoon, lightly shaking his shoulder. "Wake up, we're in trouble."

Waking up with a start, JongWoon opened his eyes and blinked up into YoungSaeng's, disorientated. "...Huh?" 

"This ship is sinking," YoungSaeng said, getting back up to his feet and going to the window. "Sinking slowly, but I don't think we have days to sit and wait for rescue."

"Sinking?" JongWoon sat up and stared at him, confused. After a moment that sunk in and he stood up, hurrying to the window beside him. The sand was farther up the ship's side than he remembered it being...

"So we...landed in quicksand?" JongWoon swallowed, panicked. "How much time do you think it'll take before we can't get out?" The airlock was already jammed. 

"A day, at most before we're completely buried," YoungSaeng said, trying to think. "I've almost got that beacon working, but it has a limited range. There's no way to boost the signal without cutting our life support and I don't think you want to try and breathe what's out there."

"No, not really," JongWoon drew in a shaky breath, looking at YoungSaeng. "If we can't get that signal out though, there's no way they'd be able to find us before we've sunk fully." They would only begin to wonder when it was too late. "How far are we away from the nearest station?" 

"We were only halfway to the other station, sensors aren't working so I don't know how many other stations there are near us," YoungSaeng shook his head. "I could take a look, but either way we're not going to be able to stay in here. We get that beacon working and gather up all the supplies. We'll have to risk leaving the ship and try and walk back."

"Would we be able to make it?" JongWoon bit his lower lip, thinking about that. Their situation was going from bad to worse. Limited food, limited water unless they lugged the small machine around with them...and if they were caught by a storm, they were in trouble. 

"I don't know, but we can't just sit here and sink," YoungSaeng said, looking over at JongWoon. "We won't have to walk the whole way, or at least you won't. I have a form that can travel a lot faster than we could on foot."

"Another form?" JongWoon blinked then sighed. "I guess we don't have much of a choice. I'll start packing up then. We won't be able to bring that thing, will we?" he pointed at the small machine that gave them water. "So we'll have to fill up as many bottles as we can of water beforehand." 

"I'm going to finish the beacon, and set it so when we leave we can kill life support to boost the signal," YoungSaeng said, looking around again. "There will be no way to tell them which way we've gone if they look for us, but we probably won't make it far."

"They'll probably figure we tried to head back," JongWoon winced, making his way towards the supplies. "And if we're hit by another surprise storm?" 

"I'll keep you safe," YoungSaeng said, going back to the panel to finish working on the beacon. "We can head out in the morning, give us another day at least, and maybe they'll have started looking for us by then so we won't have to go too far."

"Okay," the human swallowed, praying the others would show up soon. Kneeling down and going through what supplies they had again, he winced as pain laced up his leg. He had forgotten to change the bandages, sitting down and rolling up his pant leg carefully. "Is your side okay?" 

"It's a little sore, but otherwise healed," YoungSaeng said, pulling out a bundle of wires from the console. He glanced over at JongWoon, frowning slightly at the wound. "How's your leg?"

"Being a pain," JongWoon grumbled, cleaning out the injury carefully. It was going to get infected if he wasn't careful; small injury or not, he stretched it each time he took a step. Still, it could be worse. 

YoungSaeng sighed, watching him for a moment before he set the bundle of wires down and stood up. "JongWoon... you remember what I said about matter manipulation? How we can take things into us? I can heal your leg, if you'd let me," he said, crouching down next to him. "You're not going to get far with it like that."

"Eh?" JongWoon blinked owlishly at that, not understanding. "By...doing what exactly to my leg?" It was impossible to imagine, and sounded more than a little awkward to him. "It's not that bad, as long as I don't get it infected," he bit his lower lip, looking down at the long wound he was cleaning. It was still bleeding, awkwardly located so he couldn't move without tearing it open again. 

"We're going to be out on the surface with winds and sand," YoungSaeng said, watching his expression. "You won't be able to keep the sand out of it and it could be days before we get you proper care. Let me help, it won't hurt, I just... make you a part of me, just for a bit, just to heal the cut."

That sounded...weird. Make JongWoon a part of him, like he'd hide his weapons inside his body? JongWoon wasn't all too sure he even wanted to know what that felt like, but YoungSaeng said it wouldn't hurt.

Chewing on his lower lip and wincing as that started to hurt, JongWoon looked up at YoungSaeng after a moment. "I-I guess, if you think it'll be better this way..." 

"This won't take long, just relax, and breathe," YoungSaeng said with a soft smile. His skin rippled, shifting into his true form. Placing his hands on JongWoon's leg, he closed his eyes as his hands slowly melted, seeping into JongWoon's skin. The leg slowly took on the shifter's transparent quality, the cut starting to close over.

What YoungSaeng hadn't accounted for though, was the mental link that happened between two Shinbi who joined. His eyes snapped open and he looked at JongWoon, feeling every emotion, every thought from the human. If he could feel all that from JongWoon, then JongWoon would be able to feel everything from him as well.

Watching nervously as his leg changed color and trying not to think about how _weird_ that felt, JongWoon's breathe caught in his throat as he was suddenly bombarded by thoughts and emotions that weren't of his own making. He had no control over them, pressing inside his head and burying his own thoughts. He couldn't even tell what was his _own_ thoughts and what was...

...YoungSaeng's..?

The second it occurred to him what he was feeling, somehow, everything YoungSaeng was feeling from him must have been swamped out by a massive wave of confusion and panic in a very clear _what the hell is going on?_

"Calm down," YoungSaeng soothed, glancing down at the cut, it almost halfway healed. "What you're feeling, is a bond between our minds. Just try and relax, and focus on your own thoughts and feelings," he said, pulling back on his feelings and putting up defenses.

"A-A what?" JongWoon got out, alarmed. Their minds? Then YoungSaeng could also...

The human hastily tried to do as YoungSaeng said, but he wasn't used to anyone being in his mind but himself, and it was impossible to reign his thoughts in. "You d-didn't say anything about this!" 

"It's not supposed to happen," YoungSaeng said calmly, closing his eyes at the rush of emotions coming from JongWoon. "Just hold on, almost done," he breathed, looking down as the last of the cut closed over. He immediately pulled himself back, JongWoon's leg stabilizing and he lifted his hands away as he shifted back into human.

YoungSaeng didn't say anything for a moment, just breathing deeply before he looked up into JongWoon's eyes. Through everything that had been coming from the human, he had felt one strong emotion, something he hadn't been expecting, something he had only felt recently and was able to define. "Why didn't you tell me?" he whispered.

Still reeling, JongWoon looked down at his leg, seeing the skin completely healed over, just a thin scar in it's place. Swallowing thickly, he rolled his pant leg down and drew his legs back to his chest, dizzy and confused.

At YoungSaeng's whisper, he was pulled back from trying to make heads or tails of what he'd felt, looking up at the shifter. "T-tell you what?" 

"How you felt, about me," YoungSaeng murmured, his eyes searching JongWoon's. "I could feel it, just now. Maybe... you felt something from me as well?"

"I-I..." JongWoon stared at YoungSaeng, not sure what to say. What had he felt? He was still trying to sort out what was his thoughts and what was YoungSaeng's, badly confused and lost.

One feeling was slowly pushing back to the front of his mind. Realizing that it had definitely come from YoungSaeng, JongWoon's hands trembled and eyes filled with tears yet again. "You...really do..."

YoungSaeng really cared about him? It wasn't all a lie? 

Nodding, YoungSaeng hesitantly reached out to take JongWoon's hand, his fingers curling over JongWoon's. "I do, I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't let me explain. I'm so sorry."

Lower lip trembling, JongWoon made a choked noise when, as YoungSaeng's fingers curled around his own, he could feel YoungSaeng's thoughts and emotions again. Why could he still feel them?

It was too real to be just a game. He could feel the pain YoungSaeng had gone through, how much he cared for JongWoon, how he loved...

Love? YoungSaeng...loved him?

Shoulders shaking, JongWoon held on to YoungSaeng's hand loosely as he ducked his head down, tears spilling over his dirt-streaked cheeks. 

Shifting closer, YoungSaeng sat down on the floor, pulling JongWoon lightly into his arms. "I'm sorry JongWoon, please don't cry. I should have explained what happened, before you found out like that." Fighting back his own tears, he tucked his finger under JongWoon's chin to draw his face up. "It took me losing you to understand how I felt about you... I love you, and I wish... I wish I could have told you sooner."

Meeting YoungSaeng's eyes, JongWoon couldn't stop himself from shaking, leaning into the embrace. It was so much to take in, having trouble focusing his thoughts on anything other than the fact that YoungSaeng loved him.

"I love you too," he whispered, fresh tears spilling over. "I-I'm sorry...I thought..." But he didn't have to tell YoungSaeng what he had thought; betrayed, hurt and used by someone he'd let in close to his heart. Feeling so much pain he, like YoungSaeng, simply couldn't deal with it without falling apart and chose to run away instead. 

"It's okay, I know, and I'm sorry too," YoungSaeng whispered, brushing away the tears from JongWoon's cheeks. "Will you let me explain now?"

Swallowing thickly, JongWoon slowly nodded his head, pressing his lips together to try and stop himself from crying more. His grip on YoungSaeng's hand tightened slightly as he met YoungSaeng's eyes. 

Looking down at their hands, YoungSaeng folded both of his over JongWoon's, collecting his thoughts. "I don't know when it started, but I know when I noticed. That game that we played, where we went into the closet and you told me that because it wouldn't mean anything to me if I kissed you... it affected me. Not because you were right, but because I couldn't tell myself that it wouldn't mean anything to me if I kissed you. I told JungMin about it, and how confused I was when it came to you. He had... suggested that you become my next target after HyunJoong, but that's not true. You weren't a target to me, never were. You were something that I couldn't explain, and it took me getting to know you to understand just how much I needed you."

YoungSaeng smiled softly, his eyes glistening with the tears that wouldn't fall. "You turned my life upside down JongWoon. I have never needed anyone as much as I've needed you."

Listening to him, JongWoon quickly gave up the idea of not crying, sniffling a little. He didn't know what to think of all this, but he could feel himself relaxing bit by bit, the doubtful edge completely leaving him. It wasn't a lie...it was never a lie.

"...Why me?" he asked after a long moment of silent. "We d-didn't talk...we didn't know each other..." They still didn't know each other, not really. There was so much about both of them the other didn't know. 

"I have no idea, that's what I was trying to figure out," YoungSaeng shook his head. "I have spent most of my life having people depend on me, who needed me to take care of them. You... you didn't need me, never expected me to take care of you. You took care of me instead."

JongWoon turned slightly pink, looking away. "If 'taking care of you' is being turned into a pretzel in practice, I guess," he muttered. But he leaned a little more into YoungSaeng, closing his eyes. "Thank you...for explaining." 

"I'm sorry I didn't sooner, and that you had to hear about it from someone other than me," YoungSaeng replied, wrapping his arm around JongWoon's shoulder and holding him close. "I would never lie to you JongWoon, I may have secrets, but I would never lie to you." He pulled back, looking down at JongWoon with a cheeky smile. "And, if I was going to use someone for sex, I'd pick someone who wasn't so hesitant."

As expected, JongWoon colored red again underneath the dirt, nudging YoungSaeng's side and looking away with a small pout. "I like taking my time, okay," he sniffed a little, wiping away the rest of his tears. 

"I know," YoungSaeng smiled, pulling JongWoon's chin back around to look at him. "And I'm okay with that, you take all the time you need," he said softly.

Lips curling into a shaky smile, JongWoon slowly nodded. After a moment's pause, he slowly leaned in, eyes meeting YoungSaeng's. His lips lightly brushed against YoungSaeng's, hesitant. 

YoungSaeng returned the kiss slowly, his hand cupping JongWoon's cheek as he slowly moved his mouth against the others. Even if it had only been a few days, it felt like a lifetime since he had last kissed JongWoon, and he realized just how much he had missed it. His kiss grew more confident, pulling JongWoon closer, one hand pressed against his back.

JongWoon's arms found their way around YoungSaeng's waist, holding him close as he tilted his head a little to one side. He had missed just being close like this, hugging YoungSaeng against him and feeling the younger man's heart beating. If anything, the sensation was doubled by the fact he could still feel YoungSaeng's emotions meshed with his own; not as clear as when YoungSaeng had been in his real form, but still there. 

 

*****************************48**************************************

YoungSaeng wasn't sure how long they spent kissing on the floor, but when he finally broke away for a breath, he didn't even care. He was just glad to have JongWoon back in his arms and not running away from him anymore. Resting his forehead against JongWoon's so their noses touched, he smiled and sighed happily. "As much as I enjoy this, we should probably get back to work, otherwise we'll never get out of here."

Blinking, JongWoon sighed softly. "Yeah," he murmured, looking at YoungSaeng and running one hand slowly along his back. They had to get out of here, or they were as good as dead. He pulled himself away from YoungSaeng, smiling softly at the younger man before carefully standing. 

Getting to his feet as well, YoungSaeng couldn't help but lean in for another kiss from JongWoon before heading back to the console to finish repairing the beacon. "We could probably break for some food in a bit, and I was serious about you eating more, especially since I just healed you," he said, picking up the bundle of wires again and picking through them.

"You're still eating too, I know you need food after healing like that so don't tell me you don't," JongWoon pursed his lips lightly, going back to their supplies. His cheeks were tinged red after the kiss. 

YoungSaeng hid the broad smile, ducking his head under the console to reattach wires. "Yes sir," he said with a chuckle, wincing when he got shocked by a spark. "See what I meant about taking care of me?"

"That's just called common sense," JongWoon flushed, doing his best to focus on what he was doing and ignoring the small smile forming. For someone used to being a hindrance at the very least, being told he was taking care of anyone was...new.

"S-so...that...bond, or whatever you called it...wasn't supposed to happen?" he asked hesitantly after a bit of silence. 

Lips pursed, YoungSaeng drew out another bundle of wires, clipping a few off. "I didn't think it would," he said, glancing at JongWoon. "Shinbi... are intimate in a different sense than humans, and part of that is through a mental bond. I didn't think that it would happen with a human like it does with another Shinbi. I'm sorry, if I would have know, I would have been able to prepare myself better."

"I-It's okay," JongWoon shook his head. "I was just surprised...okay, more than a little surprised." There was absolutely no way for humans to do anything remotely similar to hearing each other's thoughts, he hadn't even known it to be possible for _anyone_.

"Even after you finished healing my leg, I could still...hear your thoughts. Not now, but before I could...is that normal?" 

"...It is for Shinbi, but I didn't think..." YoungSaeng shook his head, focusing back on his work. "I don't know JongWoon, this is fairly new territory here. You may be the first human who's ever bonded with a Shinbi."

Chewing on his lower lip, JongWoon sighed softly, nodding a little even though YoungSaeng couldn't see him. "Okay..."

Another bout of silence.

"...I like seeing you in your real form..." 

YoungSaeng's lips curled slightly, splicing two wires together and shoving the bundles of wires back in before opening up another panel. "You know, I could get used to being in my real form, I wouldn't get hurt nearly as often," he chuckled softly.

"You get hurt a _lot_ ," JongWoon winced. "The...only downside would be it's harder for you to talk in your real form, right? I mean, talk in this language." 

"It is, plus I wouldn't be able to eat any of the food on the ship and there are some prejudices out here towards my people," YoungSaeng said, standing up so he could rip the top of the console off to get to the beacon. "Not that I blame them, but..." he shook his head, cutting wires and pulling the beacon out from the console and sitting back down next to the open panel.

"No one on the ship seems to have any problems," JongWoon pointed out, wrapping up their food so it would be easy to carry around with them. "You could just change back for mealtimes. Why are there prejudices towards Shinbi?" he frowned. 

YoungSaeng didn't respond right away, his brow furrowed as he tried to patch the wires from the beacon into the power relay. When he did speak, he looked up out the window, his expression grim. "My people were one of the first space explorers in this part of the galaxy. They were friendly, trusting... it's because of the Shinbi that many of the peoples out here have access to space travel."

Setting the beacon down, he leaned up against the broken console, looking over at JongWoon. "Then everything changed... other aliens became suspicious of the Shinbi because they could change shape. People assumed that the Shinbi were trying to destroy them all, and declared war on the Shinbi. My people were hunted down, thrown off every world they landed on, and eventually it took its toll on us. We fought back and decimated whole worlds. The war raged for... decades, and then the Shinbi closed up its borders and decided to never interact with other races again. Too primitive, too savage, and that's how it's been for hundreds of years."

Eyes wide, JongWoon stopped what he was doing to listen to YoungSaeng's story. He tried to imagine this happening, and shivered. So many people must have been killed...

"Until the Federation decided to kidnap a few Shinbi children?" he murmured, looking up and meeting YoungSaeng's eyes. "That was the first time any Shinbi's been outside their borders?" 

"Far as I know, we never ran into any other Shinbi out here," YoungSaeng said, smiling sadly at him. "Doesn't mean there couldn't be a few, watching the rest of the galaxy. I always wondered what would happen if we ran into another Shinbi out here, if they would even speak to us."

"Why wouldn't they?" the human blinked at him. "You're the same race, and if it's that rare to find another Shinbi, wouldn't they be happy to see you?" 

"After everything I just told you, you think the Shinbi would be happy to see one of their own living among humans? Looking, acting like a human?" YoungSaeng shook his head and looked away. "No, in their eyes we wouldn't be Shinbi anymore."

"B-but...it's not your fault," JongWoon protested, gaze pained. "You didn't _ask_ to be kidnapped..." 

"And you didn't ask to have two alien assassin's in your cargo hold," YoungSaeng shrugged. "If your government knew where you were now, would they welcome you back with open arms?"

"...N-no...but..." JongWoon looked down, biting on his lower lip. He didn't think it was fair...the Federation was corrupt, and they probably wouldn't have been happy being under then now that they knew what was going on. But the Shinbi...they wouldn't be in the least understanding about what their own children had gone through?

They were all homeless now, all of them. 

"As it is, they would never accept you, or HyungJoon," YoungSaeng said, focusing on the beacon again. "Even if the Shinbi would welcome us back home, you wouldn't be able to go with us. That to me isn't a fair trade."

"You wouldn't go back with them if you had the choice?" JongWoon blinked, glancing over at him again as he started slowly picking up what he was doing again. He'd thought YoungSaeng and JungMin would definitely want to go back to their own kind, no matter how things were going on the ship. 

"Not if it meant leaving you behind," YoungSaeng shook his head, frowning slightly at the beacon as he tried to pry it open. "Frankly, I'd rather stay here and settle on whatever peaceful planet you all find. I'm tired of prejudices and fighting and killing. I just want to be left alone."

Listening to YoungSaeng, JongWoon sighed softly and got up, padding over to help get the beacon open. "I'd like it if you came with us," he gave a soft smile, kneeling beside him and working on prying the beacon open bit by bit. "This thing is jammed good." 

YoungSaeng returned the smile before his attention went back to the beacon. "It got dented from the crash. I don't think I'm going to be able to boost the signal if I can't get it open. We'll just have to make do with it. How are the supplies coming along?"

"Good, I need to find some sort of windbreaker in case we end up staying outside overnight," JongWoon winced; that wouldn't be fun at all. "Come on, there's two of us, we can get it open. You hold one side, I'll hold the other." 

"There should be some blanket's, but I have a better idea about that," YoungSaeng said with a smile, gripping the side of the beacon. "Okay, on three... one... two... three.. pull!" Yanking hard on his side, he nearly toppled over when the top popped off in his hands.

JongWoon landed on his rear with a squawk. "See, what did I tell you," he grinned victoriously, handing over the other half of the beacon. "Better idea?" 

"You'll see tomorrow," YoungSaeng smiled, taking the other half of the unit from JongWoon and setting it on the floor. "I did tell you I had another form that would be useful for travel, as well as shelter. Don't worry JongWoon, I'll protect you."

"...You're not going to tell me what this form is before tomorrow, are you," JongWoon stared blankly at the shifter, lips pursed in a pout. 

"Where's the fun in that?" YoungSaeng chuckled, pulling out wires and clipping them. "I want to see that look of shock on your face when I do."

"It's not another eight-headed dragon, is it?" JongWoon asked doubtfully. 

"No, it's not another dragon," YoungSaeng laughed, splicing wires together before moving on to the circuitry. "I'm almost done here, why don't you get us something ready to eat?"

"Sure," JongWoon nodded, standing up and going back towards the supplies. "Not that there's much to prepare." He pulled out a container and got out some dried food for them, as well as water. There was that weird noise coming from outside again, and he glanced out the window nervously. 

YoungSaeng finished off what he was doing and put the two halves of the beacon back together, forcing the top down until it clicked. All that was left was to wire it to the auxiliary power when they left the shuttle. "I may need to rest after this, I'm getting pretty tired," he said, holding back a yawn. He was more than a little tired, he was completely drained of energy. Healing himself and JongWoon had completely tapped his reserves. 

Not that he was going to tell JongWoon that.

"Well, you can rest until we have to leave," JongWoon smiled a little at the shifter, getting up and padding over with the container of food. He sat down beside YoungSaeng, holding out his portion. "It's not as if we can do much else but listen to the sand. I can finish up with the supplies." 

Eating slowly, YoungSaeng nodded in thanks. He would have probably that the idea of resting first tooth and nail if he hadn't been so exhausted. "Okay, but I don't want you to stay awake all night, you need your rest as well."

"I'll get some rest, don't worry," JongWoon quirked a small smile. "But if you're going to be doing most of the traveling work in this form I'm not allowed to know about, you need your rest more than I do." He started to eat as well, nerves about their situation making the food sit in his stomach. 

"I'm aware, thank you for your concern," YoungSaeng said, smiling softly at him. "You know I'm going to kill the lot of them on the ship when we get back."

"I guessed as much, and I wouldn't mind helping a little," JongWoon chuckled tiredly. "Though to be fair, they couldn't have known there was going to be a massive sandstorm out of nowhere." 

"No, but I would have killed them anyway, sandstorm or no sandstorm," YoungSaeng shrugged, eating another small bite. "Even if it did work..."

"If what did work?" JongWoon blinked at YoungSaeng. He, of course, had been completely oblivious to the fact everyone including HyunJoong, JungMin, HyungJoon and RyeoWook had just been acting in order to get them onto the shuttle together. 

YoungSaeng's eyebrows went up and he glanced at JongWoon. "You didn't find it a little fishy that the only one who could go on this pick up with me was you? That everyone practically shoved us into the shuttle together?"

"...No..." JongWoon shook his head. "They said why no one else could go, even Wookie said it wasn't a good idea for SungMin or Xander to go along. And JungMin and HyungJoon were needed to get rid of all the sand clogging the engines." 

"JongWoon... why would it be strange for an alien to be showing up at an alien station? Since when are humans the default out here?" YoungSaeng said, his lips curling slightly in amusement. "It would be more likely that a human is looked at oddly out here than Xander would have been."

"I...guess..?" The human blinked rapidly, trying to figure out what YoungSaeng was trying to say. "So...all that was done on purpose?" 

"Yes, they did this on purpose," YoungSaeng nodded. "Not the crashing part, but the forcing us to go on the pick up together. So we could talk and get our problem worked out. JungMin and I did the same thing to the Captain and Kyu by shoving them in that closet together."

"...Oh." JongWoon turned red in embarrassment. "Okay then. If you're busy killing everyone, can you leave HyungJoon for me?" Of course his best friend would have been involved. 

"He's all yours," YoungSaeng chuckled softly, setting the container down. "I think I'll get some sleep now. There anything we can use to make this floor a little more bearable?"

"If there's blankets in the back, we can use those." JongWoon got up and went to the back of the shuttle again, searching around among the wreckage. The back of the shuttle had sustained a good part of the damage, many of the supply lockers now jammed shut. He'd gotten most of them open and emptied, but there were others that he hadn't been able to before. Finding the locker that he remembered the blankets being in, he pulled hard on the jammed door and nearly fell onto his rear when his grip slipped.

Kicking at the door a little to loosen it, he tried again. The human _did_ fall over this time as the door broke open, yelping as he landed on his rear. "Okay, blankets are here." 

"You okay?" YoungSaeng got to his feet, heading to the back of the ship to check on him. "I thought I was taking a rest first?" he teased, pulling off the blankets that had fallen on top of the negotiator.

"That was the idea," JongWoon huffed, the tips of his ears bright red as he got back to his feet. "When should I wake you up?" 

"Before the sun goes down so I can get another meal in," YoungSaeng said, taking a couple of the blankets and picking his way back to the cleared out space. "Then we can both get some sleep and head out first thing in the morning. If there's any problems, or we sink farther than the top of the window, wake me up immediately."

JongWoon nodded, watching him. "Okay." Grabbing the rest of the blankets, he followed YoungSaeng out of the mess and laid some down for the younger man. "We'll...be okay, right?" He asked softly.

Though he was getting used to being in dangerous situations, he was still a Federation civilian at heart, and had never dealt with anything worse than a minor asteroid field. Quite frankly, he was scared witless. 

Taking JongWoon's hand, YoungSaeng pulled him closer and cupped his cheek with one hand. "We'll be fine. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay? We'll get out of this."

Meeting YoungSaeng's eyes, JongWoon found himself nodding, trusting YoungSaeng to get them out of this. He absently realized he could vaguely feel YoungSaeng's emotions and thoughts again (it seemed to happen when they were in contact with each other). What he felt now steadied his shot nerves a little. Wrapping his arms around YoungSaeng's waist, he pulled the younger man into a hug, burying his face against YoungSaeng's shoulder. 

YoungSaeng put one arm around JongWoon's shoulder, the other supporting the back of his head. No matter what it would take, he would keep JongWoon safe. "We'll be fine," he repeated, for his sake as much as JongWoon's. Pulling back a little, he brushed his lips over JongWoon's forehead. "If it gets to be too much, just wake me up, okay?"

Giving a shaky smile, JongWoon nodded a little, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "Sleep well," he murmured, lifting his head and kissing YoungSaeng softly. After a few seconds he stepped back, pulling away with a small smile as he went to finish with the supplies. 

Watching him for a moment, YoungSaeng sat down on the blankets and curled up, trying to make himself as comfortable as possible. He sighed to himself, letting his guard finally drop and the exhaustion finally taking over, passing out seconds after he closed his eyes.

JongWoon went over the supplies multiple times as YoungSaeng slept, making sure they had everything they would need and placing it where it could be grabbed easily. Once that was done, he alternated between checking the sand levels outside the windows and watching YoungSaeng. If it hadn't been obvious they were sinking before, it was now. The sand was slowly but surely creeping up the shuttle's sides.

Time ticked by slowly, the sun finally beginning to set. Sighing softly to himself, JongWoon crawled over to where YoungSaeng was laying, watching him sleep for a moment.

He didn't want to wake him up, he looked exhausted, but the shifter would kill him if he woke up later and found out JongWoon didn't do as told...and he did need to eat. "Saeng?" he whispered, one hand shaking his shoulder gently. "Time to eat, wake up." 

YoungSaeng slowly roused, his eyes fluttering open at the hand on his shoulder. "Hm? What? Everything okay?" he whispered, rubbing at his eye. It felt like he had only dropped off a second before.

"Yeah, we're still alive. You need to eat something," JongWoon replied softly, frowning a little at how tired YoungSaeng was. "Then you can go back to sleep." 

"Okay," YoungSaeng groaned, sitting up slowly. "How are you holding up?" he asked, leaning up against the wall.

"All right," JongWoon gave a small smile and fished around for some food, passing a container to YoungSaeng. "I think I'd be happy never seeing another sand planet in my life. Did you sleep okay?" 

"I think so," YoungSaeng nodded, taking the container and opening it. "Doesn't feel like I slept though, and I've got a crick in my neck. Could be worse."

"Comes from sleeping on a metal floor," JongWoon winced. "Here." He scooted over to beside YoungSaeng, small fingers lightly touching the back of his neck questioningly. "Can I?" 

"I wouldn't say no," YoungSaeng smiled, shifting so JongWoon could get better access to his neck. "Don't forget to eat though."

"I won't," the older man replied, placing both hands lightly against the back of YoungSaeng's neck and shoulders to massage gently. "At least you're stuck here with a medic. An uncertified medic, but still." 

"I'm very happy about that, and that it's you," YoungSaeng chuckled softly, his head lolling forward from JongWoon's fingers. "If we weren't in danger of being buried alive, this would be almost kind of... romantic. The two of us all alone."

"Yeah, without the life-or-death factor, it would be," JongWoon smiled ruefully. "We're going to have to get some alone time in once all this is over, whenever that is." 

"I wouldn't hold your breath," YoungSaeng said wryly, sighing a little at how good JongWoon's hands left. "Who knows though, we'll have some time when we're on our way to the drop off point. I'm sure we can find some time for just the two of us. Watch some movies if you want."

"I wouldn't mind that," JongWoon chuckled. "If you want to watch movies, that is. We can do other things too." He smiled at the light sigh he heard. 

"And by other things, that would mean what?" YoungSaeng asked, glancing slightly at him out of the corner of his eye. "Just so we're clear."

"Like...games or something, whatever you want to do," JongWoon blinked at him. 

YoungSaeng chuckled softly to himself, turning around so he could look at JongWoon properly. "If you want to play some games, then we can play games. If you want to watch a movie, then we can watch a movie. As long as I get to spend time with _you_ , I don't care what we do, or don't do," he said, leaning in to give JongWoon a tender kiss. "If that's okay with you."

Flushing a little, JongWoon returned the kiss, closing his eyes momentarily. "Okay," he murmured, cupping YoungSaeng's face lightly. "I just want to do something you'd like too." 

"I've spent most of my life doing one thing to keep myself entertained, so whatever it is you have in mind, I'm sure I'll enjoy it," YoungSaeng replied, leaning slightly into the hand. "You should finish eating now, so we can get some sleep."

"Okay," JongWoon nodded, pulling back reluctantly. "Does your neck feel a little better?" 

"It does, thank you," YoungSaeng nodded, finishing off the last bit of food in his container before setting it to the side. He shifted a bit and laid back down on the blankets, ready to pass right out again.

JongWoon finished eating the rest of his food as well, sipping at the water. Checking the level of sand outside the shuttle, he pushed the empty containers to one side and, after a moment of fidgeting, laid down slowly next to YoungSaeng. 

Cracking open one eye, YoungSaeng reached out and pulled JongWoon into his embrace, draping the blanket over both of them. "I hope you don't mind if I want to be close to you tonight," he whispered.

"Not at all," JongWoon smiled shyly, wrapping his arms around YoungSaeng's waist. He kissed YoungSaeng's forehead softly, giving a soft sigh and trying not to think about tomorrow and what could very well be their last day alive. "Sleep well," he whispered. 

"You too," YoungSaeng replied, squeezing him lightly until he fell back asleep moments later.

*****************

YoungSaeng wasn't sure how long they had slept for, but when he woke, there was only the tiniest bit of light coming in through the windows. Rubbing at his eyes so he could see better, he carefully disentangled himself from JongWoon and got up. His heart sank slightly when he reached the window, and realized that it wasn't just because it was early morning that it was so dim, but because the sand was further up than he had anticipated it to be.

Making sure all the supplies were together and ready to go, YoungSaeng went back to JongWoon's side and shook his shoulder gently. "Time to go," he said softly.

Stirring, JongWoon cracked his eyes open after a moment and blinked at YoungSaeng. "Hm?" Waking up a little further, he sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes, blinking at the dark windows. 

"Don't let the window fool you, it's morning," YoungSaeng said, straightening back up and moving over to the console. "We don't have a whole lot of time to get out of here, there any other hatches on this ship we could use besides the airlock? An emergency hatch or anything?"

"Yeah, there's one at the back, in the roof in case of flood," JongWoon murmured, shaking his head to clear it and standing up. He frowned at the windows, biting his lower lip before going to grab his oxygen mask from the pile of supplies. "Should I put this on now?" 

"Yes, take what you can to the back and get the hatch open," YoungSaeng said, crouching down next to the beacon. "I have to cut the power to life support to boost the beacon signal, so you won't have any air to breathe," he said, his skin rippling as he shifted into his real form.

Nodding, JongWoon steeled himself and pulled the oxygen mask on, securing it over his mouth and nose. He grabbed a bag of supplies and slung it over his shoulder, heading back through the mess that was the rear of the shuttle. The supplies were placed down beside the ladder and he climbed up, pushing at the levers to unlock the emergency hatch. 

YoungSaeng watched him go for a moment before returning to the beacon. He pressed a few of the buttons on the display, watching it light up as the lights inside the shuttle flickered and finally died, taking the environmentals with them. He picked his way back to the ladder, picking up the bags of supplies and absorbing them into his skin.

"Go ahead and go up, I'm right behind you," he said, making sure that he had everything they were taking with them.

Looking back at YoungSaeng, JongWoon swallowed and nodded. He braced himself against the ladder before pushing against the hatch, a loud hiss escaping before it opened. The human got it open all the way and climbed up, looking around them quickly. The sand was very high up, and he had a moment of panic, wondering if they would sink the second they stepped into it. But it had taken that long for the ship to sink, so as long as they kept moving, they should be fine. Turning back, he crouched and held out a hand to help YoungSaeng out. "Isn't that uncomfortable?" 

Taking JongWoon's hand, YoungSaeng got up top and stood there for a moment, looking around with his silver eyes. "Very, but it's okay," he replied. "There's no way to know how far the quicksand goes," he said. "I should shift here, and then we can go."

"Um...okay. Should I back up?" JongWoon blinked, taking a few steps back and having to stop before he could fall off the top of the shuttle. 

"Yes, you should," YoungSaeng nodded with a broad smile as his form began to expand, easily growing to the size of the shuttle they were standing on. His body lurched forward onto front paws, head elongating into a sharp beak, two sets of wings thrust upwards out of his back.

When he was done shifting, his feathers ruffled all up and down his body, tail slashing at the air until the griffin knelt down in front of JongWoon, blinking one golden eye at him.

Startled by the sudden lack of space on top of the shuttle, JongWoon promptly fell onto his back, blinking in shock at the creature now standing in front of him. "....Woah." He looked the griffin up and down, unable to stop staring. "Just...wow. Do griffins really exist? I thought they were just myths..." He scrambled back to his feet. 

YoungSaeng clacked his beak at him, as there was no way to respond to him at the moment. He hoped that was enough for him to understand that yes, griffins did exist. Stretching both sets of wings out, he laid down on his belly for JongWoon to climb on.

Blinking rapidly, JongWoon bit on his lower lip. "Okay, I'm really sorry if I'm doing this wrong," he apologized before carefully climbing onto YoungSaeng's back. He'd never even done horseback riding before, situating himself so he wouldn't get in the way of YoungSaeng's wings and wrapping his arms loosely around the griffin's neck. 

Shaking his head back and forth in amusement, YoungSaeng got back up to his feet, his claws digging into the metal hull for stability. When he was sure JongWoon was settled, the second smaller set of wings folded back over on top of the human. This was going to be a bumpy ride, and he had to make sure JongWoon wasn't going to get jostled off.

Being a barren planet, there were no thermals for him to ride, and he would be clawing horribly through the air if he tried. There would be an easier way for him to cover the distance they needed to go. 

Tucking the larger wings close to his body without smothering the human, he jumped down off the shuttle and started to run towards where the station would be.

Yelping at the rough landing, JongWoon held on tighter and shut his eyes against the sand that blew in his face. If it hadn't been for the wings holding him down, he would have flown off within the first few leaps. As it was, it was a rough ride, doing his best to stay on.

But with the distance they'd covered before crashing, he didn't think YoungSaeng would be able to make it back to the station. Hopefully the others found them soon. 

There was two things about shifting that YoungSaeng enjoyed. One was running for as far as he could go, as fast he could. Some of the animals he shifted into were best at running, all sleek lines and spring loaded legs. A griffin could run, as they had a long gait and good traction with their wide paws.

What he enjoyed the most though, was flying.

The planet was desert hills and rocks, perfect for what he had in mind for reserving his energy. At the top of the first hill, his large wings expanded and he leapt into the air, soaring over the rocky terrain below, easily twice the distance he had been running.

When the bumps suddenly stopped, JongWoon feeling the larger wings spread out, the human cracked one eye open and blinked against the dust. He saw the sky on either side of them, blinking a little more and opening both eyes to see properly. They were flying?

Because of the contact between them, he could feel how much YoungSaeng enjoyed soaring above the land. This also conserved his energy nicely, to alternate between running and gliding.

Lips curling into a small smile behind the mask, he ran his fingers gently over soft feathers without pulling, taking a moment to stop panicking and just admire this strange new form. 

YoungSaeng was able to take a few powerful flaps before he had to ease down towards the ground, landing again with a soft bump. Once he had landed, he started running again towards the next hill. He wouldn't be able to keep this up all day, but he would be able to cut their travel time in half.

Wincing at the bump, JongWoon settled down for a long ride, burying his face against YoungSaeng's feathers and focusing on just holding on. All the while, he kept a careful eye on YoungSaeng in case the shifter was tiring. It couldn't be easy to run at this speed with a passenger, and supplies inside him. 

After a couple hours, YoungSaeng was too tired to keep going. It was reaching midday, and he had to slowly come to a stop. There was a large overhanging rock for them to take shelter in and out of the sun. YoungSaeng lowered down to the ground for JongWoon to climb off, panting heavily as he did.

Slipping off YoungSaeng's back, JongWoon yelped when his legs gave out on him, having gone numb after hours of not moving. Sitting properly, he looked at YoungSaeng worriedly, running his fingers through the soft feathers. "Are you okay, Saeng? You need to drink some water." 

YoungSaeng clacked his beak lightly and nodded before slowly shifting into his real form. He was still winded, but could at least move a bit. "Yes, water please," he nodded, sitting down and leaning up against the rock wall. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," JongWoon nodded, still watching him. "You'll need to give me back the supplies if you want water," he reminded, sticking close to the shifter. 

YoungSaeng chuckled tiredly, closing his eyes. "Sorry, just give me a second to catch my breath," he murmured. If he wasn't careful, he would pass out right then. Holding his hand out on the ground, the packs reappeared one by one until everything was out. That helped a bit in taking some of the weight off of him. "There, now water please."

JongWoon pulled the bag with the water over to him, opening it and fishing out one of the water bottles. He uncapped it and held it lightly against YoungSaeng's lips. "Here, not too fast or you'll hurt yourself." 

Taking small sips, YoungSaeng smiled when he waved the water away. "Thank you, I don't need that much. Don't forget to eat something while we're stopped," he said, closing his eyes again and resting.

"Eating will be interesting around this mask," JongWoon winced, sighing and looking up at the sky from underneath the overhanging rock. "Do you think they've found the shuttle by now?" Probably not, they would have noticed a ship flying overhead. 

"I didn't hear any ship nearby or see one, we'll just keep going until we can get close enough," YoungSaeng said, his voice tired. "If we do see them, we should be in range to use coms by that point."

Nodding, JongWoon capped the water again to stop sand from getting into it after taking a few cautious sips from around the mask. "Rest first though," he sighed, looking at YoungSaeng. "You...feel really tired," he said, hand lightly on his shoulder. "You going to be okay?" 

"I'll be just fine, just need to sleep for a bit," YoungSaeng nodded. "You eat, and if you hear the ship, let me know," his voice wavered and dropped off as he passed out again.

"Okay," JongWoon whispered, though YoungSaeng was already gone. Sighing softly he leaned the shifter to the side to rest lightly against him, managing small bites of food with his free hand.

********************************49***************************************

He wasn't sure how long they stayed there, JongWoon listening to the howling wind and keeping a close eye on YoungSaeng's condition. He wasn't regaining any energy by sleeping...biting his lower lip, he wrapped one of the blankets they'd brought around the shifter, trying to keep him protected from the blowing sand that got around the rock.

From the distance came a low humming noise, one he almost didn't notice at first over the wind. But then it got steadily louder and his eyes widened, praying it wasn't a sandstorm as he leaned out from around the rock to see.

When he saw the shape approaching in the sky, his eyes widened and he turned back to YoungSaeng, shaking his shoulders. "Saeng, wake up! It's the ship!" 

"Hm?" YoungSaeng's silver eyes opened, and he blinked at JongWoon, completely in a daze. "Ship? What ship?" he tried to sit up more but ended up falling over onto the ground. "Coms.. the coms..."

Yelping in surprise, JongWoon pulled YoungSaeng back up and leaned him lightly against the human, supporting him. "It's okay, they're right here." He fumbled for them in one of the bags, finally pulling out the device and praying it had enough range to reach the ship approaching in the sky. "Captain?! Kyu!" 

".... _JongWoon? Where are you?_ " KyuJong's confused voice came through the line. " _We're picking up the distress beacon, are you near the ship? Hold on, we'll scan for your life signs_."

YoungSaeng couldn't stay awake, his eyes closing and opening slowly as he watched the ship that had been flying away from them slow and then turn around.

" _We've got you, we'll be right there._ "

Exhaling slowly in relief, JongWoon hugged YoungSaeng close. "They'll be here soon Saeng, we're going to be okay," he sniffled, biting on his lower lip as he felt how tired YoungSaeng was, how disorientated. He didn't know what to do, so he just wrapped the shifter in the blanket a little more and held him close, pressing his lips against the glass-like hair and supporting his head lightly. 

The ship descended a good bit away from where the two were sitting, but YoungSaeng had passed out again by then. He didn't see the cargo bay door opening and some of the crew coming out. HyungJoon being the forerunner.

"JongWoon!" HyungJoon panted when he got close enough, his breath coming so fast it was fogging up the inside of the mask. "Are you guys okay? Is he okay? What happened?"

"Surprise sandstorm, we crashed and the shuttle sunk in quicksand," JongWoon said, tears appearing in relief at seeing his best friend. "He needs the infirmary, right now."

JungMin was right behind HyungJoon, the redhead having shifted into his real form as well to forgo the oxygen mask. Stopping beside them, he carefully gathered YoungSaeng in his arms and stood. "I'll bring Saeng to the infirmary. Joon, get him there too 

"Yeah, come on," HyungJoon nodded, waiting until JungMin had passed before helping JongWoon to his feet. "Are you okay? How long have you guys been out here like this? Did you walk all the way here?" he peppered JongWoon with questions as they walked towards the ship, the younger keeping his arm around JongWoon's waist.

"YoungSaeng...shifted and got us here," JongWoon shook his head, staggering from how his legs had gone numb. He could barely keep up with what HyungJoon was asking, giving up and just focusing on getting inside the ship.

"Hey, you're okay now," HyunJoong frowned at them, a mask over his own face as he helped HyungJoon get JongWoon into the ship before closing the bay door. Once the airlock was sealed, the air from outside was filtered out of the ship until the humans could remove their masks. "Keep us updated on their condition," he said to HyungJoon quietly. JungMin was already up the stairs and bringing YoungSaeng to the infirmary. 

"We figured something went wrong when you didn't come back last night and when we got a hold of the supply station they said you never made it," HyungJoon said, supporting JongWoon as they climbed the stairs. "I'm just glad you're okay though, I was so worried. You are okay right? You aren't hurt or anything?"

"I'm fine," JongWoon said; aside from minor scratches, lack of sleep and dizzying stress, he was fine. It was YoungSaeng who'd passed out.

By the time they made it to the infirmary, JungMin had shifted back to his usual form and laid YoungSaeng down in one of the beds. Looking at HyungJoon and JongWoon, he frowned. "And he looks like he's going to fall asleep standing." 

Helping JongWoon ease down onto one of the beds, HyungJoon looked between the JongWoon and YoungSaeng. "So... I'll let you get some sleep then, you need me to stay here? I can, I will if you need me to."

The second he laid down on the bed, JongWoon could feel himself dropping off, blinking slowly as he looked at YoungSaeng in the other bed. After a moment he looking up at HyungJoon. "Just...until I fall asleep?" he murmured, already having trouble seeing straight. He could feel the ship humming as they lifted off again, the sound and light vibrations soothing. 

"No problem," HyungJoon nodded, pulling a chair up next to his bed. Keeping JongWoon's hand in his own, he looked at YoungSaeng as well, who hadn't woken up the entire time. HyungJoon glanced up at JungMin, wondering if it was just his imagination that the two definitely seemed to be closer than they had when they left the ship. But there was time to ask about that later. Turning back to JongWoon, he brushed his thumb over the back of his best friend's hand. "I'll see you when you wake up," he whispered softly.

JongWoon managed to nod his head a little before he was out cold.

JungMin frowned lightly, watching them both. "Guess we're waiting until they wake up then," he murmured. "Don't know when that'll be, YoungSaeng's completely drained." 

"Completely drained?" HyungJoon blinked, looking at JungMin again with a frown. "What do you mean? From the shifting? Is that dangerous? Is he going to be okay?"

"It could have been life-threatening if he'd been left out there, but here we can keep a closer eye on him. He'll be fine, it'll just take a while for him to be back to full strength," JungMin said, watching YoungSaeng before looking at HyungJoon. "Just shifting wouldn't have done it, he was probably pushing himself to the max out there." 

"I wonder what happened," HyungJoon sighed, resting his chin in his hand. "I guess they're both lucky to be alive then. Now I feel bad that we forced them to go together like that."

"I'll wait until seeing what they're like when they wake up before feeling too bad," JungMin replied, leaning against the wall. "You staying here?" 

"Yeah, I don't want to leave them alone, in case they wake up and need something," HyungJoon nodded, squeezing JongWoon's hand lightly. "You?"

"Same," JungMin sighed, sitting down on the edge of YoungSaeng's bed. Hearing a slight shuffling near the door, he glanced towards it to see RyeoWook looking into the room.

"Are they okay?" the Valis spy asked quietly. 

"Yeah, they'll be okay," HyungJoon smiled softly at RyeoWook. "They're just tired. "Did you want to wait here with us until they wake up?"

The other human nodded slightly, slipping into the room after a moment. He sat down in an empty seat, worried eyes going from YoungSaeng to JongWoon. "Did they say what happened?" 

"JongWoon said they got hit by a sandstorm and crashed into quicksand," HyungJoon said. "And then YoungSaeng... shifted and got them both away. They got a good ways away from the shuttle, what do you think he shifted into?" he asked JungMin.

"...I have several ideas," JungMin mused, watching YoungSaeng. "It would be better to get the story from him though. Whenever he wakes up. He's going to be starving when he does, Zhou Mi's going to be busy." 

"I'm sure Mi won't mind," HyungJoon chuckled looking at the shifter. This was the longest he'd seen one of them in their true form, and he was still as amazed as ever. YoungSaeng's eyes slowly opened, and he sighed softly. A low echoing noise, almost like a whistle emanated from him.

JungMin perked up, scooting over into YoungSaeng's field of vision. "Hey you, finished playing in the sand?" he smiled softly, checking the older man's condition. "You're both back on the ship, and you need to rest more." 

Nodding, YoungSaeng crooked a finger at JungMin, beckoning him closer. HyungJoon looked between them, wondering what YoungSaeng wanted to say.

"Hm?" JungMin blinked at him, before leaning a little closer. "You okay?" 

Looking up at JungMin, YoungSaeng's silver eyes narrowed and he whispered. " _I'm going to kill you._ "

The redhead blinked owlishly down at him. "Oh, okay. I guess I'll get a head start now while you're stuck in bed," he grinned a little sheepishly before scooting back again.

"What did he say?" RyeoWook blinked at them.

"Only that he's going to kill me, fortunately he can't do that until he can move." 

YoungSaeng continued to scowl at JungMin for a moment before he closed his eyes again and drifted back into sleep.

"Why's he want to kill you? What'd you do?" HyungJoon asked.

"Oh, he knows we set them up," JungMin chuckled, glancing at HyungJoon. "Which means he probably told JongWoon, might want to be careful Joon." RyeoWook hid a laugh. 

"...Oh," HyungJoon deflated, looking at JongWoon nervously. "But.. we were just trying to help, they can't be that mad at us right? Especially since.. well... we found them and JongWoon was holding on to him..."

"Doesn't mean I at least won't end up dead," JungMin grinned, pulling his legs up to his chest. "And that was rather promising, but we're still going to have to wait until they wake up to tell for sure." 

"Yeah... but... it's still a good sign," HyungJoon said, smiling down at JongWoon and adjusting the blankets around him. Now all they had to do was wait, and it probably would be a while before either of them woke up.

A few hours passed without any change for the two asleep. The other three talked quietly amongst themselves, the captain coming down later to see if they were okay. The other crew members popped in and out at random intervals.

Fiddling with his sleeve, RyeoWook glanced to the side and blinked when he saw JongWoon stirring, brow furrowing. "YeSung hyung?"

The older man opened his eyes after a moment, blinking at them in a daze. "...Huh?" 

HyungJoon, who had his head down on the bed, looked up, smiling broadly at his friend. "Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked softly, scooting his chair closer.

JongWoon blinked at HyungJoon repeatedly. "Like someone stuffed my head with cotton. We're...on the ship?" Seeming to realize something, he gave a bit of a start, looking around until his gaze settled on YoungSaeng still asleep in the other bed. 

"Yeah, we've been on the ship for a while," HyungJoon nodded, following his gaze to the shifter. "We're heading to the supply station, should be there soon to pick up the cargo," HyungJoon continued. "He woke up a few hours ago, didn't say much and passed right out again. He's okay though."

"Good," JongWoon relaxed at that, blinking tiredly up at HyungJoon. Looking around the room, his lips quirked a little when he saw RyeoWook. "Hey Wookie..."

"Glad to see you okay, hyung," RyeoWook smiled widely.

Closing his eyes for a moment, JongWoon cracked them open again, looking up at HyungJoon. "...YoungSaeng said you all got us on that shuttle on purpose."

"Uh oh," JungMin snorted. 

"...Um... about that..." HyungJoon floundered, looking to JungMin for help, but knowing the older man he wasn't going to give it. "Why don't we talk about that when you're feeling better okay? Are you hungry? I can go get something from the mess hall."

"Told you," YoungSaeng murmured, opening his eyes and slowly shifting back into his human form.

"Ah, they both wake up and want to kill us at the same time," JungMin grinned. "And food would be good for both of them."

"I can go get the food," RyeoWook said, standing up and smiling widely at HyungJoon. "Hyung's best friend should stay with him, right?" JungMin burst out laughing as the tiny spy escaped.

"You okay Saeng?" JongWoon asked, wincing as he tried to sit up. 

"I'm okay, just hungry," YoungSaeng said, rubbing at his forehead. "You and I are going to have a long talk later, horseface."

"I should probably let the Captain know they're awake," HyungJoon said, scooting away from JongWoon. "And I'm sorry JongWoon, it was for your own good."

"Of course it was." JongWoon found enough upper body strength to shoot his pillow at HyungJoon.

"Hey, it looks like it worked out, so you can't kill me," JungMin sniffed. 

"I can kill you if I want to," YoungSaeng grumbled, watching HyungJoon yelp and dive behind JungMin for protection.

Fishing out his com device, HyungJoon opened it, pouting at JongWoon. "Captain, they're awake..."

 _"You don't sound particularly happy about that,"_ HyunJoong teased.

JungMin snorted, looking behind himself at HyungJoon. "What are you doing behind me, if YoungSaeng attacks me then you're just going to get caught in the crossfire." 

"Yeah, well he's throwing things at me," HyungJoon complained, pouting more at JongWoon. "Are you really that mad at me?"

"Whose idea was it?" YoungSaeng asked. His eyebrows raised when HyungJoon made a small squeaking noise and hid more behind JungMin.

"Totally his idea," JungMin grinned widely, not even trying to save the younger man.

" _Joon_ ," JongWoon protested loudly, staring at his friend. 

"Well what was I supposed to do?" HyungJoon whined, pinching JungMin's side for offering him up like that. "You were being completely stubborn JongWoon, and you weren't much better Saeng."

"I was not being stubborn," YoungSaeng said, crossing his arms over his chest. "You two are just nosy."

"Okay, yes we're nosy, but it worked out didn't it?" JungMin yelped at the pinch, swatted at HyungJoon behind him. "Who knows how long you both would have moped around the ship and refused to talk to each other and just generally made life miserable."

"So we nearly died instead?" JongWoon sulked.

"We didn't know about the sandstorm okay," JungMin pouted 

"Still, I'm a little hurt that you were trying to manipulate us," YoungSaeng said with a frown. "Whatever was going on between JongWoon and I was for us to figure out and neither of you thought about what could have happened."

"Just like you and I let KyuJong and HyunJoong figure things out by shoving them in the closet together, right Saeng?" JungMin blew his hair out of his eyes. "We're sorry for being concerned friends then." 

"That's different," YoungSaeng countered, bristling slightly. As much as he protested though, he knew JungMin was right, even if the idea rankled him. JongWoon and himself had been particularly stubborn, just like HyunJoong and KyuJong had been. "I hope you two are done being matchmakers," he grumbled, looking away.

"Depends. You both make up?" JungMin grinned, leaning forward. The way JongWoon promptly turned into a tomato answered his question. "Well then, I think our work here is done," JungMin snorted, winking to HyungJoon before skipping to the door, dragging the younger man with him. "Have fun resting, we're getting a running head start before you're ready to kill us 

HyungJoon yelped, waving as he was dragged along. "We were just trying to help!"

When the door closed behind them, YoungSaeng sighed and glanced over at JongWoon. "So what do you think? They do the right thing?"

JongWoon looked at YoungSaeng, lips pursed. "I'd probably be less miffed if we didn't nearly die, but that wasn't their fault," he sighed, leaning back against the headboard. "You sure you're okay?" 

"I'm okay, I just need some food and some sleep," YoungSaeng nodded, slowly sitting up. "Though I'd rather sleep in my bed than here in the med bay."

"Same," JongWoon sighed. "Maybe when you can move we can head there?" Seeing movement by the door, he chuckled tired. "It's safe Wookie."

The spy came in with a sheepish smile, carrying a tray of food. "Sorry hyung, I wasn't sticking around for that." He placed the tray down, setting up the bed tables for each of them and placing their food on the tables. 

"Far as I can tell, if you hadn't agreed to give up your spot on the shuttle then JongWoon wouldn't have been able to go," YoungSaeng mused, eyeing the spy with an amused smirk. "You're just as much to blame as the rest of them. Thank you."

RyeoWook's cheeks turned a faint pink and he ducked his head a little to YoungSaeng. "Anything for my hyung, and the person who makes my hyung happy." His eyes danced a little as he straightened. "Though good luck stopping him from hurting himself, it's a 24/7 job."

"Wookie!" JongWoon whined as the spy hurried out of the room. "...All my friends are mean to me," he sulked.

"I have spent more time in this medical bay than he has in the four months I've been on board," YoungSaeng chuckled, picking through his food and starting to eat. "But, he takes care of me, and I in turn protect him. Not so bad if you ask me."

Watching YoungSaeng for a moment, JongWoon's lips curled into a soft smile as he started to eat as well. "No, not that bad at all."

Despite the huge appetite he had now, he couldn't finish what was on the plate; Zhou Mi had over-compensated. Rolling the table back a little, he looked over at YoungSaeng before carefully sliding his legs off the side of the bed. He stood up cautiously, wobbling a little from dizziness but he felt much better.

So he went over to YoungSaeng's bed instead, sitting down next to him and sipping at his glass of water. 

YoungSaeng glanced at JongWoon out of the corner of his eye, an arm going around the man's waist while he just about licked his plate clean. JongWoon may not have been able to finish his meal, but YoungSaeng had a lot more energy to make up. When he was done, he pushed the table away and leaned up against JongWoon. "I think it's time to go back to sleep," he murmured, eyes closing.

"Yeah," JongWoon smiled softly, placing the glass down. Shifting around on the bed, he got them both lying down; he didn't particularly care what anyone else would say if they were found in the same bed right now. Arranging the blankets and pillows, JongWoon wrapped his arms loosely around YoungSaeng. "Better?" 

"Much better," YoungSaeng nodded, nuzzling his nose against JongWoon's collar. "Much better than the metal flooring too."

"Definitely better," JongWoon agreed, kissing YoungSaeng's forehead softly. "Sleep well," he whispered, closing his own eyes and relaxing. 

**************

Landing at the supply station a couple of hours after they had picked up YoungSaeng and JongWoon, RyeoWook and JungMin had been sent out to collect the cargo. HyungJoon waited anxiously in the cargo bay so he could check everything when it came in. They had no idea what it was they'd be hauling across space, and considering what happened the last time, the Captain had made it pretty clear that all cargo was being checked from now.

" _Cargo's here, opening the bay door, be ready Joon._ " KyuJong called over the coms as the cargo bay door opened slowly.

Pushing the containers up into the bay on rollers, JungMin brought them to where HyungJoon was waiting. "Here you go, the manager's hanging around until it's been checked," he sighed, straightening and brushing his hair out of his eyes. Even on wheels, the containers were still hard to move. A second container was being pushed in by one of the miners. RyeoWook was lingering just outside the bay door, talking to an alien in their native tongue. 

"Are you going to help?" HyungJoon asked, giving JungMin a wry look as he scanned each container with a hand scanner before opening it up, matching contents with the packing list. "I don't even know what half of these things are, how am I supposed to make sure everything's here?"

"Of course I'm going to help, I'm just catching my breath you task master," JungMin sniffed. He leaned over HyungJoon's shoulder, pointing out things that wouldn't be familiar to the human. Some of the supply list made him raise an eyebrow, knowing what it was and intrigued by the fact it was being included in the shipment. "Looks like everything's on the list." 

"Good, one down," HyungJoon sighed, closing up the container. "And we're supposed to be able to use some of this stuff for food? Is it even edible?" he mumbled under his breath, scanning the second container and opening it up. "....Okay, now I _know_ none of this is edible," he blinked down at the weapons cache.

"No, not edible, I wouldn't even try," JungMin snorted. "Come on, we're just about done." He went through the list with the human, pointing out each type of weapon as they went along. 

"Guess YunHo really wants us prepared out here," HyungJoon said as they finished up the checklist and he closed the container. "He said we get to keep this stuff when we're done right?"

"Yeah, it'll work both in case we're checked by another ship, and in case we need it. Looks like weapons training is going to be a little more interesting," he smirked, looking over a high-tech crossbow before the container was closed. He gave a thumbs-up to RyeoWook, who was glancing their way. The tiny spy turned back to the alien beside him, going over signing the papers for the cargo. 

HyungJoon winced slightly, not really looking forward to more training. "I never want to look at a weapon again after all this is done," he said, securing the containers to the floor.

"Then you better find some planet in the middle of nowhere to settle on, cause things are never quiet out here even when you _don't_ have a power-hungry faction after the entire galaxy," JungMin snorted, making sure the containers were secure before straightening and waiting for RyeoWook to finish up. 

"That was kind of the idea," HyungJoon said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I wasn't raised with all of this, I'm still not used to it yet." When RyeoWook had finished and was back on board, HyungJoon closed the cargo bay door and signaled to KyuJong that they were ready to go.

"It takes a bit of getting used to, but if we don't deal with this, you're going to be searching for a quiet planet for a long, long time," JungMin shrugged.

"Some of the planets in Sylar space would be nicer if...well, Sylar wasn't running them," RyeoWook hummed, yawning a little as he headed back to the stairs. 

"Is it so wrong to want to live somewhere where you're not fighting for your life every second?" HyungJoon asked, looking at JungMin with a frown. "What kind of life is that?"

"I didn't say anything was wrong with it, I'm just saying with things as they are now, it's not realistic," JungMin rolled his eyes. "If this isn't handled properly, even the backwater planets will be caught up in the fight." 

"I don't care about realistic, just let me have one shred of hope that if we live through this I can have a normal life again," HyungJoon argued, turning away and heading towards the stairs.

Staring after the younger man, JungMin gave a frustrated sigh, blowing his bangs out of his face. "What did I do now?" he asked RyeoWook, who had stopped and was looking back at them with a raised eyebrow. Shaking his head, the shifter followed after HyungJoon. "I didn't say you couldn't. We'll try and get you that normal life, okay?" he said, sighing softly. 

HyungJoon glanced back at RyeoWook before looking at JungMin, falling in step with him. "Do you even want a normal life JungMin? You know, no guns or weapons or killing people.. just.. normal. Settling onto a planet and building a life. Do you want any of that?"

JungMin was silent for a moment, looking straight ahead as they walked. "...Honestly, I don't know," he murmured after a moment, shrugging. "Not a single moment of my life has been normal. I don't know what I'd do with myself, how it would feel." 

"You can always try, and if it doesn't work for you, then it doesn't work," HyungJoon said quietly, taking JungMin's hand in his own. "But I think you deserve a chance to try."

Looking down at HyungJoon's hand, JungMin pursed his lips slightly, slowly curling his fingers around the younger man's after a moment's pause. He was still not sure what to do about this side of being in a relationship. "I guess I could give it a try then," he murmured, looking up at HyungJoon again. "Once all this is over." 

HyungJoon smiled softly up at him. "Okay.. and hey, if it's not for you, then it's not for you. I can't really force you to be something you're not.... but it could be kind of nice."

JungMin quirked a small smile in return, but something about that sentence nagged at him, the shifter looking away after a moment. "Guess we'll just have to find out, won't we?" 

"Yeah, I don't think we're getting out of this anytime soon," HyungJoon sighed. "So... what now? I guess we're heading out to Sylar territory... what do we do in the meantime?"

"Whatever we want to do? It'll take a while to reach the border, and even after that, we'll be mostly traveling like this. Hate to tell you, but aside from being killed if we're found out, nothing much is going to change once we cross the border," JungMin chuckled. He wasn't even sure where they were walking right now, he was just walking aimlessly. 

HyungJoon's lips quirked side to side as he glanced at JungMin. "So, I guess we have some time to ourselves then? Maybe we should make the most of it?"

"Oh?" JungMin looked back to HyungJoon, lips curling upwards as his eyes danced. "And how would you suggest we do that?" 

Steering JungMin a little towards their room, HyungJoon chuckled. "Well, I think we should spend some quality alone time... we're still getting to know each other right?"

"Right," JungMin mused, following along and taking the corner, heading to their door. "And we haven't spent that much alone time recently..." He pulled HyungJoon into their room, turning around to face the younger man with a smirk. 

"Not really, and I'm sorry about that," HyungJoon said, leaning up against the closed door. "But we're alone now, you have anything in mind? We could... just talk if you want."

"And what did you want to talk about?" JungMin asked, leaning against the door, hands on either side of the younger man and blinking at him. He would have thought HyungJoon would just be interested in making out, given how their conversations usually ended in yelling matches. Talking didn't seem to be safe for them 80% of the time. 

HyungJoon shrugged, looking JungMin up and down. "I dunno, was just a thought... just in case there's anything you wanted to talk about."

"That just sounds like you're stalling," JungMin grinned, leaning in a little to brush his lips lightly over the younger man's jaw. "Though I am a little curious about you." 

"About me?" HyungJoon murmured, his eyes closing as he wrapped one arm around JungMin's neck. "And what about me are you curious about?"

"Everything." JungMin nipped a bit of skin lightly. "You mentioned earlier you had a brother?" 

"Mhm, yeah," HyungJoon nodded, sighing softly at the nips. "Younger, his name's KiBum... you have any siblings?"

"Who knows. Things worked a little differently where I came from." The shifter ducked his head slightly to kiss along HyungJoon's neck. "What's your family like?" 

"Ah...good, I suppose," HyungJoon breathed, finding it hard to concentrate with what JungMin was doing. "Dad left, Mom raised us on our own, same story all over. What do you mean worked differently?"

JungMin hummed against HyungJoon's neck, nosing the collar of his shirt lightly. "Shinbi couples rarely stay together long, if there's a kid, the kid goes with one parent or the other. Or someone else if neither parent wants them. I could have siblings from either of my parents' other relationships." He bit down lightly on soft skin. 

HyungJoon's eyes opened slowly and he pulled back to look at JungMin in confusion. "So... Shinbi don't have committed relationship?" he asked, trying to understand. What did that mean for them then?"

Pouting at being separated from his task, JungMin blinked at HyungJoon. "It isn't the norm, no. Some choose to, but the majority just go from one relationship to the other." 

"Oh... that's... I see," HyungJoon nodded, looking down a little at JungMin's collar. "I guess that's not... I mean, some humans are like, not wanting to settle down with anyone. I get it."

JungMin watched HyungJoon's expression, brow furrowed slightly. "It's just how our society is." He paused and sighed, lips pulling into a wry smile. "Though since Saeng and I haven't really been exposed to Shinbi society since we were twelve, we don't follow their ideas very well." 

HyungJoon gave JungMin a blank stare, flicking his nose. "You were sleeping with Kyu and YoungSaeng at the same time because of some game and have never been in any kind of relationship before. I think you were living those ideals pretty well."

Yelping at the nose flick, JungMin pulled back a little, punching HyungJoon's shoulder before covering his nose. "Well excuse me for not having many chances to date as an alien assassin. And I stopped sleeping with both of them for you, didn't I?" 

Shrieking at the punch, HyungJoon scowled at JungMin before punching him back. "Yah, you stopped sleeping with Kyu because he got together with the captain, so don't act like you were doing me some grand favor there."

"Okay fine, but I still stopped sleeping with YoungSaeng," JungMin scowled back, straightening and putting his hands on his hips. "So I get some credit, don't I? I don't understand what you want me to say." 

Taking a breath, HyungJoon hugged his arms to his chest, looking at JungMin for a moment before looking down. "Say that you're not like them and not going to just leave me when you get bored."

Blinking, JungMin sighed and let his shoulders drop. "I wouldn't do that to you, Joon," he said quietly. "In that respect, I'm not like them." He lightly touched HyungJoon's arm, trying to meet his eyes. 

HyungJoon looked up into JungMin's eyes, the corner of his lip curling slightly. "Okay," he nodded after a moment, pulling JungMin closer. "I'm holding you to that."

Smiling a little, JungMin leaned in and kissed HyungJoon, wrapping his arms around the younger man's waist. But he didn't seem as into it as he was before, just giving soft pecks. "You don't have to worry about a thing." 

Snorting at that, HyungJoon settled his arms around JungMin's neck. "Where you're involved, I'll always worry," he said, returning the kisses. "But... I guess I can trust you, just this once."

"You mean you don't trust me the rest of the time?" JungMin sniffed, pouting a little. "I'm not that bad." 

"I trust you, I'm just very cautious," HyungJoon said, smirking at the pout. "You are an alien after all."

JungMin's eyes widened slightly at that, the playful pout disappearing and replaced for a moment with genuine hurt. "...Gee, thanks for the reminder," he sniffed, pulling away from the younger man. 

Whatever reaction HyungJoon had been expecting it wasn't that, and he blinked a little in confusion. "What? What'd I say? I was just teasing Min..." he said, shaking his head a little. He hadn't meant to offend JungMin by that.

"Yeah, teasing," JungMin muttered, his hackles back up again. He stopped trying to corner the human against the door, wandering more towards the window with his hands shoved in his pockets. "So we don't have work or anything we're supposed to do? There's probably still some sand stuck in the engine from those last few hours." 

"...No, the exhaust system will take over what little bit of sand was in there," HyungJoon said, watching JungMin nervously. "If you'd rather be somewhere else though, I'm sure you can find something to do," he shrugged, moving over to sit down on the bed. "I'm sorry that I offended you, or whatever it is you're mad about. I didn't mean it."

"Of course you didn't," JungMin said bitterly, feeling a strange sense of despair. When HyungJoon moved away from the door, JungMin headed back towards it, not wanting to be in the room with him anymore.

Hand lightly on the doorknob, the redhead looked back at HyungJoon, lips pressed into a thin line. "It bothers you, doesn't it. Being in a relationship with an alien." 

HyungJoon looked up at JungMin, his forehead knitted in confusion. "No? Why would it? I mean yeah it takes some getting used to, but no, I don't even really think about it."

"Because I look like this." JungMin looked at HyungJoon for a long moment before shaking his head. "You haven't had to get used to anything yet." Opening the door, he stepped out into the hallway. 

HyungJoon got to his feet and followed JungMin to the door, holding it open and watching him go. "Alright then, how was I supposed to get used to you being an alien then? I'm trying my best here okay?"

JungMin just shook his head, continuing to walk. He just needed a moment to sit by himself and think about things. The shifter took the corner and disappeared, bound for a different part of the ship. 

"Fine! Be that way!" HyungJoon called after him, slamming the door shut and collapsing on the bed. Moments like that really made him wonder whether this was even going to work. If they couldn't even hold a conversation for five minutes, what chances did they have?

*****************************50

Wandering for an hour or so, JungMin finally gave up on the idea of figuring out what to do by himself and headed towards the infirmary. He was too used to bouncing ideas off YoungSaeng for anything, and he wanted to talk to his friend now. Even if his friend wanted nothing less than his head on a platter for setting him up earlier.

He poked his head into the infirmary to see if the older man was awake. To his surprise, JongWoon was missing. He'd heard talking over the com lines earlier, maybe he'd been called for something. "...Saeng?" He inched over to the bed. 

YoungSaeng's eyes slowly opened at hearing his name, when he saw it was JungMin he promptly rolled over onto his side to face away from him. "I'm still mad at you," he grumped, drawing the blankets up to his shoulders.

"I'm sorry okay," JungMin whined, crouching down next to the bed and resting his chin on the mattress. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Don't kill me?" 

"I'm not going to kill you, takes too much energy," YoungSaeng sighed, looking at JungMin with a frown. "What's the matter?"

YoungSaeng always knew. JungMin sulked a little, picking at the blanket. "HyungJoon and I had another not-conversation. He made some crack about being very cautious around me because I'm an alien." 

"And?" YoungSaeng perked a brow. "You find it insulting? How often have you said you hated humans Min, I don't think he's wrong in wanting to be wary. Do you honestly think he meant it as an insult?"

"It wasn't that I was thinking of," JungMin's shoulders dropped slightly. "And I wouldn't do anything to him...I don't hate him." Quite the opposite. "Is JongWoon...accepting of you?" he asked after a moment, peeking up at YoungSaeng through his bangs. 

YoungSaeng considered the question for a moment, his lips pursed. "I don't know Min, I haven't really asked him. I think considering what happened on the shuttle, he may. But things like that take time, and everyone goes at their own pace."

"I guess..." JungMin shrank down a little, gaze downcast. "I'm probably just overreacting again." He hoped he was. But he was seriously getting the feeling that it hadn't quite reached HyungJoon yet that JungMin wasn't human, despite what he said. This appearance was just a skilled illusion. 

"Have you tried talking with him about it?" YoungSaeng asked, scooting over a little and tugging on JungMin's shirt. "He may not understand why this is such a big deal for you."

JungMin climbed up onto the bed at the tugging. "I don't know how to explain properly, or where to start. And you know how talking usually ends up between us," he shrugged a little, looking down at his lap. Chances were that conversation wouldn't end up going well, especially if some of his fears were founded. 

"Well... probably not yelling or getting upset with him at everything he says might help," YoungSaeng said, looking up at him. "Or is that too much to expect of you right away."

"I'm trying with that, okay?" JungMin winced. "I just...I don't know. I get too nervous around him." It sounded stupid, but it was true. "I just don't want him to think of me like a monster," he muttered, fisting his hands in the blanket. 

"He's not like the others have been Min, none of the humans on board have been," YoungSaeng said, touching JungMin's knee lightly. "If he thought you were a monster, I don't think he'd go anywhere near you."

"You're probably right," JungMin sighed, looking up at YoungSaeng with a small twist to his lips. "I really am losing it. Please tell me things are at least going smoother between you both now? Both of us can't be messed up." 

"I would say they are going better," YoungSaeng nodded, a small smile forming. "Something happened though, and I wanted your opinion on it," he said, shifting to sit up a little. "After the crash, he was hurt, a cut on his leg, and I bonded with him momentarily to heal the cut. Min... he could _feel_ me through the bond."

"He...wait, what?" JungMin hadn't been expecting that at all, blinking owlishly at YoungSaeng. "Is that even supposed to _happen_? The bond should only work for other Shinbi." 

"I don't know, it's not like anyone has ever done it before," YoungSaeng said, frowning slightly. "Even now, when he touches me, we can feel each other, like you and I. I don't understand it Min, and I wish I did."

"That's..." JungMin shook his head. "I don't even get how that's happening, humans are wired too differently from us." He pursed his lips slightly. "It's a strong bond?" 

"Very strong," YoungSaeng nodded. "As strong as if he were another Shinbi. It doesn't make sense to me either, but it's so hard to know if it's supposed to be that way or not. Maybe it's normal when bonding with non Shinbi."

"Maybe," JungMin thought about that, tapping his fingers against his knee. "If it's like that for just a temporary bond, you think the full bond would be the same?" 

"I don't know, would that even be possible?" YoungSaeng shook his head. "That could kill him, and I don't even know if I should be thinking about something like that now."

"No, you shouldn't, I was just curious," JungMin winced. "That's...very strange. I wish there was someone we could ask about this...I don't know about you, but considering we were twelve-ish when we were taken, I wasn't paying much attention to the specifics of bonds." 

"It's not like it was talked about very often," YoungSaeng said with a sigh. "I remember my mother talking about it, and how much she had wanted to bond with my father but he turned her down."

"It's not something many people did, not more than a superficial bond anyways," JungMin groaned, flopping back onto the empty space of the bed. "And Dad didn't really care for it either. Oh well, it's not as if either of us are looking at a full bond." 

"No, nothing like that," YoungSaeng shook his head. "I just wish we knew more about stuff like that. I don't want JongWoon to get hurt by something I do because I just didn't know."

"Yeah," the redhead winced. "Guess you'll just have to be careful then. Don't try healing any injuries too often. Is that partly why you were half-dead when we found you both?" 

"Well.. that and I had a piece of the bulkhead go through my belly," YoungSaeng wrinkled his nose. "I may have sped up the healing a bit too far to be safe, but we didn't have the luxury of time."

"Well there you have it," JungMin sighed, propping himself up on his elbows to look at the older man. "You always seem to end up in the infirmary, at least once a month." 

"I know, not something I'm proud of," YoungSaeng said, flicking JungMin's leg. "I got to use my favorite form though, and kept JongWoon alive. I think it was worth it."

"Your favorite form?" JungMin blinked, then grinned a little. "That's one you can't use too often. What did he think?" He wondered how HyungJoon would react if he were to shift into different forms around him. 

"I think he enjoyed it, probably not during the running as I'm sure it was a little bumpy, but I could tell he enjoyed the flying," YoungSaeng smiled, closing his eyes. "He's asked me about different forms before, wants to see them all. It's strange to have a human curious about us, and not running in terror."

JungMin ducked his head and nodded, picking at the blanket. HyungJoon had never asked. "It is strange, but it's a good strange I guess. Though JongWoon's a little loopy, that might account for it," he snorted, looking back up at YoungSaeng. "You're good for each other." 

"I hope so," YoungSaeng chuckled softly, opening his eyes to look up at JungMin. "I take it the other wonder twin isn't quite as curious?"

"No, he isn't," JungMin sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "I think he's still...thinking of me as a human. I don't know what he would think if I were to shift into another form, or even my real form." Knowing his reactions to aliens in the past, probably nothing good. 

"Have you tried talking to him about it?" YoungSaeng asked, rolling over onto his belly, resting his chin in his hands. "And I mean talk, not growl defensively at him."

"He growls back at me too okay, I'm not the only culprit here," JungMin grumbled. "I don't even know where to start...and if we can't even have a normal conversation, I...I don't know if that talk would go so well." 

"And that could be exactly why he _hasn't_ said anything," YoungSaeng snorted, rolling his eyes. "You haven't exactly been pleasant when it comes to what you are, you've always been so sensitive about it. He probably thinks you'll yell at him."

"And I think he'd change his opinion about wanting to be with me once he does see what I am," JungMin retorted, falling back onto the bed and covering his face with his hands. "JongWoon could easily be a fluke, one in thousands, Saeng. Accepting an alien enough to be around them and accepting them enough to want to date one are two different things," he muttered. 

"Well I can see you've gone about this in your usual rational way," YoungSaeng shook his head. "Where's the harm in trying Min? You want him to accept you for who you are right? How about you stop coming up with reasons why he won't and start thinking about why he would."

"I think I'm being very rational," JungMin muttered. "It's not that easy, and he's not exactly helping." He was running out of energy to argue, just keeping his hands over his face. 

"Of course, very rational, so rational you've made up his mind for him," YoungSaeng said, poking JungMin in the side. "Talk to him Min, find out what he really thinks before you start making bad decisions."

"Is that experience talking," JungMin murmured, peeking out at YoungSaeng through his fingers. 

"....Yes, and very recent experience," YoungSaeng smiled. "If you don't, I'll shove the both of you into a closet, understood?"

"Yes sir," JungMin sighed loudly, rolling back over onto his back. "You're going to have to keep yourself out of the infirmary for that. Where's the failboat, anyways?" 

"Not entirely sure, he was gone when I woke up," YoungSaeng said, looking towards the door. "I really do hate being in here all the time."

"Want help getting to your room?" JungMin asked. "Or else you're not going to be moving for a while." 

"That would be awful sweet of you," YoungSaeng grinned, eyes shining brightly. "You going to carry me?"

"If I must," JungMin sighed, sitting up and shuffling over so YoungSaeng could climb onto his back. "Where am I bringing you? Your room with JongWoon?" 

Draping his arms around JungMin's neck and hooking his legs around his waist, YoungSaeng made sure he was secure before nodding. "Yes please, and then you'll go and talk with HyungJoon like a rational adult?"

"I'll think about it," JungMin pursed his lips. "Going back there right after we just finished arguing probably isn't a good idea." He stood up, making sure he had a good grip before heading towards the door. 

"Or it could be a great idea, make up sex is supposed to be the best," YoungSaeng chuckled, resting his chin on JungMin's shoulder.

JungMin snorted. "If we resolve anything. Don't get ahead of yourself." He pinched YoungSaeng's leg lightly, getting out of the infirmary and heading back towards the older man's room. "You picked a room in the middle of nowhere." 

YoungSaeng squeaked at the leg pinch, scowling at JungMin's ear. "We picked the room so we could be away from the rest of you crazy people. It's quiet and we like it that way."

"I thought you liked us crazy people? You're crazy too, remember," JungMin chuckled. 

"I am not crazy," YoungSaeng sniffed, turning away. "And neither is JongWoon, so we rather like being away from you crazy people sometimes. Just the two of us."

"Aww, is Saengie turning into a romantic?" JungMin grinned over his shoulder at the older man. 

"Shut up," YoungSaeng grumbled, biting JungMin's shoulder. "You have no room to talk about getting all mushy."

Yelping at the bite, JungMin pouted before smirking. "I'm still not as mushy as you," he teased, pushing the door to YoungSaeng and JongWoon's room open with his foot. 

"Are too," YoungSaeng stuck his tongue out at him. "You just don't want to admit it."

"I have nothing to admit," the redhead grinned, going to the bed. He nudged the otter plushie to one side so he could help YoungSaeng down off his back and onto the bed. "There you go, better?" 

"Much better," YoungSaeng sighed happily. Rolling himself up into the blankets, the otter plushie disappeared underneath to wrap his arms around. "Go talk to him Min, don't let him sit and stew."

JungMin pursed his lips, looking down at his friend. "You're absolutely certain something will come of this?" 

"No, but you need to try," YoungSaeng smiled, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath. "Even if everything does fall apart, at least you can say you tried Min."

The younger man's shoulders dropped slightly, but he sighed and nodded a little. "Guess I'll see you later then," he said, turning towards the door. "If I see the failboat I'll let him know you're back here before he goes on a panic." 

"Thank you Min," YoungSaeng smiled, burrowing down further into the blankets. "And good luck."

JungMin left the room, heading back towards HyungJoon's room and trying to figure out what he was going to say. No matter what he said, he was seriously scared about this. But YoungSaeng was right, there was only one way to find out for sure what HyungJoon thought. Even if it wasn't what JungMin wanted to hear in the end.

Running into JongWoon halfway there, he pointed the negotiator towards his room and watched the older man hurry off. He was somewhat...jealous of him and YoungSaeng. It was obvious they both cared for each other greatly, if not love.

Shaking his head to clear it, the redhead paused outside HyungJoon's room. After a moment of just standing there, wondering if HyungJoon was even still in there, he drew in a breath and opened the door a crack, peeking in. "...HyungJoon?" 

Having spent most of the time JungMin was out of the room angrily muttering into his pillow, HyungJoon bolted upright when he heard JungMin's voice. He blinked wideeyed at the shifter, wondering how much the other had heard. "Uhh... hey..." he stuttered out, straightening out the blankets around him. "You're back."

"Yeah." JungMin stayed out in the hallway for a moment before opening the door a little more, shuffling in. "I...can we talk?" 

"I guess..." HyungJoon nodded, scooting up to the headboard, drawing his knees to his chest. "You're not going to yell at me again though are you?"

"I'll try not to," JungMin muttered, walking over to the bed and sitting down on the edge of it. His jaw worked for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. "I...I'm sorry for leaving suddenly...before." 

HyungJoon eyed JungMin, his lips pursed, wondering if this was a trap. After a second he sighed. "I'm sorry for saying something that offended you... I didn't mean anything by it, honest."

JungMin wrung his hands a little in his lap, not looking at HyungJoon. "It didn't...offend me, exactly. But why do you think you have to be cautious around me? You get along with SungMin and Zhou Mi fine." 

"It doesn't have anything to do with you being an alien," HyungJoon said quietly, looking down. "That's not what I meant.. I'm not cautious exactly, just unsure. You went from hating me, and bullying me, to kissing me, and I don't think I've really taken a step back yet and thought about it. Especially since... I've never been in a relationship before, not one where I have actual feelings for someone. I just don't know what to make of it yet."

"It's not any easier for me," JungMin sighed, lips pressed together. "What do you want me to do to help, then? I don't know what you want from me." 

"Well that makes two of us, I don't know what you want from me either," HyungJoon said, looking up at him. "There's like this barrier between us, and everytime I try to touch it you get mad at me. Or I say the wrong thing and you don't tell me what that wrong thing was."

The redhead gripped his jeans loosely, looking down at the floor. "I don't know _how_ to tell you what I'm thinking. I've never been good with words, and it'll probably come out completely wrong and just start another argument."

"So you expect me to be psychic then?" HyungJoon said, giving JungMin a wry look. "Remember what I said about communication? This is where that helps. Not knowing what it is you're thinking, gets me into trouble because I say the wrong thing. Let me ask you this... is this something you could say to YoungSaeng?"

"I'm not expecting you to be psychic," JungMin grumbled, biting on the inside of his cheek. After a moment he nodded; he'd already spoken to YoungSaeng about this. 

"Okay, I know you and Saeng have a long history and probably know each other better than you and I ever will, but if you can tell him, then why can't you tell me?" HyungJoon said, scooting a little closer. "I _want_ to understand Min."

"Because I don't think you'd be able to accept me," JungMin blurted out, hands clenched into fists against his jeans. "Not understand, not accept, not be able to stay in a relationship with me." 

"What?" HyungJoon blinked, a little startled at that. "Of course I accept you, why wouldn't I?"

"Because I'm not human." JungMin closed his eyes. "Getting along with an alien enough to be friends is one thing, but being in a relationship with one..." 

"Has been the most stressful thing I think I've ever done," HyungJoon said, rolling his eyes. "If I cared whether you were human or not, I wouldn't be here with you right now. I like _you_ JungMin... alien or not."

"How do you know you like _me_ if all you've ever seen is this form," JungMin looked at HyungJoon blankly. "What if I decided I want to be in my real form instead, would you still like me then? If I spoke with YoungSaeng sometimes in our language, what about that? If I shifted into different forms more often, stranger ones than a squirrel?" 

"Then I would get used to it," HyungJoon said, meeting JungMin's eyes. "You're getting mad at me for 'what-ifs' and conjectures here and that's not fair. No, I _haven't_ seen you in your real form that much, but how you go around is up to you. It's not going to make me look at you any differently than I already do because you're kind of a grumpy ass most of the time."

JungMin scowled at that; this really wasn't making him feel any better. "Saying you're going to get used to it and actually getting used to it are two different things, HyungJoon. And I'm sorry if I keep thinking about the 'what-ifs' when every single human I've met before waking up on this ship has only called me one thing: _monster_." 

"Well, good thing I was on this ship then huh? I've never called you a monster, or said anything about you being an alien because I thought it would make you uncomfortable," HyungJoon said, crossing his arms over his chest. "This is what I was talking about, this barrier I'm not allowed to cross. I _know_ you're an alien, but _you_ are the one who has made the choice to stay in human form while around me. I got used to the geckos didn't I? And SungMin, and even the flesh eater. You keep holding me up to those other humans for comparison JungMin, when I'm not them."

"I chose to stay in this form because I thought that was what you wanted to see." JungMin looked away, regretting coming here. "I'm sorry if I can't override nearly thirteen years of living hell in a few months. You say you want to understand, and you're not even trying to understand." 

"Then help me to!" HyungJoon said, absolutely exasperated. "You can't get mad and yell at me for _your_ decisions JungMin, that isn't fair. I'm sorry about what humans have done to you, and I wish it hadn't happened, but I can't make up for all of that and help you if you don't let me."

"So this is all my fault then? You giving no sign that you're even _interested_ in seeing who I really am, so I try to play it safe by staying in a form you'd be more accepting of me in, that's all my fault?" JungMin whirled around and pushed at his chest, eyes dark silver and a little glassy. "Do you even know what it's like to be terrified of doing something a non-human would do and being pushed away for it? Wondering if you'd flinch away from me like you do meeting other aliens, and don't even pretend you didn't do that to them. You say you aren't psychic, well I'm not either, how am I supposed to know what you think about me as I really am?!" 

HyungJoon scowled, his cheeks and the tips of ears flushing as he pushed JungMin back. "Maybe because you haven't shown me as you really are! I was trying to be polite and not have you perform tricks for me like a damn side show act because I didn't think you would want that! I won't deny that I was bothered by aliens at first, and not because of how they looked, or you look, but because I'm so damn scared I'm going to do something wrong that you'll think I'm just like those humans who kept you in a collar! I don't want you to think I'm like them because I love you too much and seeing that look in your eyes, that look you had at the beginning where I was just another damn human, I don't want to see that look again, not at me."

"Maybe I haven't shown you my real form because I'm scared of what you think!" JungMin faltered at the words 'I love you' coming from HyungJoon, but it didn't last for long, shoulders stiff as he glared at HyungJoon. "Don't say that when I'm like this, this isn't me. I'm not asking you to treat me like I'm a side show act, I just want you to look me in the eyes, seeing me as I really am, and be able to tell me to my face that you still love me." 

"Min, I've seen your true form a total of twice," HyungJoon replied, trying to calm down. "I'm standing here, telling you that I'm not going to freak out, run away, or call you a monster. I'm telling you that I think you're true form is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life and that I accept you, and love you for who you are. And I can say that to you in your true form as well because it's how I feel."

"Say it then," JungMin retorted, shifting. His silver eyes didn't lose their glassy quality, see-through hands shaking slightly as he gripped the bed tightly. "Say it right now."

JungMin hated throwing himself out in the open like this. He didn't know what he would do if HyungJoon couldn't say it. 

HyungJoon just stared at JungMin for a moment, his own eyes burning. "Min..." he closed his eyes before taking a deep breath and scooted closer. "Min, I love you," he whispered, looking into JungMin's silver eyes, reaching up a hand to trace down the glass like skin. "I really do love you."

It was clear in JungMin's eyes that he hadn't expected HyungJoon to be able to say it while looking at him like this, their gazes meeting for a long moment. HyungJoon really meant it? Body quivering slightly under HyungJoon's touch, JungMin had to duck his head after, swallowing thickly and trying to speak. A few tears rolled down glass skin, turning into the same liquid-glass themselves as they fell to the bed. 

Not sure what to say, HyungJoon sniffled a little rubbing at his own tears that were falling as he scooted closer to JungMin. "I hope you believe me now," he whispered, putting an arm around the shifter's shoulder. "Because I would love to see you in your real form, as often as you wanted."

JungMin couldn't help but lean a little against the younger man, wiping away the tears before more could fall. After a moment he lifted his arms and wrapped them loosely around HyungJoon's waist, turning a little into him. "I love you too," he murmured after a moment, words echoing and accented in this form. 

HyungJoon smiled softly, running his fingers over JungMin's cheek, marveling at how smooth and soft it was. "Can... can I kiss you, like this?" he asked quietly, leaning in, wanting to know what it felt like.

Looking up again to meet HyungJoon's eyes, JungMin nodded his head slightly. He leaned in a little as well, lips lightly brushing against HyungJoon's after a moment. 

Eyes slipping closed, HyungJoon returned the kiss hesitantly, small movements against JungMin's lips until he grew more confident. It wasn't weird kissing JungMin in this form, just different, and it was a nice different. His arms tightened around JungMin's neck to pull him closer, wanting to feel more.

The stiffness in JungMin's shoulders eased as HyungJoon pulled him closer, the shifter scooting a little closer on the bed. This form was so much more sensitive to everything than his human form, HyungJoon's taste, scent and touch coming across twice as strong. Tightening his arms around HyungJoon's waist, JungMin closed his eyes as well, tilting his head to one side to deepen the kiss. 

HyungJoon sighed softly into the kiss, his mouth moving against JungMin's as one hand slid down his back and up the back of the shifters shirt. Feeling soft skin under his fingers, he had to pull back after a moment, eyes going from JungMin's to the man's shirt, slowly pushing it up with his hands. He was aware the shifter could just make the clothes disappear if he wanted to, but he wanted to do this properly, and to look and feel JungMin's skin.

Blinking a little in a daze as HyungJoon pulled back, JungMin felt his shirt being pushed up. The shinbi drew in a shaky breath at HyungJoon's hands moving along his skin, leaning forward again to catch HyungJoon's lips in another kiss. When he felt the shirt was pushed up enough, he leaned back again to help remove it the rest of the way, the material dropping to the side. 

Studying JungMin's form with his fingers and his eyes, HyungJoon looked up at JungMin with a smile before leaning in to press kisses along JungMin's chest. He could easily get used to this feeling, and though he wasn't sure just what could happen, he would let JungMin let him know.

Eyes widening slightly, JungMin shivered at the kisses against his chest, lips parting. In the back of his mind he remembered that he'd have to stop this before it got too far, but he'd be damned if he was going to stop it now. It felt even better than when he was in human form. Shuddering as HyungJoon's lips brushed against a sensitive spot, the Shinbi moaned softly, a low whistling noise in the back of his throat. Glass fingers ran along HyungJoon's shirt, pressing into the material before running along the skin at his waist. 

Blinking a little at the noise from JungMin, HyungJoon wasn't sure if that was a good sound, but by the way the shifter was running his hands over him he assumed it was. After a few more kisses to JungMin's chest, HyungJoon worked his way back up to the man's lips, pressing their lips together firmly as he pulled JungMin down to the bed.

Returning the kiss enthusiastically, JungMin slid his hands fully under HyungJoon's shirt, fingers splayed along the humans stomach. He intertwined their legs, deepening the kiss and pushing their tongues together. The longer they went without HyungJoon pulling away, the more his confidence rose. Though now he was having a hard time restraining himself from going too far. 

Arching slightly into the hand on his belly, HyungJoon wound his fingers into the shifter's glass-like hair, barely noticing how different it felt from human hair. The deep passionate kiss was returned in earnest, HyungJoon moaning softly and murmuring JungMin's name around his lips.

Quivering slightly, the sound of his name nearly made JungMin lose it completely, thumb stroking over the soft skin of HyungJoon's stomach. He had to remember to break away to breathe for HyungJoon's sake, opening silver eyes to look at HyungJoon. Unlike the human though, JungMin didn't need to breathe, trailing kisses along the engineer's jaw and throat. 

Eyes fluttering, HyungJoon panted from a mix of tiredness and JungMin's actions, not wanting the shifter to stop. One hand slid down JungMin's chest and around his back to dip lightly under the waistband of his pants.

Gasping softly against HyungJoon's neck, JungMin focused himself back to the present, knowing this couldn't go any further or neither of them would stop. And that posed several problems.

"Joon..." the shifter breathed against the engineer's neck, pushing himself up so he could look into HyungJoon's eyes. He had to concentrate to get the words out properly, accent thick. "If we're going to continue this, I need to shift back...Shinbi don't have sex the same way as humans do." 

"Hm?" HyungJoon blinked a few times, trying to catch up. "How...?" he swallowed and nodded. "Yeah... okay," he murmured, tracing a finger down JungMin's jaw. He'd ask later what that meant when he could think properly.

Lips quirking upwards, JungMin ducked his head and returned to his task of leaving marks on HyungJoon's neck. As he did so, he shifted back into his human form, rather sad to lose the level of sensitivity he'd had to HyungJoon's touch. That didn't make him stop though, nosing against HyungJoon's collar as he pushed the human's shirt up more. 

HyungJoon barely noticed the difference, too focused on what JungMin was doing to care. He helped finally pull his shirt up and off before renewing his effort to help JungMin get his pants off, fingers fumbling at the button while he nipped at JungMin's shoulder.

Making a low noise, JungMin wiggled to get his pants off when he felt the button go, unable to resist rolling his hips against HyungJoon's at the same time. Shuddering, he bit down a little harder on HyungJoon's collar as he worked on getting the younger man's pants off. 

Gasping, HyungJoon scowled slightly at JungMin for that, not able to retaliate since he was more focused on getting his pants off right that second. Hooking one leg around JungMin's waist, HyungJoon drew JungMin down for a kiss. "You're a jerk," he murmured.

"You love me anyways, right?" JungMin grinned a little, playing with a lock of HyungJoon's hair before leaning down to kiss him. 

"Right," HyungJoon snorted, returning the kiss and pulling JungMin down completely. And he was okay with that, since JungMin loved him back.

**************************

"We're just about there?" JongWoon poked his head into the bridge, shuffling anxiously.

"A few minutes from the border," KyuHyun sighed, tail waving behind him as he glanced away from navigation to the door. "Everyone isn't going to try and jam in this small room again, right?" 

"I doubt GyuRi will show up," KyuJong chuckled, eyeing the sensors as the approached the border, just in case there were patrols nearby. "I can't say for sure about the others. Though really, if you're not actively _helping_ , then you shouldn't be on the bridge."

"I'm providing moral support," Zhou Mi said, shuffling a little closer to KyuHyun.

"I'm here in case a Sylar ship pops up out of nowhere," RyeoWook pointed out, keeping himself out of the way.

"Do we know how we're explaining the non-humans?" JongWoon asked, looking at RyeoWook. "It's normal for human ships to have a few aliens on them, right?"

"It shouldn't be a problem," RyeoWook shook his head. "We can pretend they're working with Sylar to make sure us Federation kids behave," he chuckled. "Though the _ящерица_ should probably make themselves scarce when they can, they're still not treated very nicely here." 

When RyeoWook said the Geckos real name again, Zhou Mi brightened, tail waving as he whispered something to KyuHyun.

"They know how to hide, and I'll let GyuRi know what's going on... if I can find her," YoungSaeng said from his seat. "Or maybe JungMin can just say her name, that would be easier."

"Somehow I don't think he'd like that idea," JongWoon laughed quietly, slipping into the room and skirting around the others to stand by YoungSaeng.

"Neither would SungMin, he just finished getting the last round of makeup out of his fur," HyunJoong chuckled, watching the sensors as well. "Looks like we're still in the clear...how is HyungJoon not here breathing over our shoulders yet?" 

"I told him I'd break his hands if he stepped foot on the bridge while we're in Sylar space," KyuJong said mildly. "I'm guessing JungMin is keeping him company elsewhere then?"

"Probably," YoungSaeng rolled his eyes. "They've become nearly as inseparable as the Geckos these days. Kind of annoying." He didn't catch KyuJong glancing over HyunJoong in amusement to his statement.

JongWoon smiled, sitting down next to YoungSaeng and wrapping one arm loosely around his waist. "At least they're not getting into yelling matches anymore?"

"No, they still do that," KyuHyun replied mildly, moving markers around on the navigation console as they started to ease into Sylar space. "It just ends with one of them being pinned to the bed rather than storming out of the room now."

"And you know that how?" HyunJoong laughed.

"Our room is right next to theirs, and as much as we wish we were, we're not deaf." 

"We know how loud you two can be, you can't complain," YoungSaeng said, eyeing Zhou Mi who had slid closer to RyeoWook, tail waving behind him. "I think you've got an admirer, spy."

"Huh?" RyeoWook blinked, looking from YoungSaeng to Zhou Mi and back again. "You shouldn't call me that while we're in Sylar space, even if we're on this ship." He looked back at Zhou Mi with a confused smile. 

"Calling you JongWoon's friend is too cumbersome, but I'll refrain from calling you spy," YoungSaeng said, looking away. "I guess could just call you human, but that may get confusing. Oh, and the gecko likes you. I think."

"You're supposed to be acting the part of a human, that may not work so well," KyuJong said, his lips quirking side to side. "Either way, we've just crossed the border into Sylar space. No sign of patrols... yet."

"I have a name you know," RyeoWook sighed, looking at Zhou Mi again before turning towards KyuJong. "There are always patrols around the border, but if we spot them before they spot us then we can get through." 

"That shouldn't be too hard," KyuJong smiled. "Just as long as someone keeps on eye on the sensors. How far in before they won't bother us anymore?"

"He doesn't use names," Zhou Mi whispered to RyeoWook before sliding over to stand next to KyuHyun again.

Blinking at the gecko, RyeoWook pursed his lips slightly before looking back at KyuJong. "I'd say once we're twenty minutes in, at the speed we're going, we won't be their priority. Depends if we get a captain who's bored out of his mind or not." 

"Fun," KyuJong sighed, glancing at HyunJoong. "Let's just-" he didn't even get that hopeful sentiment out when the sensor warning went off. "Well nevermind, looks like we've got a ship on our tail."

JongWoon jumped a little, eyes widening as he looked at YoungSaeng. "Okay, what do we do now?"

"Play along," RyeoWook sighed. After a moment his eyes narrowed and he glanced to JongWoon again. "Hyung, we need to call you YeSung, not JongWoon."

"H-huh?" JongWoon blinked at him. "Okay, but in the records I'm JongWoon." He wasn't going to argue with RyeoWook.

"We'll change those after then, they won't check the records once I talk to them, but if it comes up, your name's YeSung."

Biting his lower lip, JongWoon nodded and fished out his com device to tell HyungJoon just in case. 

YoungSaeng glanced between JongWoon and RyeoWook, his eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion at that before turning back to the pilot. "Have they spotted us?"

"I would say so since they're trying to hail us," KyuJong sighed, looking to HyunJoong. "Do we answer?"

"Geckos, off the bridge," YoungSaeng said. "Make yourselves scarce, and find GyuRi."

KyuHyun wasn't arguing with that, grabbing Zhou Mi's hand and pulling him off the bridge. The hatch closed behind them, JongWoon putting his com device away and reluctantly removing his arm from around YoungSaeng, trying not to appear as nervous as he felt.

"All set?" HyunJoong asked, glancing behind him then at RyeoWook, who was standing beside him. When the spy nodded, HyunJoong schooled his expression properly. "Alright, bring the call up." 

"Here we go," KyuJong sighed, turning on communications and trying not to glance at the screen and the green skinned alien on it.

"This is the Sylar ship _Keres_ , you're a long ways from the trade routes Federation," the alien said with a sneer. "State your business and prepare to be boarded."

"This is the _Proteus_ , bringing cargo to several Sylar planets that requested the shipments," HyunJoong replied calmly, using what RyeoWook had given him as a background story. "I don't believe we're that far off our trade route, sir."

RyeoWook moved into view of the alien, hands clasped in front of him. "My name is Kim RyeoWook, assistant to vice-admiral Han JunYoung. What seems to be the problem, Captain?"

JongWoon was surprised by that. RyeoWook was higher up than he'd thought. That also put his friend in even more danger. 

The alien's head tilted to the side in consideration. "We were tracking a ship coming from Valis space, we assumed it was you but I guess we were mistaken," he said. "Still, prepare to be boarded." The com line went dead.

"So, does that mean he believes us, or no?" KyuJong asked, once he was sure the call had been disconnected on their end as well.

"It means he's suspicious," RyeoWook sighed.

"Let's go meet our guests then," HyunJoong said, standing up. "YoungSaeng, JongWoon, you're with us." He flicked on his com device and spoke into it to alert the rest of the crew. "We're about to be boarded for inspection, everyone knows what to do. If you don't think you can handle it, stay out of sight." 

"I did not miss inspections," KyuJong sighed, bringing the ship to a crawl as the Sylar ship docked alongside her. The ship jolted harshly and KyuJong scowled. "They trying to tear us up doing that?"

"Scare tactic," YoungSaeng mused, following HyunJoong off the bridge. Xander was perched on the stairs, one eye twitching. "Not going to hide flesh eater?"

"No, I feel like having some fun," Xander grinned, showing his sharp teeth.

"Don't eat anyone unless they attack first," HyunJoong shook his head, heading down towards the airlock. JongWoon followed along beside YoungSaeng nervously, one hand finding the younger man's. RyeoWook walked up with HyunJoong, talking quietly with the captain. 

"You don't let me have any fun," Xander sniffed as if offended, following behind them.

"We'd like to get out of this alive Xander, not all of us can cheat death like you," YoungSaeng said, glancing over his shoulder at the twitchy alien.

"Inefficient," Xander shook his head.

HyunJoong chuckled quietly, heading down the stairs and into the cargo hold. "Best behavior, Xander." He went down to the airlock, looking at RyeoWook. "Should I be leaving this to you?"

"Let me do the talking if you can, HyunJoong sshi," RyeoWook smiled, nodding slightly. HyunJoong turned back to the airlock, entering in the code. 

The airlock opened slowly with a hiss, four aliens waiting on the other side including the green alien they had talked to already. He gave a short command to the other three who immediately pushed the crew and started to look through the ship.

"So you're one of JunYoung's lap dogs then?" the captain of the Sylar ship said, looking RyeoWook up and down. "What would he want with a pitiful looking human?"

"It is for JunYoung sshi to decide who he finds worth his time," RyeoWook replied, meeting the alien's gaze even though he was over a head taller than the human. "His time is very precious, and he would be very displeased to know this ship has been held up for silly reasons." 

"That depends on the definition of silly reasons then huh?" the alien snorted, turning away from RyeoWook to HyunJoong, looking the captain up and down. "I want all your crew assembled and brought here."

"Very well," HyunJoong replied, turning away to speak into his com.

"I think this would fit most of the faction's definition of a 'silly reason', RyeoWook said, not seeming particularly bothered by what was going on. JongWoon was rather impressed by his friend's acting skills; he held himself like he had power and knew how to use it. "Delaying a Federation cargo ship to disguise the fact that you lost your real target." 

"I'm taking any necessary precautions," the alien sneered at RyeoWook. "For all I know, you really were the ship crossing the border, so button it." Xander snorted at that and laughed even harder when the alien captain turned to look at him. "And what's so funny eh?"

"You, thinking you're scaring us," Xander chuckled, his head twitching to the side. "It just rankles you all over that a human is higher up the food chain then you, hmm?"

"Be quiet," the captain snapped, turning around. "Damned bottom feeders, don't you humans have any sense? This thing will gut you soon as look at you," he pointed at Xander.

"Oh, he won't gut us," HyunJoong smiled absently. "We keep him very well fed, though if the twitching is any indication, he might be getting hungry again."

The rest of the crew was arriving, SungMin heading down first with JungMin behind him. 

The captain glanced at Xander again, though a bit more reproachfully this time. Xander just grinned back at him, though his spines vibrated, making a rattling noise. "This everyone then?" the alien asked when the crew had gathered, minus the geckos and GyuRi.

"Yes," YoungSaeng nodded, keeping close to JongWoon, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Good, Captain, you and I should have a little chat, captain to captain," the alien said with a smirk.

HyunJoong didn't have to consult RyeoWook to know that was a bad idea. "I believe anything you wish to say to me can be said right here, Captain," HyunJoong replied calmly, showing he wasn't about to be bullied around by this alien. 

"That wasn't a request," the captain said, straightening to stare HyunJoong down. "Either you cooperate, or I'll make sure everyone on this ship is detained for questioning. I don't think I need to describe what questioning involves."

"Ohhh, so this is the mighty Sylar tactic? Threats?" Xander chuckled, ignoring the glare he received. "If you want to talk to him, I go with."

"This is not a negotiation," the alien leered at Xander, but YoungSaeng could see hesitance in the captain's eyes.

"How do we even know _you_ are Sylar? Hm?" Xander asked, spines rattling again. "Seems like the perfect cover, waiting at the border and attacking the first Fed ship you find. Then tow them back to the nearest station and claim they're spies." The flesh-eater got closer, sniffing at the green alien. "You smell nervous now."

" _Captain_!" KyuJong's call came over the shipwide coms. " _They're trying to sabotage the ship_!"

HyunJoong's eyes narrowed. "Then they've overstayed their welcome." He stepped forward. "Captain, you will take your crew and leave, or you will be forcefully ejected from this ship, and reported at the next station."

He looked over his shoulder at SungMin and JungMin. "Find his crew and escort them to their ship." The two went to do as told, SungMin sniffing the air and hurrying off. 

The captain backed up slowly, eyeing them all warily. "Good luck finding any of my crew," he sneered, pulling out a gun and pointing at Xander. "I don't think you understand, this is _not_ a negotiation. Everyone on the floor, now."

"Why are all scavengers out here such idiots?" YoungSaeng sighed, shaking his head. "Go ahead, shoot him if you want. You're not staying on board, and neither are your crew. I suggest you take this opportunity to go, before he rips your head off," he said, looking at Xander who was smiling.

"Maybe I'll just take the captain out then," the alien's gun swung towards HyunJoong. "I said on the floor."

HyunJoong's eyes narrowed slightly as he took a step back.

Cold metal pressed against the back of the alien's head. KyuHyun materialized behind him, smirk in place and gun aimed. "Nu-uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you."

JongWoon released the breath he'd been holding, eyes wide with alarm.

"We'll see how long it takes them to find the other three," HyunJoong said, eyes on the alien captain. 

The alien snarled slightly but the gun slowly dropped. YoungSaeng stepped forward to take the weapon, checking it before hiding it. "Fragment round. He would have wounded us at best, but wouldn't kill us."

"No one move!" YoungSaeng turned to look up towards the catwalk, scowling. One of the other alien crew members had GyuRi by one of her wings, the pixie kicking and flailing in an attempt to get free. "No one move, or the pixie gets her head blown off, got it?"

 

**********************51

 

HyunJoong clenched his jaw a little, gaze flicking around for a way to free the pixie. They were too far away from her, even though both KyuHyun and RyeoWook had guns out and were aiming at the alien holding on to GyuRi.

"And the second you do, your own head goes," KyuHyun said, eyes flashing dangerously. 

"Shut up gecko," the alien holding GyuRi barked, yanking hard on her wing. "Useless bottom feeders, what a collection of trash on board this ship."

"Trash?" Zhou Mi appeared behind the alien, eyes narrowed dangerously as he grasped the aliens head and twisted sharply until he heard a snap. GyuRi fell to the metal flooring of the cat walk, crying as her wing fluttered uselessly behind her.

JungMin appeared beside Zhou Mi, tossing the body of one of the alien crew down the catwalk and to the floor. "SungMin has the other one, he might bring him back still breathing."

His eyes narrowed when he saw the state of GyuRi's wing, crouching beside her and carefully gathering her up in his arms. He made sure not to jostle her wing. "We'll have this fixed quickly, okay?" He murmured gently. 

GyuRi sniffled a little and hid her face against JungMin's chest. "Thank you, Oppa."

"Well, I think it's time you go on back to your ship," YoungSaeng said calmly to the alien captain. "But first, take your trash with you," he pointed to the bodies of the two aliens. The captain glared dangerously at them all, shuffling towards the bodies.

"I should probably find out what it was they were doing," HyungJoon sighed, looking up at JungMin on the catwalk before heading to engineering, fishing out his coms to call KyuJong.

A minute later the third alien crew member appeared, still alive. He wasn't putting up a fight anymore; one arm was held uselessly, deep gouges across one side of his face, and his tail was torn to ribbons. SungMin padded along behind him, keeping a close eye on the alien.

JungMin stuck around long enough to make sure the alien captain was going back to his ship, before heading to the infirmary with GyuRi. 

Once the alien boarders were back on their ship, bodies included (though Xander insisted on keeping one for later), YoungSaeng closed the airlock and called KyuJong to head out again. "Well that was fun," he sighed, turning to the others. "JongWoon, you should probably go take care of GyuRi, I'll catch up with you later."

JongWoon bit his lower lip and nodded before hurrying out towards the infirmary.

"KyuHyun, Zhou Mi, let's do a quick round of the ship to make sure they didn't mess with anything," HyunJoong said, heading towards the stairs. KyuHyun followed after him to meet up with Zhou Mi at the top of the catwalk. 

YoungSaeng watched them all scatter, Zhou Mi hugging KyuHyun tightly before they disappeared through the hatch. Glancing at SungMin, YoungSaeng chuckled softly at the red stains on his fur. "Looks like you need a bath again anthro. You just can't seem to stay clean."

"Like I've said, inefficient," Xander said, returning from the cold storage where he'd taken care of the body. "Come on fuzzball, let's get you cleaned up."

Crossing his arms over his chest, YoungSaeng started towards the stair, looking to RyeoWook. "You think they really were Sylar, or just pretending?"

RyeoWook headed back to the stairs as well, lips pursed. "He was wearing an authentic Captain's badge, so either they went rogue, or stole the ship and identity of whatever Sylar crew they killed. Sylar is full of idiots, but even the idiots wouldn't risk upsetting their vice-admiral nor the Federation with something so stupid." 

"Well, we got lucky, if that had been a Sylar ship that saw us cross the border, we'd all be in trouble," YoungSaeng said, climbing up towards the hatch. "Why is it important for no one to know JongWoon is on board?"

"Hm?" RyeoWook blinked at YoungSaeng before looking away. "Someone might recognize him, and that would cause more trouble than it's worth. It's easier just to have him go by his nickname for now, he looks different enough now to keep from being remembered." 

YoungSaeng's eyes narrowed slightly, looking back at him. "Why would anyone recognize him? Especially out here. He's just a civilian."

"...He's a memorable civilian, let's leave it at that," RyeoWook smiled politely at the shifter, bowing his head before heading off in a different direction once they reached the hallway. 

That didn't sit well with YoungSaeng and he frowned lightly watching the other go. Just who was JongWoon? YoungSaeng's lips pursed as he headed towards the infirmary. It seemed he wasn't the only one to have kept secrets.

JungMin was still in the infirmary with GyuRi and JongWoon, giving instructions on how to bind GyuRi's wing so that it would heal properly since the human had never had to worry about wings before. At least he had gentle hands, carefully doing as told as JungMin held GyuRi's hand and stroked her hair to distract her. They couldn't give her more than a balm to numb the pain; anything more would probably kill her.

"This is why you need to _listen_ when we tell you to do things," JungMin teased softly. 

The pixie pouted, her eyes glassy from crying. "No one told me anything, I hear a commotion and go to see what was going on and some _mongrel_ attacks me."

"Maybe you should stop hiding from us," YoungSaeng mused, stepping in and leaning against the wall. "We're in Sylar territory now GyuRi, we need to know where you are at all times. The pixie didn't seem happy about that, but not she nodded, her good wing fluttering.

"JungMin, is this okay?" JongWoon asked quietly, chewing on his lower lip.

JungMin looked behind GyuRi and nodded. "That's the best we can do until it heals."

Nodding a little, JongWoon got up and placed the balm and disinfectant on the counter. "I'll need to check it again in a few hours. Maybe I should invest in medical books for wings?" he smiled a little sheepishly.

"Might be a good idea," JungMin snorted, looking down at GyuRi. "Feeling a little better? Looks like you're on bedrest for a while." 

"Bedrest?" GyuRi pouted and batted her eyes at JungMin and then at JongWoon. "I don't want to be cooped up in my room all day," she whined.

".... You just want someone to take care of you don't you?" YoungSaeng said, crossing his arms over his chest. He snorted when GyuRi deflated and looked down at the floor. "I'm sure we can get someone to look in on you from time to time, right JungMin?"

"I suppose we could," JungMin sighed. "Come on you, let's go." He picked GyuRi up carefully, carrying her to the door. "Maybe we can get Xander to take care of you," he teased. 

GyuRi immediately protested, continuing to yell even when they had left the room. Shaking his head in amusement, YoungSaeng glanced at JongWoon, the smile fading slightly. "I think she'll be just fine," he said.

"If she can yell JungMin's ears off, I guess so," JongWoon laughed quietly, placing away the gauze and everything else that he wouldn't need. "We got off lucky with that one. Think that ship will come after us again?" 

"Probably not, but I'm sure we'll take precautions just in case," YoungSaeng said, watching him move around the room. "Speaking of, why is it important to keep people from knowing who you are?"

JongWoon paused, biting the inside of his cheek before continuing to work. "I guess it wouldn't be a good idea for them to know who _any_ of us are, Wookie likes taking an extra step when he can since there's another name I can use." 

"He said you were a memorable civilian," YoungSaeng continued, frowning at JongWoon lying to him. "Who are you JongWoon? Why are you keeping secrets from me?"

Nearly dropping what he was holding, JongWoon swallowed nervously. Trust Wookie to set him up so that he'd have to say something. "I-It's...not like that. You want to leave your life as an assassin behind, right? It's like that...th-though not as drastic, I just want to leave some parts of my life behind."

Walking up behind him, YoungSaeng turned JongWoon around to look in his eyes. "What is it you want to leave behind? Does this have anything to do with what you said before, about people using you?" 

JongWoon was trembling slightly, obviously trying to work out what to say and failing. After a moment he nodded, eyes flicking up to YoungSaeng's then away again. Even without the strange bond between them, it was impossible not to know just how nervous this was making the human. "N-no one knows but the Captain, not even HyungJoon. I didn't...want it to get in the way." 

"Want what?" YoungSaeng said softly, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Nothing you say will get in between us, you know that."

Biting on his lower lip, JongWoon looked up the shifter, trying to see the truth through the bond. After a moment he swallowed and nodded, taking YoungSaeng's hand and pulling him out of the infirmary. "...I should show you something, then." 

Curious, YoungSaeng kept his hand in JongWoon's and followed him along. "I'm surprised there's something that even HyungJoon doesn't know about you."

"I keep meaning to tell him, but I chicken out each time." JongWoon headed towards their room, head down and worrying about how he was supposed to say this. "B-because of this, I didn't have many friends back then...Wookie was the only person I could really trust. I know it's not fair to not tell HyungJoon, but I'm scared what he might think." 

"He's your best friend," YoungSaeng said quietly, opening up the door to their room when they reached it. "It can't be that bad, I'm sure he'd understand, whatever it is."

Ducking his head a little more and nodding, JongWoon let go of YoungSaeng's hand and went to the closet, pulling it open and crouching down to pull out a bag in the very back. "Have you ever been to Zaria? The water planet in the Matkal system." 

"I have," YoungSaeng nodded, taking a seat on the bed. "Some of the most influential members of senate live there. Had to kill a few over the years."

JongWoon winced a little. "So you know about their social hierarchy? The noble families, new blood and old blood." He searched around in the bag he held. 

"I do, one of the last hold outs of the old system," YoungSaeng nodded, eyes narrowing slightly. "If you're born from one of the old families, you're set for life in any position you want. Most of the wealth of the Federation resides on that planet."

The human nodded. "It's not...royalty, precisely, but I've heard people say it's as close as you can get now with how the Federation's government is evolving."

His fingers closed around something inside the bag, and he closed his eyes for a moment. Drawing in a breath, JongWoon pulled it out of the bag and held it out to YoungSaeng. In his hand was a platinum disc that looked like it had been torn off a uniform, engraved with a family crest.

The _Perun Kim_ family crest, one of the three oldest noble families on Zaria. A single gold stud was stamped into the bottom, the mark of an heir. 

Taking the disk, YoungSaeng's expression was impassive as he looked it over. He may not know all the intricacies of human society, but this was one thing he understood. One thing he had been trained to recognize.

"I can see why you would want to keep this quiet," YoungSaeng said softly, brushing his fingers over the crest. "Your ransom would be worth this ships weight in currency."

JongWoon's shoulders slumped a little, sitting down on the floor and dropping the bag beside him. "I told everyone I came from a middle-class family in Zaria. There were enough 'Kim JongWoon's to cover for it at the time," he murmured, unable to look up at YoungSaeng. 

Setting the disk aside, YoungSaeng scooted off the bed and sat down on the floor in front of JongWoon. "So what happened that you had to run away from it all?"

JongWoon played with a loose string on his sleeve. "I couldn't be the perfect heir. It's like everything else I do...no matter how hard I try, I just can't succeed in anything. I was an embarrassment in public to the point my parents would send my little brother in my place with my name. I went through all the training they wanted of me, and more, and nothing came of it. The only thing I seemed good at was being the weakest link in an iron-fisted family." 

Not having been raised in that kind of environment, or with a family of his own, YoungSaeng wasn't sure what to say. He took JongWoon's hands in his own and squeezed them gently. "Then that's their loss," he said softly after a moment. "You have much to offer JongWoon, and have many strengths. I would hope if they saw the person you are now, that they would be proud of you."

Looking up at YoungSaeng, JongWoon's lips quirked sadly, squeezing YoungSaeng's hands a little back. "I don't think they would be. When I was able to call them before we left Federation space, my father told me he didn't want to hear from me until I had done something worthy of the family name and hung up on me."

He shook his head a little. "I'm done caring what they think. I just want to be my own person, and I can't do that with the name Perun Kim hanging over me. I don't want to be Perun Kim JongWoon....just Kim JongWoon." 

YoungSaeng sighed, stroking the back of JongWoon's hand with his thumb slowly. "If life has taught me anything in the past four months, it's that you can't always deny where you came from, no matter how much you want to. There will always be a part of you that is Perun Kim JongWoon, and you don't have to run from it."

"It's a little easier said than done," JongWoon rested his head lightly on YoungSaeng's shoulder after a moment. "You sure HyungJoon won't hate me if I tell him?" 

"I think HyungJoon is your best friend who wouldn't care if you told him you were the Emperor of the galaxy, so long as you and him got to be best friends still," YoungSaeng said, wrapping his arm around JongWoon's waist. "I think he'll love you no matter what, just like I do."

JongWoon smiled a little at that. "Thank you...and I love you too." He wrapped his arms loosely around YoungSaeng in return, leaning up and kissing him softly. 

YoungSaeng returned the kiss, gently at first. "No more secrets okay?" he murmured, kissing him again, a little more firmly.

"Oka—mpfh!" JongWoon was cut off by the renewed kiss, and didn't protest, holding YoungSaeng closer as he tilted his head to the side. 

The kiss grew in intensity, YoungSaeng holding the negotiator close, both arms around his back. After what seemed ages, he broke off to let them catch their breath, resting his forehead against JongWoon's. "I think maybe the bed will be a little more comfortable," he said softly.

"Y-yeah," JongWoon nodded, breathing unevenly against YoungSaeng's lips. "Um, before we do that, I have one more confession to make, since we're not keeping secrets." 

Blinking a little, YoungSaeng pulled back to look at JongWoon in the eyes, his head tilted in question. "Alright, what is it?" he asked, playing with a bit of JongWoon's hair.

"I-I, uh..." JongWoon turned red at the hand in his hair. "I used to sleep with HyungJoon, for a short amount of time. H-had a crush on him and made the mistake of drinking too much. We decided after though we were much better off being best friends." 

If YoungSaeng was surprised or bothered by that, it didn't show, though he did smile. "Well, I knew you had a crush on him at one point, but I wasn't aware things had gone further than that. Thank you for telling me, though I'm a little jealous of him now."

"It was mostly the alcohol," JongWoon flushed deeper, pouting a little. "Bed now?" he took YoungSaeng's hands, standing up. 

"Oh, so that's the trick?" YoungSaeng chuckled, getting to his feet. "Maybe I should go get us a bottle of something from the kitchens then."

"No, you're staying right here." JongWoon wrapped his arms around YoungSaeng's waist stubbornly, pulling him close and kissing him. 

YoungSaeng was still chuckling into the kiss, pulling JongWoon towards the bed. When his knees hit the mattress he sat down slowly, bringing JongWoon down into his lap. "Maybe next time then," he murmured when he pulled back to nip at the skin on JongWoon's neck.

JongWoon gasped a little, one arm tightening around YoungSaeng as he lifted his free hand to twine into locks of hair. "Y-you might not need the alcohol," he muttered after a moment, pressing a little more against the younger man. 

Looking up at JongWoon through his bangs, YoungSaeng pressed more kisses down the man's neck as his hand slowly slid under the back of his shirt. "That so?" he asked softly, switching to the other side of JongWoon's neck.

Making a noise of confirmation, JongWoon's head fell to the side to give YoungSaeng more room. "Y-yeah," he whispered, hand running along YoungSaeng's back as he arched against the hand on his own. 

Keeping the steadying hand on his back, YoungSaeng twisted around to lay JongWoon down onto the bed, pressing more kisses to his neck and collar. "You're sure you're ready?" he asked softly, slowly pushing JongWoon's shirt up.

"Yeah," JongWoon repeated with a small smile, heart hammering in his chest. Working on YoungSaeng's own shirt and curiously running his fingers lightly over the soft skin, the human pulled YoungSaeng back up to kiss him. "Because you waited for me to be." 

YoungSaeng didn't respond other than to deepen the kiss, though he flushed slightly at JongWoon's words. When he felt his shirt sliding up, YoungSaeng pulled back to pull it off completely before returning and helping JongWoon with his own, pressing kisses to JongWoon's belly and chest as they were revealed. To him, this was worth waiting for, and was glad that he had. 

Breathing becoming a little more erratic at the kisses, JongWoon explored along YoungSaeng's back and sides, curious fingers finding the dips and slight curves to his body. Getting his own shirt off completely, JongWoon smiled as he found the edge of YoungSaeng's pants, fingers dipping under slightly. The bond between them made things all the more intense, the human feeling everything YoungSaeng felt and vica versa. 

YoungSaeng made a low noise in the back of his throat when JongWoon's fingers slid under the waistline of his pants. He nipped lightly at bits of JongWoon's skin before finding the human's lips again, the kiss deep and passionate. While he may have been with many people before, there was always something to that first time, and being with JongWoon was no exception. 

Every kiss, every touch, every brush of skin was amplified by not only the bond, but the emotions coursing through them both. As overwhelming as it was, YoungSaeng wanted more. His fingers found the button JongWoon's pants and undid it, slowly pushing down on them and pressing against the material.

JongWoon gasped loudly against YoungSaeng's mouth, hips pushing up a little as YoungSaeng pulled his pants off. Left just in his boxers as he kicked the jeans off, he worked on getting YoungSaeng's pants off as well, pushing his hips up against the other man's and moaning YoungSaeng's name into the kiss. If his heart were to beat any faster, it might just leap out of his chest. 

Helping along, YoungSaeng was able to get his pants down and off without breaking away for too long. He could do this for hours, just holding JongWoon against him, reveling in the feel of their skin touching, kissing whatever bit of skin he could. 

After another furious crushing kiss, he pulled back enough to push down on JongWoon's boxers and slowly slide them off, his own following shortly after. He ran his hands along the side of JongWoon's thighs, just taking in the man's expression before hooking JongWoon's legs around his waist and leaning in to distract him with kisses.

Returning the kisses eagerly, JongWoon tightened his grip around YoungSaeng's waist.

It was over far too fast. When YoungSaeng finally collapsed against his chest, JongWoon wrapped both arms around the younger man, panting and slowly coming down off his high. After a moment he ducked his head enough to kiss YoungSaeng's forehead lightly, fingers running along the other man's back.

Rolling onto his side with a soft groan, JongWoon gave YoungSaeng a tired, silly smile as he held the shifter close. 

Returning the smile, YoungSaeng tangled their legs together and nuzzled his nose into the crook of Jongwoon's neck. "Definitely worth the wait," he murmured, tracing his fingers lightly over Jongwoon's side.

"Glad you think so," JongWoon chuckled, placing another soft kiss against YoungSaeng's forehead. "Love you, Saeng," he whispered, pulling the blankets up over them after a moment and burying his face against YoungSaeng's hair. 

YoungSaeng blinked and pulled back a little. "If I think so? You didn't think so?" he asked quietly. Had JongWoon not wanted to do that after all?

"Eh?" JongWoon blinked owlishly at that. "I _do_ think so, that was amazing Saeng," he reassured quickly, keeping his hold around YoungSaeng's waist so he could feel just how much JongWoon had enjoyed that. "I-I was just worried I might not live up to past experiences," the human turned bright red, looking down. 

YoungSaeng breathed a sigh of relief and his expression softened. Tucking his fingers under JongWoon's chin, he drew the other man up to kiss him again. "Never ever worry about that," he murmured. "None of my past experiences hold a candle to being with you JongWoon."

Smiling again, JongWoon returned the soft kiss, one hand running through YoungSaeng's hair. "Neither does my...one past experience," he grinned a little, nuzzling back against YoungSaeng once they broke the kiss and closing his eyes.

He'd never felt this content in his life. 

**************

"You want us to do what now?" YoungSaeng blinked at HyungJoon, arms crossed over his chest. "We're supposed to be training _you_. How is seeing JungMin and I spar training?"

HyungJoon opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it and deflated. "Okay, we just want to see you guys spar, it was so cool the last time," he admitted.

YoungSaeng glanced at JongWoon and the other two humans then at JungMin, sighing. "Well?"

JungMin swung his legs back and forth from his perch on a container, trying not to look as amused as he felt. "We haven't had much chance to practice either I guess. We can spar, and train them after," he snorted, eyeing HyungJoon in amusement. "Should I ask if you want us to stay in these forms or not?" 

"You know full well they're not interested in two humans fighting," YoungSaeng snorted, pushing away from the containers towards the cleared space in the cargo bay. He pulled off his overshirt and tossed it to the side, rolling his neck from side to side. "Let's get this over with then."

"Ten-second rule?" JungMin grinned, pulling off his own overshirt. Stretching out his arms, he shifted into his real form to start off, kicking off his shoes as he circled around YoungSaeng. JongWoon sat down next to HyungJoon, eyes wide.

"We probably shouldn't be as into this as we are," HyunJoong chuckled, looking at KyuJong beside him. 

"Sure why not," YoungSaeng smirked, watching JungMin circle around him.

"What other entertainment do we get out here?" KyuJong said with a smile, leaning against HyunJoong.

HyungJoon looked around at the others. "Stupid question time, but what's the ten second rule?"

"Usually it means the first person to stay down for ten seconds loses. But considering I don't think either of them can stay down for half that time, it might be how long one can pin the other down to win," HyunJoong mused, wrapping one arm around KyuJong's waist. Spotting RyeoWook peeking curiously in through the hatch, he waved the spy over.

"Here we go," JongWoon straightened as JungMin suddenly shifted to one side, faking at YoungSaeng's right and bringing a foot up to slam into his left. 

YoungSaeng twisted to the side, easily missing the kick, but not without wrapping his forearms around JungMin's ankle. Twisting sharply to get him off balance, YoungSaeng spun around with his arm coming out to backhand JungMin with his fist.

JungMin quickly dropped to avoid the fist, landing on the ground. Rolling out of the way, he brought one leg up and hooked behind YoungSaeng's to drag the older man down with him, kicking at YoungSaeng's head as he got out of the way. 

Dodging the kick, YoungSaeng scowled at JungMin as he rolled back up to his feet and launched himself at the redhead. The familiar black wolf form appeared, lunging for JungMin's midsection.

Just getting himself into a crouch, JungMin was knocked over again. Then glass skin shifted and sprouted fur, the black spotted jaguar knocking the smaller wolf off and rolling to the side, growling as he sprang after the wolf with sharp claws extended.

JongWoon's eyes widened, watching the wolf move gracefully. "Wow." 

Instead of dodging, the wolf dove forward, sliding underneath the large cat as it sailed over him. Scrambling back up to his feet, the wolf lunged at the cat's hamstring, missing it within a hair before bounding off to the side.

"I think they're back to playing again," KyuJong chuckled, resting his arms and chin on the rail of the catwalk.

Skidding and turning around, the jaguar snapped at the wolf's hindquarters, sharp fangs coming together with a snap as he missed. The two large animals chased each other around the cargo bay, sometimes landing a hit, sometimes just missing.

"They wouldn't hurt each other, would they?" RyeoWook asked quietly.

"No, they seem to have this time of fighting down to an art," HyunJoong chuckled. The two seemed to know each other's fighting style enough that neither could pull an advantage, trying tricks to wear the other down. 

When the wolf narrowly escaped another swipe of the jaguar's claws, the form shifted again, growing size as it turned around to face the cat again. KyuJong's eyes widened slowly at what he could only think of was...

"Is that... a dragon?" HyungJoon whispered, eyes following the sinuous lizard that sliding toward the cat so fast he could barely keep up.

"Can't be... dragons aren't real, right?" KyuJong shook his head, unable to believe what he was seeing.

JongWoon was watching with wide eyes. "I...don't know. They must be though, they can't turn into creatures that aren't real, right?" The cat rolled away from one clawed foot, hissing loudly.

Suddenly flames burst out of nowhere, the cat's form shifting as well. A second later a large, flaming bird launched itself at the dragon's head, talons extended. The flames remained close to the pheonix's body, like an extra layer of feathers, not straying far enough to risk the ship as the bird darted around the dragon nimbly. 

KyuJong could have sworn he heard the dragon snort in amusement, head ducking down to avoid the bird and snapped it's jaws at the receding tail feathers. When the bird came around for another pass, the dragon took in a deep breath, then blasted hot ash and soot from it's open mouth, straight at the bird.

The pheonix screeched at the attack, folding it's wings and dropping out of way. The heat didn't seem to injure the fire bird, but the soot disorientated it, the bird darting away before returning for a try at the dragon's tail instead, talon and beak snapping at it and darting away again before he could be smacked. 

Both of them were looking tired, KyuJong could tell in the slight sluggishness of the dragon as it whirled around at the attack on his tail. The dragon snarled, swinging it's head toward the bird and glaring in frustration before shrinking back down to human form. "Come down and fight me fairly, JungMin," YoungSaeng panted.

The pheonix cawed in response, a teasing note in the sound before it swooped down at YoungSaeng, divebombing him. Veering to the side at the last second, JungMin shifted back into his true form right behind YoungSaeng and whirled around, lashing out. "Who's the one who changed first!" 

Sidestepping the hit, YoungSaeng aimed a punch at JungMin's cheek. "I went with forms that were on the ground, horseface! You were the one who went airborne."

"Don't act like you wouldn't have done the same if you'd thought of it first." JungMin ducked under the punch and tackled into YoungSaeng, knocking them both to the ground. "The dragon took up the whole floor anyways!" 

Landing with an 'oof' and far too tired to move, YoungSaeng just pinched JungMin in the side. "Yeah well, we didn't have any rules about size either, so I guess we're even then."

"They spend more time verbally assaulting each other than sparring," KyuJong said in amusement. "I think that was a draw though."

JungMin yelped and swatted at the hand, before rolling off YoungSaeng to flop onto the ground beside him.

Laughing, JongWoon jumped to his feet and ran down the stairs to get to YoungSaeng, nearly wiping out on the last few steps. "That was cool!" He went to YoungSaeng's side, crouching beside him. 

"I'm glad you were so amused," YoungSaeng replied drily, holding out his hands to be helped up. "Maybe next time the humans can spar and we watch," he said to JungMin, kicking out at him with his foot.

"Their turn to spar now then," JungMin snorted, rolling over at the kick and staying on the ground.

JongWoon helped YoungSaeng to his feet, checking him for injuries. "How do you both avoid killing each other?" 

"By having good reflexes," YoungSaeng muttered, ignoring JongWoon checking his injuries and limping towards the containers to sit down. "I want to see RyeoWook fight. In case we have another incident I want to make sure he can handle himself."

"Huh?" RyeoWook blinked down at him.

"Wookie can fight, he actually _passed_ his military training," JongWoon chuckled, walking along beside him and making sure he was okay. Hearing YoungSaeng use the spy's real name made the negotiator beam happily.

"I can fight, who would I fight against?" RyeoWook asked, looking between them.

"HyungJoon," JungMin grinned, sitting up and looking at them as he shifted back into his human form. 

"Why me?" HyungJoon whined pathetically. "No, you made me fight the fuzzball and look where that got me, it's someone elses turn!" 

"Alright, _I'll_ do it," KyuJong sighed, giving HyunJoong a quick kiss before getting to his feet and heading down the stairs. "You're such a baby HyungJoon."

"Am not," HyungJoon grumbled with a pout.

Snickering, JungMin moved to go sit on a crate near YoungSaeng and JongWoon. RyeoWook straightened and followed KyuJong down the stairs, lips pursed a little. "Are we going by the ten-second rule too?"

"Oh, what are we watching?" SungMin padded up to beside HyungJoon, peeking out from under the catwalk railing. 

"Kyu and RyeoWook beating each other up," HyungJoon said, watching with raised eyebrows.

"You may be confident in your fighting, but I am not," KyuJong said, moving to the clear space. "So let's do the ten second rule next time?"

"Not that confident," RyeoWook laughed, stretching out his arms a little. "But okay."

"He's a tiny human," SungMin blinked, climbing up onto the railing to see better.

"Not that you're one to talk," HyungJoon chuckled. 

"This ought to be interesting," YoungSaeng murmured, his arm around JongWoon's waist, watching the two humans.

KyuJong's smile faded as he got ready, eyeing RyeoWook's stance before leading with a feint jab with the left and a swinging right hook

Spotting the fake, RyeoWook blocked the hook with his left arm and followed through with his right, aiming to punch KyuJong in the side of the head. 

Ducking, KyuJong lashed out with a jab to RyeoWook's side, quickly stepping around him to hook his foot around the spy's ankle and yanking up on it to trip him.

Losing balance, RyeoWook half-turned and wrapped one arm around KyuJong's neck to bring the older man down with him, rolling on top of him and working to pin him down. 

Squirming, KyuJong tried to wiggle out of the hold but RyeoWook had his legs effectively pinned. Scowling, he tried the tactic that he had used against HyunJoong. Bucking his hips to get RyeoWook to shift forward, he brought his head up sharply, cracking it against the other humans.

The headbutt had the desired effect, RyeoWook yelping in pain and jerking back instinctively, one hand over his forehead. He quickly shifted to keep KyuJong's legs pinned, but the grip wasn't as strong as before, the spy disorientated. 

The headbutt had KyuJong seeing stars for a second as well, though he didn't stop from trying to squirm out from underneath RyeoWook. Managing to get out, he stood up shakily, but fell back over in dizziness. "Okay, that wasn't a good idea."

"Unless you're wearing a helmet, no," RyeoWook winced, staying seated on the ground with one hand over his head. JungMin was laughing from the sidelines, swinging his legs back and forth. 

"Sorry," KyuJong winced, choosing to just lay on the ground until his head stopped spinning. "I think I’m done, I'm going to have a headache later."

"I think that one did you in more than it did him, Kyu," HyunJoong shook his head in amusement and pushed away from the railing, going down the stairs.

"It would have worked if he'd gotten RyeoWook's nose like he did against you, but he missed and they just clunked heads instead," JungMin grinned. 

"He's a lot shorter than Hyun, I wasn't expecting to hit his forehead," KyuJong complained, opening one eye to look over at RyeoWook. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just going to have a bruise later," RyeoWook laughed quietly. After a moment he slowly got to his feet. "I don't know if I passed or not." 

"You passed," YoungSaeng chuckled, watching KyuJong slowly sit up. "I should have warned you that Kyu fights dirty. He did train with JungMin after all."

"Yah, if it works then it works," JungMin sniffed. "Better than getting his head through the floor."

"Then you might want to show him a better way of getting out of holds than headbutting and injuring himself," HyunJoong laughed, crouching beside KyuJong with one arm around his boyfriend's shoulders. 

"I don't have to be on the bridge for a while, right?" KyuJong asked his boyfriend, looking at him crosseyed. "Cause right now I'm seeing two of you."

"Maybe you should let JongWoon check you out, in case you accidentally gave your self a concussion," YoungSaeng said to the pilot.

"Hopefully he didn't," JongWoon sighed, hopping off the crate next to YoungSaeng and going to KyuJong.

"Come on, infirmary for you." HyunJoong pulled KyuJong up to his feet, he and JongWoon supporting either side of the younger man to keep him from falling back over. 

"That was a good fight though," KyuJong called over his shoulder, leaning heavily on HyunJoong as they went up the stairs.

"I guess the rest of training waits until later," YoungSaeng chuckled, sliding off the container and headed towards the bridge.

"Guess so," JungMin sighed, watching them go. "Unless you're looking forward to training with me?" he grinned at HyungJoon. 

"...Not particularly," HyungJoon said, eyeing the shifter warily. Standing up, he headed down the stairs towards where JungMin was sitting, watching the others filter out now that practice was over. "Besides, aren't you tired after that?"

"Somewhat, but I can still train," JungMin chuckled, resting his elbows on his knees. "I don't think you'll be knocking me across the cargo bay." 

"No, I'll leave that to YoungSaeng," HyungJoon said, stopping in front of him with his arms crossed. "That... wasn't really a dragon right? I mean, it was just kind of alien that looked like a dragon."

"Why wouldn't it be a dragon?" JungMin smirked, eyes dancing. "Your human myths don't just come out of nowhere, and humans _were_ one of the last to start the 'space race'." 

".... I don't believe you," HyungJoon shook his head. "It's not _really_ a dragon if it didn't come from Earth, it's just another alien. What is it called?"

"Where it's most common, _Cmok_. Which is their language for _dragon_ , brainiac." JungMin flicked HyungJoon's forehead. 

HyungJoon swatted at JungMin's hand, glaring at him. "You act like I should know all this stuff, jerk," he muttered grumpily. His lips quirked side to side as he looked at JungMin with narrowed eyes. "Okay, so if dragons are real, what about other things? Like unicorns? Are unicorns real too?"

"If you stick a horn on a white horse and give it sparkles, yes," JungMin snorted, grinning widely. 

Staring blankly at JungMin for a moment, HyungJoon just turned around and headed for the stairs. "I'm not talking to you anymore."

"Ah c'mon," JungMin laughed, hopping off the crate and following after him. "Majority of those types of creatures are real, it's just.... _unicorns_ , really? I think you picked the most laughed-upon example in the whole galaxy." 

"It was the first thing I thought of okay?" HyungJoon bristled, shoving JungMin's shoulder. "There's not that many mythical creatures I can think of off the top of my head, other than like a sphynx or something."

"That one I think is extinct. Okay, a lot of the mythical creatures might be extinct now." JungMin was still grinning in amusement. "You should ask how many times YoungSaeng nearly had his head bitten off to be able to shift into a dragon, he has some interesting stories." 

"Maybe I should just talk to him from now on when I have a question," HyungJoon said, arms crossed over his chest as they went through the hatch. "You delight in making a fool out of me so I never get a straight answer."

JungMin pursed his lips. "I'm just having a bit of fun, you're so easy to tease. Especially since you don't believe me the first time I tell you things. But if you want the history teacher's response, then fine," he pouted, looking away. 

"I don't believe you because you make a habit of _lying_ to me," HyungJoon corrected. "No, I don't know about other critters out here, excuse me for being a stupid human."

The redhead blinked, bristling at that. "When have I lied to you? And I'm more than happy to talk to you about everything out here, if only you'd stop doubting my answers at every turn even if you have no way of knowing yourself." 

"When did you lie to me? How about when I asked to see your real form, how about then?" HyungJoon asked, stopping and turning to look at him. "The both of you, in one brilliant move, lied to us about what you really look like and made us feel like idiots because we didn't know any better."

JungMin pursed his lips, one hand on his hip. "Okay I'll admit to that one, but few people out here really know what Shinbi look like since they haven't been seen in centuries. Ask SungMin if you don't believe me on that one. And you try to tell me you wouldn't want to have a little bit of fun if you were in our place." 

"Not at someone elses expense," HyungJoon shook his head, turning away and continuing on to their room. "Xander was right about you Shinbi and your superiority complexes. You think everyone out here is beneath you."

The redhead's eyes widened at that, hurt by the accusation. Opening his mouth to say something in return, something probably not so nice, JungMin closed it without a word. There was nothing he could say without yelling, and he wasn't going to be the one to start one of those again. Jaw working, he chose to simply walk away rather than make things worse this time.

If HyungJoon really believed that of them, then why was he even dating JungMin in the first place? 

 

********************52

 

When HyungJoon realized JungMin wasn't following him anymore, he stopped and turned. "Oh god dammit," he swore, throwing up his hands in defeat. "JungMin! Come back, I'm sorry!"

"No you're not," JungMin threw over his shoulder, turning the corner. It was always like this. But JungMin wasn't the one throwing accusations around. 

"Don't you tell me when I'm sorry or not!" HyungJoon yelled as he trotted after him. "Come back, please?"

"Why should I?" JungMin turned around to face him, eyes narrowed and silver. "If you really think such things of us, then why the hell are you dating me? All I've heard coming out of your mouth are reasons why you shouldn't be. You tell me not to make assumptions about you, but I'm not the only one HyungJoon!" 

"I didn't make any assumptions about you, I never said I _believed_ what Xander said, but you have to admit that sometimes, you do act like you're better than me," HyungJoon rebutted, his own eyes narrowed. "And I'm dating you because I don't care if you think you are or not."

"You just finished _saying_ he was right, that sounds like believing him to me! And I apologize if our jokes aren't funny to you, but that's no excuse to be making such accusations." JungMin stared at him. "You might not care if I think I am or not, but _I_ care if you do or not. Am I really such a horrible person?" 

"I never said you were a horrible person, don't put words in my mouth!" HyungJoon stared back before he shook his head, rubbing at his temple. "Look, all I'm saying is that sometimes you can be a little.. full of yourself. You take a lot of things for granted JungMin, and then make fun of me when I don't know something. Can you see how that's a little frustrating?"

JungMin turned away from HyungJoon. "I never took any of this for granted. I know how different things could be, so don't tell me I'm taking anything for granted. I'm sorry if just wanting to have a bit of fun isn't coming across the way I meant it to, I didn't mean to upset you," he muttered, heart aching in his chest.

He was always the one apologizing, always the one who seemed to be in the wrong...but he just wanted things to be okay between them again. If that meant swallowing his pride and apologizing even when he felt just as hurt by HyungJoon's statements as anything, then he'd do it. 

Scuffing his shoe on the floor, HyungJoon sighed heavily and tugged on JungMin's sleeve to turn him around. "I'm sorry too, that didn't come out the way I meant it either... it's just... I tend to get teased a lot because my knowledge doesn't extend beyond engineering. I know I'm kind of dumb about... everything, and I didn't mean to take all that out on you. I am sorry."

The redhead looked at HyungJoon for a long moment, eyes slowly shifting back into dark brown. "I never thought you were dumb," he sighed. "It's fine that you don't know much about other things, because you'd be hard put to find a more dedicated engineer anywhere in the galaxy. If you'd rather...talk to YoungSaeng about those other things, then that's fine. I just thought because we're familiar with each other now that you wouldn't take my teasing seriously." 

"I try to, but sometimes it just gets to me," HyungJoon shrugged. "I don't want to talk to YoungSaeng about any of that stuff, he's so... clinical sometimes, you know? I'll take teasing over that any day."

"I'll be more careful," JungMin murmured, looking away. He'd been comfortable around HyungJoon; it had just been playful teasing, but he'd try and stop if it really bothered HyungJoon that much. Anything to avoid another argument and more accusations. 

"Hey," HyungJoon pouted a little, tugging JungMin closer. "I didn't mean it like that, I'm sorry. I'll try not to get so defensive about stuff. I really don't like arguing with you, even if that's what we do half the time."

The redhead staggered a little as he was pulled closer, looking at HyungJoon out of the corner of his eyes. A sad smile curled his lips after a moment. "I don't either. I just don't know what to say anymore." Anything he said seemed to get him into trouble, and it wasn't a good feeling. He did love HyungJoon, but sometimes he just couldn't see how they could ever be happy with each other if they were constantly getting into arguments and fights.

He still didn't know why HyungJoon even liked him in the first place.

"Well that makes two of us," HyungJoon said with a sigh, putting his arms around JungMin's waist. "I think we need to come up with a plan for what to do when we fight. Like, take ten seconds to walk away from each other and clear our heads, then come back and talk about things. Or something."

"Take a little longer than ten seconds," JungMin snorted, but he leaned into the hold, one arm going around HyungJoon's shoulders. "Maybe some time out would help though. I can't think of anything else that would considering we just seem to piss each other off the more we argue." 

"Yeah, it's either that or what we usually end up doing," HyungJoon chuckled, his eyes dancing. "As fun as that is, it doesn't seem to ever resolve anything."

"No, it doesn't," JungMin shook his head, lips curling into a smile that was a little more real. "So then...what now? I promise I won't tease you if you want to keep asking questions." 

Pursing his lips, HyungJoon thought about what he really wanted to ask. "Uh.. maybe we should go to our room, so I can ask in private?" he said, walking backwards slowly.

JungMin blinked. "Okay, sure." He followed HyungJoon's steps, heading back towards their room slowly. The shapeshifter kept his loose hold around the younger man's shoulders, thinking. 

Once in their room, and the door was closed, HyungJoon leaned up to give JungMin a kiss before pulling back to look him in the eyes. "You said that Shinbi don't... have sex like humans," he said slowly. "How.. do they then?"

Returning the kiss and leaning back, JungMin blinked at the question. "Okay...this might sound a little weird at first." He pulled HyungJoon over to the bed, sitting down.

"You know how we can take objects and things into ourselves, make it a part of us?" 

"Uh... yeah..." HyungJoon nodded, giving JungMin a curious look. "Matter transferal or something, right?"

"Matter manipulation," JungMin corrected. "It isn't really called 'sex' for us, it's something we call a bond. There are superficial bonds, and full bonds. Superficial bonds...I guess you could say it's like sex for other races. It's taking the other Shinbi into yourself and vica versa, and it creates a temporary physical and mental link. You're essentially merging into one body for a short amount of time." 

HyungJoon blinked a little at that, not sure what to think. "That's... weird...." he started, quickly shaking his head. "No, not weird, that's not what I meant, I mean, that's interesting and so.. different. What does it... feel like?"

Pouting a little, JungMin leaned back a little, hands pressing into the bed behind him. "Feels like sex I guess," he chuckled. "With a major difference. You can _feel_ everything the other person is feeling, through the mental link. It could feel peaceful, or like the best drug ever created," he laughed quietly. 

"Wow, that's... so I guess being with a human kind of pales in comparison huh?" HyungJoon said, watching JungMin. "Do you miss it? With YoungSaeng I mean... I'm assuming he was the only Shinbi you've been with? Unless you were with the others, but you never really said so I shouldn't assume."

"...Oh God I did _not_ need that mental image." JungMin held his head in his hands like it hurt. "No, I was only with Saeng. The others...just...no. I miss it sometimes, but not that much. It was only a superficial bond between us, nothing serious." 

"So what's this full bond thing then?" HyungJoon asked, bringing his legs up to his chest. "Is it better?"

"Much better, or that's what I've been told." JungMin's lips curled upwards almost wistfully as he sat up straight again. "Remember I was telling you that very few of our kind decide to commit to a full, lasting relationship? Well, those that do enter into a full bond with each other. It has the same basic idea...but it requires complete and total trust. It's giving yourself to someone else mind, heart, body and soul. I only knew of one couple fully bonded on our colony, and they could see into each other's hearts and minds. Every memory, every thought, every emotion is shared." 

"Wow... that's a real commitment," HyungJoon said quietly. "And there's no way to reverse that is there? You and Saeng never thought about it?"

"There's no way to reverse it, no," JungMin shook his head. "Not without killing one or both of the Shinbi. And I guess that's why so few of us decide to do it. You're completely tied to the other person." He chuckled a little. "Thought about it with each other, or thought about it at all? No, as much as I adore Saeng, he's like an older brother to me. You don't commit to something like that just because you're sleeping with someone else, or even just for mild affection. It's more than human marriage...it's declaring a soulmate." 

"Oh... I see," HyungJoon nodded, looking down at the tops of his knees. "I can't even imagine anything like that. Hell, I've never even had a stable relationship. But if you truly want to be with someone, then I guess that's good. Question though, you have male and females of your species right? Or like... can anyone have kids.."

"...Er..." JungMin blinked repeatedly, then turned slightly pink. "Well...technically, Shinbi don't have definite organs or anything, to make it easier for the shapeshifting...so there's no clear distinction between male and female." 

"So... you could be a girl if you wanted?" HyungJoon asked, looking at JungMin with wide eyes. "....Can I see you as a girl?"

JungMin turned even more red. "W-why do you want to see me as a girl?" Scowling didn't have quite the same effect when he was trying to stop blushing. 

"Because? I don't know, if you don't want to, that's fine," HyungJoon said, though he pouted. "I won't make fun of you, if that's what you're worried about."

JungMin tried not to whine, playing with a loose thread on the blanket. He'd shapeshifted into girls before, it wasn't that big of a deal...

"...Oh fine," he huffed, concentrating. A second later his figure changed, filling out as his shoulders and waist shrank, hair lengthening. JungMin still had long legs for a girl, but was shorter than HyungJoon by half a head, with petite hands, fuller lips and long eyelashes. 'Her' cheeks burned red as she peeked up at HyungJoon from beneath her bangs. "...Well?" Even her voice was different, a higher pitch. 

HyungJoon's mouth opened as he stared at JungMin. "I... that... you're a _girl_ ," he breathed, reaching out to poke at JungMin's arm. "...Completely a girl right?"

"Yes, completely a girl," JungMin swatted at the offending hand, blush deepening even as she scowled a little at him. "I can't do things in halves or the shift would be dangerous." 

"Right, yeah that makes sense," HyungJoon nodded, looking JungMin over. "But you prefer to be male in human form... wait, how do Shinbi have kids then if you don't have a gender? How does that work?"

"Most Shinbi have 'preferred' genders, so if there's a male and female in the relationship then it's fine." JungMin leaned back on her hands a little. "It usually ends up that way. If it's two males, or two females, one switches gender temporarily so they could have a kid. Which might be why Saeng and I are so open about liking guys rather than girls." 

"So.... you and Saeng could have had a kid if you wanted to?" HyungJoon said, trying to take all that in. "That's just... I'm not so sure you would make that great of a mother anyway," he said with a smirk.

JungMin bristled, hitting HyungJoon's arm. "Why wouldn't I be? And why would _I_ be the mother? YoungSaeng could be the mother too!" 

"He could, and so could you, I just don't see you as being the caring nurturing type to a kid," HyungJoon chuckled, wincing at the hit. Eyes narrowed, he looked JungMin up and down in this new form. "You're smaller than me you know.. I think I can use that to my advantage," he quirked a brow and shifted around to crawl towards JungMin.

"Eh?" JungMin blinked, scooting back a little. She'd forgotten to do something about her clothes, shirt and pants overly baggy. "What are you doing?" 

"It's not everyday I get a girl in my bed," HyungJoon beamed, leaning a little closer. "Unless that would bother you like this."

"..." JungMin scowled helplessly at the human. "Then you're finding a condom first, because if I end up pregnant from this I swear I'll castrate you." 

HyungJoon stopped and blinked repeatedly at her. "You.. can... huh... okay, be right back," he scrambled off the bed and ran out the door.

He returned a few minutes later, panting slightly as he shut the door. "One of... old crew... his room.. had some," he said, pulling off his shirt as he came back over to the bed and crawled up to rejoin JungMin.

"I'm not interested in knowing where it came from, only that there is one." JungMin wrapped her arms around HyungJoon's neck, pulling him down into a kiss. 

HyungJoon didn't reply, returning the kiss as pushed his hand up the back of JungMin's shirt. It had been a long time since he had done anything with a girl, hopefully he wouldn't be all thumbs like that first and only time.

It didn't even occur to him that the whole thing was odd. It was JungMin, and he loved JungMin in whatever form the shifter was in.

************************

After making sure KyuJong hadn't given himself a concussion, JongWoon went to take over a shift on the bridge with YoungSaeng. The pilot would be fine, but he still needed to stay lying down for a while. At least until he'd stopped seeing double.

It was a while after when the Geckos appeared to take over a shift, JongWoon sighing as he stretched out his arms. "What now?" he asked, looking at YoungSaeng as he stood. 

"Now I think a nap would be good," YoungSaeng said with a smile. "Unless you still wanted to go talk to HyungJoon, you'd mentioned something about it earlier."

"Ah...yeah," JongWoon bit his lower lip nervously. He still had to tell HyungJoon what he had been keeping from his best friend all this time, and the idea still made him nervous despite YoungSaeng's reassurances. "I...should go do that now, shouldn't I." 

"If you think you're ready for it," YoungSaeng nodded, putting his hand on JongWoon's shoulder to steer him from the room. "Do you want me to go with you? I can at least keep JungMin distracted if they're together."

"Please?" JongWoon looked at YoungSaeng beside him as he walked out of the bridge and towards the stairs to the crew deck. "If anything to stop me from chickening out before I get there." 

"That I can do," YoungSaeng smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure it won't be as bad as you think. He's your best friend, he loves you. I'm sure it will be just fine."

"I guess we'll find out," JongWoon gave a nervous smile, taking YoungSaeng's hand lightly. He was coming to enjoy the weird bond between them, taking comfort from it. It's intensity was less than when it had first happened, but JongWoon could still feel touches of what YoungSaeng's thoughts were focused on, or what he was feeling at the time. It was very weird, but he was finding that he actually liked it. 

"I guess so," YoungSaeng chuckled, squeezing JongWoon's hand as they walked down the stairs. It wasn't a long walk down to the crew quarters or to JungMin and HyungJoon's room. The two hadn't been heard from since training, so it was a lucky guess as to where the two had disappeared to. Stopping at the door, YoungSaeng knocked lightly, bringing JongWoon a little in front of him.

After a moment, HyungJoon opened the door and peeked out, his hair in disarray. "Uh... hey, what's up?" he said tiredly.

JongWoon smiled nervously at his friend. "Hey...um...could I talk to you for a second, Joon? If you're not...occupied." 

"...Uhh..." HyungJoon looked over his shoulder for a second before looking back. "Yeah, sure, just give me a second," he said, closing the door quickly. YoungSaeng snorted to himself in amusement, leaning up against the wall.

It wasn't a long wait, HyungJoon reappearing just a minute later, fully dressed. He tried to quickly shut the door, but YoungSaeng propped it open. "I want to talk to Min, if you don't mind."

"That... I... if that's okay with you, Min?" HyungJoon asked weakly.

"J...Just one second!"

JongWoon blinked owlishly at a voice that didn't sound like JungMin's at all, a higher pitched voice trying to cover up the fact that it was higher pitched. Seeing someone diving for clothes on the floor behind HyungJoon, JongWoon turned around quickly to avoid staring. "Joon, why is there a _girl_ in your room?!" And that definitely wasn't GyuRi. 

"Oh.. my..." YoungSaeng pushed the door open wider and stared at the girl with wide eyes. " _JungMin_?! You got him to.. as a girl? Oh this is rich."

HyungJoon flailed helplessly, looking between JungMin and YoungSaeng, flapping his arms and turning a violent shade of red. "I... but.... let's go JongWoon," the engineer grabbed his friend by the elbow and pulled him away hurriedly.

Yelping as he was violently dragged away, JongWoon looked back at YoungSaeng just in time to see JungMin bury himself...herself...under the blankets. "I-I...Joon, that was _JungMin_?" he asked, eyes wide as saucers as he was dragged away. "But...he was a girl!" 

"I know," HyungJoon hissed, glancing back at the door. YoungSaeng had already moved inside and shut the door, but he could still hear the high pitched laughing. "Apparently, they can... change genders."

"They..." JongWoon just continued to stare at HyungJoon. "...Wow. JungMin is going to _kill_ you if he survives YoungSaeng. She. You...remembered protection, right?" 

HyungJoon gave JongWoon a pained smile. "Yes, she threatened to castrate me if I got her pregnant... I... okay, it's a little weird, so can we drop it?"

"Dropping it, yes." JongWoon nodded hard, looking back the way they'd come before looking back at HyungJoon. "A-Anyway, boyfriends turning into girlfriends put aside...I...I have something I need to tell you." 

Bringing JongWoon into one of the empty quarters, HyungJoon looked at JongWoon with a bright smile. "Okay, what's up?"

The older man bit on his lower lip nervously, looking into his best friend's eyes. "...I have a confession to make," he said quietly, hands lightly on HyungJoon's arms. "I haven't been...exactly truthful with you about something. Promise me you won't be mad?" 

HyungJoon frowned slightly, shaking his head. "I could never be mad at you, what's going on?"

JongWoon drew in a shaky breath, forcing himself to meet HyungJoon's eyes. "I lied to you, about my family," he said quietly. "I lied to everyone. HyunJoong figured it out, but I never told anyone else until recently. I was afraid what you might think." 

"What do you mean you lied about your family?" HyungJoon asked, not understanding. "Why would you be afraid of what I thought? I'm your best friend right?"

"You are, you're my best friend and you always will be," JongWoon swallowed, nodding. "I just...I lost a lot of friends because of this Joon, please try to understand. You remember my planet, Zaria? Remember when I was telling you about the social classes?" 

"Yeah, about how there was like the rich old blood or whatever, and then the lower classes," HyungJoon nodded. "What about it?"

JongWoon worked up the courage to say it. "I'm not from a middle-class family, Joon...or any class even close. My family is 'Perun Kim'...one of the three old blood families. That's why RyeoWook warned everyone to just call me YeSung out here. My full name is Perun Kim JongWoon." 

HyungJoon blinked a couple times, then shrugged. "So? Why did you think I would hate you for that? My father was a senator, I understand how it is."

The older man was stunned. And HyungJoon was fine, just like that? "The nobility...they're practically considered royalty, the older families...I'm the _heir_ to my family. I-I thought you would be mad I never told you, or hate my position, or be mad I lied to you..." 

"I'm hurt that you didn't trust me enough, but I wouldn't be mad at you for it, or hate you or where you came from," HyungJoon said, putting his hand on JongWoon's shoulder. "Knowing any of that doesn't change who you are to me."

Tears prickled JongWoon's eyes, and he pulled HyungJoon into a hug, burying his face in his friend's shoulder. "I was scared, Joon...I never had any real friends before, they were all using me for my money or my position, or both." He sniffled a little. "The only friend I had was Wookie, and when I left, I decided I didn't want to have my family name hanging over me...I wanted to be friends with people who were interested in _me_ , not using me for other things. I-I meant to tell you, eventually...I was just scared." 

"Hey, I get it, you wanted to be your own person," HyungJoon said softly, rubbing his hand over JongWoon's back. "You're still my best friend no matter what, okay? No amount of titles or money is going to make me love you any less. I'm glad you did tell me, even if it took you a while."

Smiling a little, JongWoon whispered "Thank you" against HyungJoon's shoulder, feeling a huge weight off his shoulders. He knew he was truly blessed to have such a great best friend. "Really, thank you..." 

"Don't have to thank me for doing what any friend would do," HyungJoon chuckled softly, hugging JongWoon tightly. "So I'm guessing you told YoungSaeng too huh? How did he take it?"

"He took it well," JongWoon smiled gently. "And he helped me decide to tell you about it. I probably wouldn't have told _anyone_ if RyeoWook hadn't decided to set me up so I had to tell YoungSaeng." He pouted a little. "But if I'd known you'd be fine with it, I would have said something ages ago." 

"Don't beat yourself up about it, we all have our little secrets, or big secrets in your case," HyungJoon said, patting JongWoon on the shoulder before pulling back. "And don't be scared to tell me anything okay? We don't really talk about our past on this ship, none of us, but if it's a big deal like that just tell me."

Smiling in relief, JongWoon nodded. "Okay. Thank you." He squeezed HyungJoon's shoulders lightly before letting his hands fall. "We...should probably be getting back? What _happened_ to bring all that up, anyways?" he asked, eyes wide. 

"What? JungMin being a girl? Um..." HyungJoon flushed again, rubbing at the back of his head. "Well, he told me that Shinbi don't have sex like humans, so I asked him what that meant, and he told me about this bond thing that they do, which sounded kind of cool, but also that they don't have a fixed gender... so Saeng could be a girl if he wanted to."

"...I'm going to try not thinking about that." JongWoon turned bright red. "Bond thing?" That was familiar, very familiar. "Like, sharing emotions and that sort of thing?" 

"Yeah, emotions and thoughts," HyungJoon nodded, opening up the door to go out again. "There's also this full bond thing where they completely join for life. Sharing every thought and feeling for the rest of their lives... kind of weird to think about."

"That is weird...Saeng never said anything about that...then again, he didn't really explain much except..." JongWoon frowned, stepping forward to follow HyungJoon out of the room. "Joon, I think we ended up...creating some sort of bond like that. Only it wasn't supposed to happen." 

HyungJoon stopped and looked at JongWoon, blinking a bit. "What do you mean? What happened? When was this?"

JongWoon chewed on his lower lip, leaning against the wall. "When we were crash-landed. I sliced my leg open and couldn't go out of the shuttle with it like that, and Saeng said he could heal it. He turned into his real form and put his hand on my leg, and...it was really weird, my leg went the same as his skin, and it healed. But I could _hear_ what he was thinking, and what he was feeling." 

"...Really?" HyungJoon was shocked at that, not thinking that JongWoon would have agreed to something like that. "Did YoungSaeng know that was going to happen?"

"No, he was surprised too. He wasn't expecting it to happen to a non-Shinbi...but I guess since it's never been really attempted before, there was no way of knowing." JongWoon pursed his lips together. "It...I can still feel it, if I'm in contact with him. It's fainter than it was those first few minutes, but I can get some sort of idea of what he's thinking about, how he's feeling. It's a little disorientating, but...I kind of like it actually." 

"That's... kind of cool," HyungJoon said with a smile. "I'm happy for you, I really am. Maybe that's why you two are getting along so well now, you know what each other's thinking... is that how you guys made up?" HyungJoon wondered if something like that would help his and JungMin's relationship, but the redhead would probably never agree to it.

"Yeah," JongWoon flushed a little, smiling. "We were both caught off-guard and ended up reading into each other's thoughts involuntarily...so we were able to work it out because we understood more how the other was thinking, and knew that we really did love each other. It sounds weird, but it worked out." 

"Well, I'm just glad something worked, because it was getting frustrating how you two were acting," HyungJoon chuckled, putting his arm around JongWoon's shoulder as they started to walk back down to his room. He wondered if JungMin and YoungSaeng were still talking, and if the former had changed back to his usual human form or not.

"Sorry," JongWoon smiled sheepishly, following along beside his best friend.

Reaching the room, he pushed the door open and blinked. "We're back..." The clothes were gone from the floor, but JungMin was nowhere to be seen. 

Seated on the bed, looking pleased as punch, YoungSaeng laughed. "He's hiding from me. He didn't like it when I laughed at him. I have to hand it to you HyungJoon, I was never able to talk JungMin into that."

HyungJoon flushed, and lowered his eyes to the floor. "I... um... okay," he mumbled. 

"JungMin, you can come out now, I'm not going to laugh at you anymore, I promise," YoungSaeng said lightly, looking down over the edge of the bed.

JongWoon blinked owlishly as the tip of a squirrel nose poked out, JungMin eyeing them, before disappearing again. If the angry clicking sounds were any indication, he wasn't going anywhere. 

"Oh fine, be that way," YoungSaeng snorted a laugh as he got to his feet. "Come on JongWoon, let' leave them alone. Don't think this the end of it JungMin, or I'll tell GyuRi, and you know how much she would love another girl on board," he said, moving towards the door.

JungMin's response was the best hiss he could make while a rodent. JongWoon chuckled softly despite himself, following YoungSaeng towards the door with a smile and wave towards HyungJoon. 

When the door closed behind the other two, HyungJoon crossed his arms over his chest and went to sit down on the bed. "Okay, they're gone. Will you come out now for me?" he asked politely.

There was a moment while JungMin thought about it, before reluctantly crawling out from under the bed. The red squirrel climbed up onto the bed beside HyungJoon, tail puffed like SungMin's and grumbling/clicking to himself. JungMin gave HyungJoon a reproachful look, as if blaming him for being left alone with YoungSaeng tormenting him. 

"What? I didn't do anything," HyungJoon frowned down at the squirrel. "You could have just easily changed back before he came in you know."

The squirrel shook it's head, putting both paws against it's head. Too many changes in a day wasn't good for him, each shift got harder than the last. Come to think of it, taking squirrel form probably hadn't been the best idea, but he didn't want to sit there and listen to YoungSaeng. 

"No? You couldn't? Is there a limit or something?" HyungJoon blinked, a little perplexed. "Does that mean you're stuck as a squirrel for a while?"

JungMin shook his head again, the squirrel shifting a little bit away from HyungJoon on the bed. Staying in squirrel form too long was asking for trouble of other kinds, but that didn't mean shifting back yet again was entirely painless. The squirrel's form shifted and grew, JungMin changing back into his human form.

The shift was just about complete when something snapped, the change not done correctly. JungMin collapsed onto the bed with a cry of pain, forced back into his real form by an instinct that stopped him from shifting if he could accidentally kill himself. 

Eyes widening at the cry, HyungJoon immediately got up and moved closer. "Are you okay? What happened? Should I get Saeng?" he asked, knowing that YoungSaeng would know more and be able to help better than he ever could.

Blinking back spots in his vision, JungMin groaned softly, clenching his jaw and shaking his head. "It's fine," he muttered, taking extra concentration to talk. "Too many shifts...is painful and makes shifting harder. I lost concentration and didn't shift properly." And now he was extremely dizzy and felt like he was going to pass out. 

"Is there anything I can do?" HyungJoon asked quietly, feeling a little guilty. It had been his idea for JungMin and YoungSaeng to spar earlier, and he had also wanted to see JungMin as a girl. The squirrel was all JungMin though. "You sure you don't want me to get YoungSaeng?"

"He wouldn't be able to do anything," JungMin winced, closing his eyes against the dizziness. "Just need to rest." That had _hurt_. 

"Okay..." HyungJoon nodded, watching JungMin in worry. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you to shift so many times. I'm just gonna go check on some things in engineering, you let me know if you need anything okay?"

"Okay," JungMin murmured, opening silver eyes halfway after a moment. His vision was getting blurry; he probably wouldn't be conscious for much longer. "Come back soon?" he whispered. 

"I will," HyungJoon nodded, leaning down to press his lips against JungMin's. "Feel better," he whispered when he pulled back, running his fingers over JungMin's cheek before stepping back and heading out the door.

*************************53


	5. Chapter 5

It was a few days before they reached Yenor, the Sylar planet they were to drop RyeoWook off at. There were no further interruptions by any other ships, although other ships did appear on their radar from time to time. Most of those ships were Federation...and recent Federation models, HyunJoong noted.

If there had been any lingering doubt among them that the Federation was involved in all this, seeing their ship pass through without questioning erased it.

They were an hour from Yenor's atmosphere when RyeoWook stepped into the bridge, bowing politely to HyunJoong and KyuJong. "Thank you for bringing me here."

HyunJoong nodded in return, quirking a small smile. "How will things proceed from here?"

"I'll contact my superior once we've landed, he'll be expecting me. Then your ship will be free to go; use the cargo as an excuse to leave, say you have another trade stop to make." 

"They won't be suspicious I hope, about you arriving on this ship," KyuJong said, glancing away from the sensors. "Does your superior know where you were?"

"Sort of. He thinks I was just near the border, not on the other side of it. It'll be fine, YunHo sshi and I worked out the details," RyeoWook smiled softly, leaning against the table. "I do hope you all get back out of here safely. Just use the covers we worked on if anyone asks any questions, okay?" 

"I'm sure we'll be fine," KyuJong nodded, sighing slightly. "You do know that we're all worried about you being here though. Are you going to be able to get out of things get too hairy on this side?"

RyeoWook's lips quirked sadly. "I can promise I'll do my best. Though thank you for your concern. Please take care of yourselves, it's getting more and more dangerous out here." 

"We noticed," KyuJong nodded grimly. "Somehow we got caught up right in the middle of it by accident thanks to the geckos. Those two seem to have taken a shine to you."

The spy blinked and turned slightly pink. "I-I guess they have." He sighed softly, and smiled properly this time. "YunHo is very fair, once this is all over he will see to it that none of you are bothered again. It's just...staying safe before then that's the problem." 

"Doesn't seem like there's any place in the galaxy safe for us right now," KyuJong nodded, looking back down at the sensors. "We'll be landing soon, I'm sure you'll want to say your goodbyes."

"The galaxy is a big place, you will find somewhere," RyeoWook replied softly, before bowing to them again. "Thank you again."

He'd turned and headed towards the hatch when it opened, JongWoon poking his head in. He smiled widely to see RyeoWook in there, stepping inside with YoungSaeng beside him. "Hey Wookie. You getting ready to leave?"

"Already ready," RyeoWook smiled sadly, motioning to his uniform and military pin. He stepped forward to give JongWoon a warm hug, his friend returning it.

"Stay safe hyung," the spy whispered. "Remember what I said...out here, use your nickname." When JongWoon nodded, RyeoWook smiled and pulled back.

Turning to YoungSaeng, he bowed politely. "Please take care of my hyung, and take care of yourself." 

YoungSaeng inclined his head in return. "I will, and you be careful as well. I've come to like you, and would be very put out if something were to happen to you. That and I'm sure JongWoon would be upset as well. Don't get yourself killed."

Another head popped through the hatch, this one blue. Zhou Mi looked around at them all and then pouted at RyeoWook. "You're leaving?"

Smiling at YoungSaeng, RyeoWook turned to Zhou Mi and nodded. "Please take care of yourself and KyuHyun sshi," he said, smiling at the gecko. Then he started talking in the gecko's own language a little clumsily.

"I thought no one knew their language?" JongWoon blinked, looking at YoungSaeng. 

"It's a difficult language, but not impossible," YoungSaeng said softly, looking between RyeoWook and Zhou Mi. The gecko's warm smile lit up his face when RyeoWook started talking, and all but tackled him to the floor, arms wrapped tightly around him. Zhou Mi was saying something as well softly, and not as fast he usually did.

RyeoWook yelped as he ended up on the floor, before chuckling and patting Zhou Mi's back lightly. He smiled softly, before something the gecko said made him turn bright pink and protest loudly.

"I think I missed something," JongWoon blinked, looking from his old friend to YoungSaeng. 

"Maybe you can ask him later," YoungSaeng chuckled at the cheeky grin Zhou Mi was giving RyeoWook, still clinging tightly to him. "Mi, I think it's time to let him up."

"Yeah, we're getting a hail from the station," KyuJong said, turning to the communications console. "I think RyeoWook should get it... considering." Zhou Mi reluctantly got up, holding out his hands to help RyeoWook up.

RyeoWook blinked, frowning lightly as he was helped up. "Why are we being hailed? We're too far still to send a docking request."

"Guess we're about to find out," HyunJoong replied, looking at the monitor. "Zhou Mi, either hide or get off the bridge."

JongWoon pulled YoungSaeng to the side so RyeoWook could step up to the front. 

Zhou Mi didn't need to be told twice, quickly disappearing through the hatch and closing it behind him. Standing to the side with JongWoon, YoungSaeng had his arms crossed and frowned. He didn't like it when things were unexpected.

"Answering the hail," KyuJong said, tapping some things into the console and looking up at the monitor when it flicked on. "This is the Federation transport _Proteus_ , how can we help you?"

An alien came into view on the screen. A light layer of blue/purple scales covering the man's skin, as well as the flattened nose and slitted eyes gave a reptilian appearance. "I've received word you have one of my assistants on board."

RyeoWook's eyes widened and he bowed deeply. "Han JunYoung sshi, I'm on my way to the planet's surface right now."

JongWoon managed not to show his surprise. So this was the Sylar vice-admiral RyeoWook was reporting to.

"There's been a change of plans. I need you elsewhere immediately."

RyeoWook straightened, surprised but keeping a straight face. "Sir?"

"Plans are moving quickly in the Capital, you are to report to the head admiral there and make yourself useful." 

KyuJong glanced at HyunJoong out of the corner of his eye. "If I may interject, if you could send over the docking permission we'll be able to get him landed quickly and on his way easier," the pilot said. The scaled alien shook his head.

"There is no time, you will be taking him to the Capital at Erith. The next available ship wouldn't be ready for at least a week, he needs to go now."

RyeoWook bit on the inside of his cheek. "Sir, this ship has it's own schedule to uphold," he tried. "They need to be on their way."

"Do _not_ question me," the alien's eyes flashed. "That is an order, Kim RyeoWook. You're expected in the Capital in three day's time, which should be more than enough for this ship to handle. They will be given monetary compensation for their troubles, but they will bring you to Erith. I trust that is not a problem, Captain?"

HyunJoong assessed the situation carefully. He had no idea where this 'Erith' was, but if it was like most of the factions they'd seen out here, the Capital would be right in the middle of Sylar's territory. They'd be walking right into a hornet's nest.

But there was no way they could escape going, not if they wanted to avoid drawing suspicion to themselves and to RyeoWook. They were supposed to be Federation military assisting Sylar after all.

"...None," HyunJoong replied after a moment, seeing there was no way out of this. 

"Good, I would hate to report to the Federation that one of it's civilian ships was being uncooperative. RyeoWook, you'll be given clearer instructions when you reach Erith. Do not disappoint me."

The call cut out, monitor going black again as KyuJong turned off the communications. He sat there stunned for a moment before looking at HyunJoong. "I guess... I'll set a course for Erith?" he said softly, going to navigation.

HyunJoong drew in a breath, and nodded. "Guess that's where we're going."

"I...I'm very sorry," RyeoWook said, biting his lower lip hard and looking down at the ground.

"It wasn't your fault Wookie, you tried," JongWoon sighed, stepping forward and hugging his friend lightly. "We'll figure something out." 

"We're getting used to being pulled in different directions," KyuJong sighed, plotting a rough course. KyuHyun would have to make a better one for them later. "But on the bright side, you're staying with us for a bit longer."

"Yeah," RyeoWook nodded, though he still looked very worried. "Getting you away from Erith is going to be a little trickier...I'll have to see if I can pull some strings to make it easier."

"Why do they want you there, anyways?" JongWoon asked. RyeoWook just shrugged. 

"I'm sure we can figure it out," KyuJong hoped, looking around at the others. YoungSaeng's lips were pursed and he was frowning down at the floor in thought. If there was anything that made KyuJong nervous, it was when YoungSaeng looked worried. "Someone should let the others know about the change of plans," he said, looking to HyunJoong again as the hatch to the bridge opened again, Zhou Mi poking his head in.

"Everything okay?" the gecko asked, frowning a little at how everyone looked.

"RyeoWook is going to be with us for a bit longer," YoungSaeng said, glancing at the gecko. "Don't get too excited, we're heading for Erith." The gecko's skin paled slightly and looked to RyeoWook in concern.

"I'm apparently needed over there," RyeoWook gave the gecko a tight smile. "It'll be fine, I'll make sure you all get out safely okay?"

"Looks like we're going to need a meeting," HyunJoong sighed, opening the shipwide coms. "Crew meeting in ten minutes, at the mess hall," he said simply, his voice echoing down the halls as he hung up.

"How far in is Erith?" JongWoon asked YoungSaeng quietly. 

YoungSaeng glanced at JongWoon, his expression grim. "It's at the heart of Sylar territory. There's no farther in then that. Come on, let's go." His arm went around JongWoon's waist and steered him towards the hatch.

"Tell KyuHyun to come up and give me a hand with the route when you're done with the meeting," KyuJong said to HyunJoong.

"I will," HyunJoong nodded, standing. Leaning in, he kissed KyuJong softly before straightening. "I'll be back as soon as this is over."

JongWoon followed along beside YoungSaeng, pale. If they were found out while there, they were stuck. "There's no way we're getting out of this, is there?" 

"No, doesn't look like it," YoungSaeng shook his head, looking over at Zhou Mi who had come up beside RyeoWook as they were leaving the bridge. "But we've already been through a lot, this is just another thing to get through."

"Yeah," JongWoon smiled a little nervously, one arm lightly around YoungSaeng's shoulders as well. They'd be fine, right?

Turning the corner and going down the stairs towards the mess hall, he saw JungMin and HyungJoon at the bottom of the stairs. "What's all this about?" JungMin frowned. 

"We're taking a detour," YoungSaeng said wryly when they reached the bottom. "That seems to be par for the course on this journey so far."

"A detour?" HyungJoon blinked, looking past them and the others coming down the stairs. "Where are we going Captain?"

"Nowhere to look forward to," HyunJoong sighed, heading down the stairs. "We're heading to Erith now."

JungMin's eyes widened. "...That's quite the detour. _Why_ are we going there?"

"Because we'll be blown out of the sky if we don't play along," HyunJoong replied. RyeoWook was coming down the stairs after him with Zhou Mi, brow furrowed in worry. 

"Let's save questions and answers until we're all together," YoungSaeng said simply, leading the group towards the mess hall. When they arrived, GyuRi was already there, trying to climb up onto one of the chairs, but couldn't haul her body up with her tiny arms.

"How do you people cope without wings, this maddening," she huffed, looking over her shoulder when the door opened.

"Come on princess, use those muscles," JungMin sighed, going behind her and carefully lifting the pixie up onto the chair.

SungMin poked his head into the room once RyeoWook and Zhou Mi were inside. "Emergency meeting?" 

"That's what he said wasn't it?" Xander poked the anthro in the back of the head. "Move fuzz butt."

"Who are we missing?" YoungSaeng sat down at the table next to JongWoon, taking a mental note of everyone.

"Just Kui Xian," Zhou Mi said, hovering next to RyeoWook, smiling softly at the human, trying to cheer him up.

"Present," KyuHyun sighed, walking into the room. He dropped down into a seat on RyeoWook's other side, tail twining around Zhou Mi's. "What's up? We're not dropping him off?"

"No, we were just hailed by the vice-admiral," HyunJoong shook his head. "Apparently we're to take RyeoWook somewhere else, and it's too urgent to wait for another ship. We weren't able to get out of it." 

"Then where are we going?" Xander asked, tilting his head to the side as he looked at HyunJoong.

"We're going to Erith," YoungSaeng replied. "Hopefully then we'll be let go, but we'll have to get back out again afterwards. The vice-admiral said things were getting more hectic, so there's no telling what we'll be going into."

SungMin's eyes widened. " _Erith_? We'll be going right into the middle of the mess."

"Sylar's preparations for war must be going better than planned," RyeoWook murmured. "I'll need to send this back to YunHo sshi before we get too far in."

"So how are we going to do this without being blown up exactly?" KyuHyun asked wryly.

"Keep playing along for now," HyunJoong said, looking between them. "Fortunately we blend in among the other Federation ships perfectly."

It was just if someone took a long, hard look at them, then they'd be in trouble. 

"How long until we reach this Erith then?" HyungJoon asked, wringing his hands worriedly.

"Roughly three days, hopefully we don't need to stop for any emergencies on the way. Sylar isn't known for being pleased when people are late, especially when it's one of theirs," YoungSaeng said, glancing at RyeoWook.

"And then what? We just fly out?" GyuRi asked, sitting on her knees so she could look around the table. "Is that even possible to do?"

"They might try and catch you up in more missions," RyeoWook said, frowning down at the table. "I don't have enough influence there to stop an urgent order from high up...but I can make some things disappear and give you a window out."

"Don't get yourself in trouble, or we're all as good as dead," JungMin said wryly. "We'll take what comes up." 

"I don't see this as any different than dealing with the Valis, I'm sure we'll be fine as long as they don't look too closely at our records," YoungSaeng said, drumming his fingers on the table. "If something does come up, we'll handle it RyeoWook, don't worry about us."

"What do you think the chances are of us running into any ships we know though?" HyungJoon asked quietly. "There's been a lot of Federation ships out there."

"The majority of ships we've encountered often enough for them to remember our name are civilian ships," HyunJoong mused.

"There aren't many civilian ships out here," RyeoWook shook his head. "Even cargo ships are usually manned by the military."

"We don't know many military," JongWoon frowned, looking at HyungJoon. "Not enough for them to recognize us." 

"Well small favors then," HyungJoon sighed. "I have no desire in seeing any of the military ships we _do_ know," he said, eyes flickering to HyunJoong.

"All the same, if we do run in to other Federation ships, let's keep all your names from being blurted out if we can," YoungSaeng said, looking to HyunJoong. "I think what we talked about a couple months ago may be a good idea to start putting into practice now. Just in case."

HyunJoong nodded. "I think so."

"What is this?" JongWoon blinked.

"While we're out here, the visible position of Captain will be filled by YoungSaeng instead," HyunJoong replied, looking over at him. "An unfamiliar Captain will keep us from being discovered just that little longer."

"It would be a good idea to just avoid leaving the ship at all, but if we need to, we try and leave you three here." JungMin motioned towards HyungJoon, JongWoon and HyunJoong. "And KyuJong. Since you're the ones most likely to have problems hiding." 

"I'm okay with that idea," HyungJoon said immediately, though he did worry for JungMin, a little. "Is there anything else we can do?"

"That's probably enough for now," YoungSaeng said quietly. "We'll take things as they come, but I'd rather not be surprised if we don't have to be." His eyes turned to the two geckos. "Also, no one breathes a word of Shinbi, or shifters while we are in Sylar space. Is that understood? It could get us all killed."

KyuHyun nodded. "No shifters here, got it," he replied. "Is that it?"

"For now," HyunJoong sighed, standing. "KyuHyun, would you come to the bridge with me and plot out a more accurate course?"

JungMin stood up again with a sigh, frowning a little. "Well...this just keeps getting better and better." 

"I'm not sure what we were thinking in trying to go back to a normal life," YoungSaeng laughed dryly then turned to JongWoon. "You get your friend for another couple of days," he said softly.

"Yeah," JongWoon smiled a little, nodding. But then they were going to drop him off in an even bigger viper's nest. "What are we doing now?" He'd have to go over paperwork later and make sure that if someone looked over them, the crew wouldn't be given away. 

"Hm... how about we go to our room to discuss it?" YoungSaeng smiled, getting to his feet. HyungJoon and JungMin were already leaving as were the others. Taking JongWoon's hand, he glanced over at Zhou Mi and RyeoWook, the gecko flirting very obviously. "I'm not sure how much time you're going to be spending with RyeoWook," YoungSaeng whispered into JongWoon's ear.

"Huh?" JongWoon looked back at his friend, RyeoWook bright pink. "But...Zhou Mi and KyuHyun are together, no?" he asked, looking back at YoungSaeng in confusion as they left the room. 

"They are, but they're geckos," YoungSaeng chuckled, glancing at JongWoon. "They have... interesting relationships. It's rare to find less than four geckos in a relationship. They have very deep bonds with one another since they'll essentially spend their lives hopping from one ship to the next, only conversing with each other."

"..." JongWoon blinked owlishly at YoungSaeng. "I really hope Wookie knows what he's getting into," he shook his head, trying not to imagine his tiny friend with the two geckos. 

"Considering he knows the language, I have a feeling he knows," YoungSaeng assured JongWoon, an arm going around his waist. "You have to spend a lot of time with geckos in order to learn it."

"I'll take your word for it," JongWoon chuckled, one arm going around YoungSaeng as well instinctively as they walked back to their room. "You know, sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I'd just stayed home like I was supposed to. I certainly wouldn't be in danger of being blown up every day. But, despite that...I'm happier out here. Even if it's dangerous, I _like_ being outside of the Federation." 

"The Federation is a gilded cage, and you don't truly understand that until you've stepped out of it," YoungSaeng said sadly. "Though I wish you would have discovered it under better circumstances."

Turning to YoungSaeng as they reached their room, JongWoon's eyes shown brightly. "You'll be able to show me under better circumstances after all this is over, right?" he asked, hands lightly resting on YoungSaeng's shoulders 

YoungSaeng considered JongWoon for a moment, his eyes wandering over the man's features. "If we get through this," he nodded, reaching a hand up to cup JongWoon's cheek. "And maybe you can show me what it's like to live a normal life."

"I'd be happy to show you," JongWoon replied softly, lips curled into a gentle smile before he leaned forward, kissing the shifter softly. His life hadn't been exactly normal either, but none of that mattered now. 

"I'll hold you to that," YoungSaeng murmured against JongWoon's lips as he pushed their door open and dragged JongWoon in by his collar. "We can start now." He kicked the door shut with his foot.

*****************************

Stirring slowly, HyunJoong's eyes cracked open a little from the best sleep he'd had in a while. The reason for that good night's rest was curled up beside him, nose buried in the captain's collar and still fast asleep. It was rare for HyunJoong to wake up before KyuJong; besides the fact that the Captain liked what sleep he got very, very much, KyuJong was a very light sleeper.

Lips curling upwards slightly, he buried his face back against KyuJong's hair and closed his eyes, breathing in deeply as he ran one hand along his boyfriend's bare back. 

KyuJong was a very light sleeper, just that small amount of movement had him pulled out of sleep and he whined a little for it. Pressing a kiss to the top of HyunJoong's chest, he pulled out of his boyfriend's hold a bit to check what time it was. His shift was due to start soon, not a prospect he enjoyed, but only because he was far too comfortable. Sighing, he poked HyunJoong in the nose. "Wake up."

"No," was the mumbled, cheeky reply, HyunJoong pulling KyuJong back against his chest. Not usual captain behavior, but he was too comfortable to want to move. They didn't get much time alone as it was, with everything going on and being in the middle of Sylar territory. 

"My shift starts soon, as does yours," KyuJong said, squeaking a little when he was hugged tighter. "And YoungSaeng's on flying duty, you know how he is when we run late," he said, pushing back just enough to kiss HyunJoong on the lips.

"I can call for JongWoon to distract him," HyunJoong suggested, returning the kiss before rolling half-over onto the younger man, tangling their legs together so that KyuJong couldn't get up. "You're comfortable." 

Chuckling softly, KyuJong's arms went around HyunJoong's neck, smiling up at him. "Well you're comfortable too, but we do have responsibilities, _Captain_ ," he pointed out, though he wasn't exactly complaining about HyunJoong being on top of him.

"Yes yes, I know," HyunJoong gave a long-suffering sigh, burying his nose in KyuJong's collar and placing soft kisses to the warm skin. "Five more minutes? Then we can rush and apologize to YoungSaeng." 

Smiling at that, KyuJong ran his hand up and down HyunJoong's back, enjoying whatever time he could get with his boyfriend. "Okay, five more minutes," he murmured. This had been the first night since entering Sylar space that they had been able to spend together and he wasn't exactly in a rush to leave the warmth of their bed.

Chuckling quietly, HyunJoong lifted his head and kissed KyuJong softly, cupping the pilot's jaw with one hand. "We deserve a long vacation after this." 

KyuJong returned the kiss, agreeing with a soft sigh to the idea of a vacation, just the two of them. As his hand slid up to twine into HyunJoong's hair, the captain's com device went off.

" _Captain, I need you on the bridge._ " YoungSaeng's voice called over the com.

"Definitely, very long vacation," KyuJong groaned, head slumping back against his pillow.

"So much for five minutes," HyunJoong murmured. Sighing, he kissed KyuJong deeply before climbing off of him and sitting on the edge of the bed, picking up his com from the side table to flick it on. "I'll be right there. What's the problem?" He pulled out new clothes from the dresser, pulling them on. 

" _There's a problem with our route, I'll explain when you get up here._ " KyuJong heard YoungSaeng say before the com went quiet. Sitting up, he scrubbed a hand through his hair.

"KyuHyun didn't say there was anything wrong with our route, wonder what's going on," the pilot said, getting to his feet.

"Guess we'll find out," HyunJoong said, pulling his shirt over his head. In order to go along with the plan that he wasn't Captain, he'd taken to wearing regular crew outfits without his captain pins just in case something came up. Standing, he ran a brush through his hair a couple times before waiting for KyuJong. 

Dressing quickly, KyuJong was still pulling on his boots as they headed out into the corridor. The others would still be asleep at that time, but if there was a real problem they could be woken without much problem.

At the bridge, YoungSaeng glanced over his shoulder, his lips pressed into a thin line. "Sorry HyunJoong, I would have just waited for your shift to start but I didn't want to be sitting at a standstill for longer than we had to," he said, turning to the communications screen and bringing up a message. "One of the nearby Sylar outposts is sending out a beacon, apparently there's a battle going on in the system we're supposed to pass right through to get to Erith."

HyunJoong frowned at that, going to stand by YoungSaeng's shoulder to look at the message. "With...another faction?" It looked like it. "Are we close enough to scan the area for safe passage?" 

"Not really, no," YoungSaeng shook his head, bringing up the navigation display as well. "The message says the main conflict is happening around these two planets, so we may be able to skirt around behind this planet here. It won't be as quick as going right through the system, but it will still take at least a day off our route."

"No guarantee we won't be spotted though," KyuJong frowned, arms crossed over his chest. "Maybe we should wake RyeoWook up and see what he thinks we should do," he suggested to HyunJoong.

"That would be a good idea, he's more familiar with these systems than we are. We should also get KyuHyun's input to made sure whatever route we take is safe." HyunJoong picked up his com device, flicking it on. "RyeoWook and KyuHyun, you're needed on the bridge." A moment later he heard sleepy confirmations that they'd be right there. 

YoungSaeng took up a position at communication while KyuJong took up the pilot's seat again, the pilot going over the sensors. "Looks like there's a couple of Sylar ships moving into the system, they don't see us but we could tail them for a short while until we get too close to the fighting. They'll be entering the system in about ten minutes."

"Let's do that then, see what's going on," HyunJoong nodded, taking up the captain's chair and going over navigation while they waited for KyuHyun and RyeoWook. "If the size of the battle increases past those two planets, we're going to have to take a much longer detour than we can probably afford." 

"Well that's their problem, not ours," YoungSaeng said, monitoring communications between the two Sylar ships. "We didn't volunteer for this, and it's their fault there's a battle going on in our way."

"True, but we should avoid getting RyeoWook into too much trouble considering we're heading into the heart of Sylar territory," HyunJoong replied, frowning as he looked up possible routes.

RyeoWook and KyuHyun appeared a moment later. "What's going on?" The gecko asked, going to navigations.

"There's a small faction battle going on right in the middle of our course," HyunJoong replied, looking up at them. "We need to see if this is worth skirting around, and how bad it's going to get."

"Depends on which faction's causing the problem," RyeoWook said quietly, going to look at communications along with YoungSaeng. "But it's easier just to avoid the fight completely." 

"That what we thought, but we're going to follow these ships in until we reach the fifth planet out and then skim along the perimeter," KyuJong said. "Otherwise we'll be losing close to three days going around this system."

"I wouldn't wait that long," KyuHyun shook his head. "You can cut corners on the other side of the battle, but here I wouldn't stick around past the sixth planet."

"This particular system is unstable, so I'd say the same," RyeoWook said quietly. "The fifth and fourth planets are full of colonies that might jump in if the fight gets much closer." 

"I was afraid of that," KyuJong sighed, laying in their course on the navigation console before scooting back to the helm. "I'll hang back just far enough so that Sylar doesn't see us, but close enough that it looks like we're part of their group."

"How upgraded is most of the Sylar fleet now that they're dealing with the Federation?" YoungSaeng asked, glancing at RyeoWook. "We've got the best as far as sensors go, will they see us?"

"Some of their newest ships have the latest upgrades, but I wouldn't worry about it," RyeoWook shook his head. "The majority of their fleet are still on older models, cutting corners with the Sylar fleet so they can give preference to their own."

"Sounds like Federation to me," KyuHyun remarked drily, checking over the new course to make sure they wouldn't run into any problems. "We're going to have to reassess the situation on the other side of the battle, make sure we're not running right through the middle of this mess." 

"We'll just have to deal with that once we get through this," YoungSaeng said, watching the communications. "I'll keep an eye on communications between these two ships and what they're telling the fleet further in, just in case they do see us."

"I'm sure we'll still be able to outrun them," KyuJong said, moving them forward now that the Sylar ships were advancing into the system.

"Let's avoid trouble if we can," HyunJoong shook his head, flipping between screens. Looking at the sensors, he could see a few other ships registering farther up, behind a group of asteroids. "We might have to pull out early..." 

"I see them," KyuJong nodded, tapping some things into navigation to redirect their route before he took the helm. They had only gotten to the seventh planet's orbit in the system, KyuJong ducking around an asteroid cluster to keep from being seen.

"Keep an eye out for any patrols, Sylar or otherwise," YoungSaeng said, frowning slightly at the communications display. "It seems like there's a pocket of fighters around the fifth planet, Sylar's trying to keep them contained but they may make a break for it."

"Those are Merin fighters," RyeoWook said quietly, reading through as well. "What are they doing this far in?"

"If the alliance with Valis hasn't happened yet, someone might have gotten impatient and sent scouts in," KyuHyun wrinkled his nose. "And it's going to get them all killed. Merin's too prideful to run from a fight." 

"YunHo's going to be pissed," YoungSaeng remarked. "If Merin gets themselves wiped out, Valis isn't going to be able to take on Sylar by themselves."

"Someone needs to tell Merin that, looks like they've broken out from the fifth planet's orbit and are heading out this way to regroup," KyuJong said, watching the sensors.

" _We_ can't tell them to get their asses out of Sylar territory, they'll blow us to bits," KyuHyun said, glancing at the pilot. "We're a Federation ship, remember? By now everyone knows the Federation's working with Sylar." 

YoungSaeng gave KyuHyun a sharp look, frowning. "Most ships out here are Federation modified, this one just looks nicer... we'd have to convince them we're _not_ Federation or Sylar though, if we could get their attention at least."

"You're not actually saying that we try to hail these Merin ships, are you?" KyuJong blinked, looking at YoungSaeng.

"Captain... I think I have an idea," YoungSaeng said, his lips curling up slightly. "Call JungMin up, I'll need his help."

*****************54

Eyeing the smile on YoungSaeng's face, HyunJoong took out his com device. "Am I going to like this idea?" Flicking it on, he spoke into the device briefly. The corners of his lips quivered when he heard the clatter of the other com being dropped on the floor. "He's up, not very happy about it but he's up." 

YoungSaeng rolled his eyes but didn't say anything to that. "I don't know if you'll like the idea, but it's the best we've got if we want to salvage any hope of Valis and Merin taking Sylar out," he said. "KyuHyun, off the bridge. How long until those Merin ships are in range?"

"About... eight minutes or so," KyuJong said, taking them around one of the larger asteroids. "What do we do when they're in range?"

"Get their attention," YoungSaeng said, glancing at the hatch as it opened, revealing a very sleepy looking HyungJoon. "Why are you here?"

"He made me," HyungJoon grumbled, slumping into a chair and curling up.

"What exploded?" JungMin asked, trying to brush his hair down as he stepped in behind the human, pouting a little.

"Merin's on a suicide run," KyuHyun sighed as he got up. "Why am I being sent off?" Grumbling, he left the bridge.

"Merin?" JungMin blinked, frowning as he looked at YoungSaeng and HyunJoong. 

"Apparently they decided to get themselves in a situation," YoungSaeng sighed, shaking his head a little. "We need to try and salvage Merin from getting their feet cut off, so I had an idea. Need to convince what ships are here to get out and regroup before Sylar goes after them before Merin and Valis have a chance to get their forces together."

"Merin ships will be in range in three minutes," KyuJong said. "How do I get their attention?"

"Fire at them, not enough to damage them, just off their nose," YoungSaeng said. "Min, we're going to have to do some acting here. Merin won't listen to a Federation ship, or to a Valis or Sylar or any other faction out here."

"So why would they listen to...oh." JungMin blinked repeatedly as he caught on to what YoungSaeng was implying.

HyunJoong had gotten the implication too. "You think they'll listen to a Shinbi ship instead?" he asked.

"They...might," JungMin frowned. "Or just blow us up. You think it would work, Saeng?" 

"It's the best option I can think of," YoungSaeng said with a shrug. "We don't exactly have a whole lot of time right now, and the Merin ships are going to be on us in... how long?"

"One minute," KyuJong said, glancing at HyunJoong. "Do I get their attention or no? We're kind of hidden here, they'd go right on by without seeing us."

"And then they'll regroup and try attacking again, we have to stop them," YoungSaeng said.

Brow furrowed, HyunJoong thought for a moment before nodding. "Get their attention. Have the engines and shield ready in case we need to make a quick getaway."

"So you're the new Captain, Saeng?" JungMin asked, shifting into his real form. RyeoWook stepped out of the way and to the back of the bridge so he wouldn't appear in the video conference. 

"I guess so," YoungSaeng nodded, shifting as well and turning towards the communications display.

"Firing now," KyuJong said, aiming the weapons system just short of actually hitting the first Merin ship. "And hailing," he continued, soon as the first shot was off. The Merin ships slowed and came about to face the _Proteus_. "They're... readying weapons," he said, his voice on edge.

It was a tense few seconds until the Merin ship answered the hails, YoungSaeng making sure only himself and JungMin were in the viewframe. This could go either very well, or very poorly.

The video feed flickered to life, a furious captain on the screen. "Move out of—" He appeared stunned for a moment as it registered that the two on the screen were not any random race, but Shinbi. The captain's eyes narrowed slightly. "...What is a Shinbi ship doing at this end of the galaxy? Here to laugh at us?" 

"What Shinbi do is our business," YoungSaeng replied, his voice sharply accented. "This... suicide attempt of yours is in our way, leave this system and get out of Sylar space before you ruin everything."

"Ruin everything?" The Merin captain drew himself up, eyes flashing. "This is our fight, if someone is in the way then it is your ship. Why should we pay any heed to your kind?" 

"Are you just stupid, or is this idiocy a failing of your race?" YoungSaeng snapped, his eyes shining. "I am giving you and your ships a chance to leave this sector undamaged, but if the Merin faction wants to go against the Shinbi Empire then so be it." He looked over his shoulder at KyuJong. "Cut communications, destroy these ships."

"Wait!" That had scared the other captain, JungMin nodded with an inward smirk. No one in their right mind wanted to go against the Shinbi. Even the Federation, with all it's might, would be blown to pieces.

"We will leave Sylar space, but this won't be the last you hear of us," the alien growled, frustrated. 

"I expect you to leave now then," YoungSaeng said, turning back to the screen. "This is your only warning, do not invade this system again, especially not on your own." He signaled to KyuJong to cut the feed, the screen going black. Once he had shifted back into human form, he sighed heavily in relief. "Idiots."

"Good thing he freaked at mention of the Empire," JungMin said, shifting back as well. "That takes care of this bunch, but what about the rest of the people fighting in there?"

"Hopefully these ships will hail the others to leave, it's out of our hands now," HyunJoong said, shaking his head. "Get us out of here, Kyu." 

"Yes sir," KyuJong set their course, the Merin ships heading one way and they another.

"Hopefully they don't look too closely as to where we're going," YoungSaeng said, leaning up against the wall. "Can I go to bed now?"

"Yes you can," HyunJoong chuckled. "Thanks for the help YoungSaeng."

"What about going _back_ to bed," JungMin grumbled, going next to HyungJoon. 

"I think you're a little late," YoungSaeng chuckled, patting JungMin's arm on his way towards the hatch. HyungJoon had promptly fallen back to sleep, his cheek pressed onto the top of the table, snoring softly.

"Figures," JungMin snorted. "Some moral support you are," he told the sleeping engineer before carefully picking him up, grunting a little at the weight. "If this keeps up you're going on a diet." He left the room, HyungJoon draped over his back. 

"Why didn't you just let him stay in bed?" YoungSaeng asked as they headed towards the stairs, glancing at HyungJoon over JungMin's shoulder. "Doesn't seem like he's going to wake up any time soon."

"He woke up when the Captain called down, and I wanted him to come along," JungMin pouted. "Where's the failboat, still asleep? I thought he was on the bridge with you?" 

"He was for a little while, but he went to check on GyuRi and I told him to just go to sleep," YoungSaeng said, starting down the stairs. "Why did you want him to come along? Afraid he'll run away if you don't keep an eye on him?"

The redhead's pout deepened. "I just wanted him to come along, what's wrong with that?" He shifted the younger man's weight on his back. 

"I was just asking, and you were the one complaining about him being too heavy," YoungSaeng reminded him. At the bottom of the stairs, he turned to go towards his and JongWoon's room. "Get some sleep, see you in a few hours," he said, waving.

"See you." JungMin headed towards his and HyungJoon's room, closing the door behind him with his foot. For all his grumbling, he was gentle laying the younger man back down in the bed they'd just vacated not long ago. He just looked down at him for a long moment, shoulders slumped a little. Finally he kicked his shoes off, removing HyungJoon's as well before climbing back into the bed with him, pulling the bed sheet over them both and curling around a pillow as he closed his eyes. 

Soon as JungMin stopped moving, one of HyungJoon's eyes opened and he scowled at the redhead, reaching over and pinching his arm. "Yah, I'm not heavy!"

Squawking in surprise, JungMin swatted at the pinching hand, opening his eyes again to stare at HyungJoon for a moment. "...Well you're not exactly a feather," he retorted, trying to put on a convincing scowl as he poked the younger man's side. "You were awake the whole time? I should have just left you up there." 

Flinching away at the poke, HyungJoon poked JungMin back. "No, I was not awake the whole time, just when you picked me up," he said, pouting at him. "I do not need to go on a diet."

"If you keep on falling asleep in weird places and I need to carry you back all the time, you need a diet." JungMin twitched at the poke, continuing the action. "Why didn't you say you were awake?" 

"And walk all the way back to bed?" HyungJoon snorted, rolling his eyes. "Why? You didn't have any problems with carrying me, complaining aside."

"Lazy," JungMin sniffed, turning away from him and folding his arms over his chest with a pout. 

" _I'm_ lazy?" HyungJoon blinked, poking JungMin's side and scooting closer. "I didn't ask to be woken up and hauled out of bed because you wanted company on the short walk to the bridge."

JungMin tried swatting behind him at the poke, missing. "You were already awake thanks to the Captain, what harm would it do to come with me? And that's called wanting company, not being lazy." 

"But I didn't have to go up there and you know it," HyungJoon said, poking him again. "And you can be just as lazy as me, so don't give me that."

"Now who's doing the complaining?" JungMin nearly rolled off the bed to avoid the pokes, burying his face in a pillow. "Fine, I won't ask for company next time. You're back in bed now, so go back to sleep." 

Scooting up behind JungMin and wrapping his arm around the redhead's waist, he rested his chin on his shoulder. "Well I'm awake now, and you didn't ask, you pushed me out the door."

"Then I won't ask or insist," JungMin mumbled, trying to ignore the contact and failing as the tension in his shoulders eased a little. 

"Well you could have asked, that would have been the more polite thing to do," HyungJoon said, kissing the side of JungMin's neck.

"You would have said no anyways," the redhead's eyes fluttered shut at the kisses. 

"Maybe, but you never know unless you ask," HyungJoon murmured, lips trailing down to JungMin's shoulder. "Don't get me wrong, I do like it when you're demanding, just not all the time."

A soft noise left JungMin's lips. "What's wrong with wanting your company?" He was jealous of the easy relationship YoungSaeng and JongWoon had, how they were together practically all of the time without arguing about anything, without getting mad at each other. And he'd been trying lately, not teasing HyungJoon to prevent any blow-ups like before, watching his temper, but nothing seemed to be changing. 

"You have my company now," HyungJoon said softly, his hand sliding up JungMin's shirt. "Or are you too grumpy now that I've hurt your feelings."

"Depends," JungMin turned around to face HyungJoon. "If you fall asleep on me now, I might not talk to you for a week." Some things just weren't worth the fighting they would cause. 

HyungJoon pretended to think about that for a moment, his lips quirking side to side. "Tempting... but I'm pretty much awake now," he said, tugging JungMin closer.

"Confidence killer." JungMin pressed his lips to HyungJoon's, hand brushing against the younger man's shirt. 

"Someone needs to keep your inflated ego in check," HyungJoon murmured around the kiss, sliding his hand down JungMin's leg to hook at his knee and bring it over his hip.

"And you certainly do a good job of that." With the mess that was their relationship, JungMin's ego was probably at an all-time low. Pressing closer, he wrapped his leg around HyungJoon's waist when prompted, fingers sliding under HyungJoon's shirt to trace along his belly. 

"It's not like I'm trying to," HyungJoon said, sighing softly at JungMin's touch. "You just seem to bring out my critical side."

JungMin didn't reply to that, just kissing HyungJoon softly. After a moment he shifted his attention a little, kissing along HyungJoon's jaw to his neck as he slid his hand further up underneath the younger man's shirt. 

HyungJoon frowned a little when JungMin didn't respond to what he'd said, the redhead usually taking offense to anything or everything HyungJoon said. Even though they had been getting along better recently, it just didn't seem to feel right. Pulling back, he looked at JungMin with a frown. "What's wrong?"

"Hm?" JungMin blinked at him. "Nothing's wrong." He leaned forward to kiss HyungJoon again. 

HyungJoon pulled back farther, away from the kiss. "No, something's wrong and you're not telling me what it is. This is kind of part of that whole communication thing JungMin, if something's wrong, tell me."

"Nothing's wrong," JungMin insisted, hand slowly falling out from underneath HyungJoon's shirt as the human pulled away. "Why would something be wrong? We're not arguing." 

"That's kind of the point," HyungJoon said, blinking at him. "We always argue, it's kind of our thing. Like Kyu and the Captain being sweet and sappy is their thing, and the geckos being weird as hell is their thing. Our thing is arguing and we haven't argued in days. What's wrong?"

"Why does arguing have to be our 'thing'? You said yourself that you don't like it." Why did humans have to be so confusing...and JungMin knew this was gong to end up being his fault too, as usual. 

"I don't like it because it makes you upset when we argue over something stupid... are you just giving in to whatever it is I say just to avoid an argument?" HyungJoon asked, his eyes narrowed. "Is that why you've been such a pushover lately?"

"I am not being a pushover!" JungMin had to work to keep his temper down, automatically bristling at the accusation. "I'm tired of arguing all the time and I thought you were too, you said as much." 

"Only because you seemed to think it was this... reflection on us that if we argued all the time it must mean we're awful together," HyungJoon said, rolling his eyes. "It's healthy to argue JungMin, probably not as much as we do but we get on each other's nerves. I get tired of arguing with you because you're so _dramatic_ all the time."

"Well I hate to tell you, but I'm a dramatic person, it's part of my personality, and it's not something that's going to change." JungMin shifted onto his back so he didn't have to watch HyungJoon roll his eyes at his attempts to make their relationship happier. "No matter what I do, I'm in the wrong with you, so I'm just going to save us both the trouble of arguing over everything." 

"So you're just going to be a doormat then?" HyungJoon said, propping himself up and leaning over JungMin a little. "I never said you're always in the wrong, but you sure do seem to like to bite my head off over everything and then never tell me what it is that I did to piss you off! Like right now, you're pissed at me and I don't even know why."

"I'm pissed because I'm bending over backwards to make you happy and all I get are eye rolls and insults in return!" JungMin snapped at him, hurt. "I tell you what's wrong and how I feel, and you turn around and tell me how everything I feel is my own fault! And don't forget about all the times you've made it clear you're just putting up with me. My ego can't get much lower than rock bottom HyungJoon, how much more unwelcome do you want to make me feel?!" 

HyungJoon visibly recoiled at JungMin's outburst, his expression confused, and maybe a little angry as well. There were so many things he wanted to say to JungMin, but it seemed like the older man didn't want to hear anything from him anyway. Shaking his head, he rolled over and sat up, pulling his boots on. "Never wanted you to feel unwelcome, and you're right, it's not all your fault, it's obviously all my fault. This just isn't going to work and we're wasting our time trying to make it work. I'm not going to be an ass and make you leave, even though this is my room, so I'm going for a walk."

Sitting up and staring at him, JungMin held back the burning in the corners of his eyes. This was what he got for trying to make things work. For actually telling HyungJoon what was wrong. And the human wondered why JungMin never wanted to tell him how he felt. "I won't be here when you come back," he said softly, voice cracking. 

"Fine, you don't seem like you want to be here if I'm just so horrible to you anyway," HyungJoon retorted, missing the obvious hurt in JungMin's voice.

JungMin didn't say anything to yet another accusation, just closing his eyes. He wasn't the one walking out now. 

Finally getting his boots on, HyungJoon stood up, glancing at JungMin as he headed towards the door. Opening it up, he stopped and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I really wanted us to work," he said, before stepping through and shutting the door behind him. He didn't really have the energy to make it far, just slumping down in front of the door and holding his knees against his chest, letting the tears roll down his cheeks.

Hearing the door close, JungMin opened his eyes again to find himself alone in the room. Tears slowly ran down his cheeks as he lied down again, staring at the hollow in the bed where HyungJoon had just been. "Then why was I the only one trying to make it better?" he whispered, tears falling faster as he sobbed uncontrollably. So this was what it was like to have a broken heart. 

********************

HyungJoon wasn't sure how long he sat out in front of his door crying, but it must have been a while since when he looked up at the sound of boots on the flooring, KyuJong was standing over him.

"Have another fight?" the pilot asked with a small smile. HyungJoon could only nod, wiping at his eyes. "Go get something to eat, I'll talk to him," KyuJong said softly.

"But... if he thinks... I left.." HyungJoon sniffled, his voice choked off.

"It's okay, just go," KyuJong continued to smile, helping HyungJoon to his feet and sending him on his way before turning to the door. He and HyunJoong had watched HyungJoon on the security feed, not sure what was going on, but the longer HyungJoon had sat on the floor, the more KyuJong knew something bad had happened and convinced the captain to let him come talk to JungMin.

Not that it would be easy in the least. Sighing, he knocked lightly on the door. "Min?"

Sniffling, JungMin lifted his head a little at the knock on the door, hearing KyuJong's voice at the door. So HyungJoon really was gone then. He didn't want to talk to anyone, didn't want anyone to see him like this, an absolute wreck because of a human...but the fact of the matter was that HyungJoon wasn't just any human, and that somewhere in between the yelling, the fighting, and the teasing, JungMin had truly fallen in love with him.

Swiping at his eyes, JungMin staggered to his feet and padded over to the door, opening it just enough to see KyuJong. "...Yeah?" 

"Hi," KyuJong said softly, his smile was small and concerned. "Can I come in? He's not out here anymore, I sent him to go get something to eat. He said you guys fought, I thought you may need a friend right now."

Silent for a moment, JungMin finally stepped back, opening the door wider. "...We broke up," he said, voice cracking as he looked down at the ground, eyes glassy. 

Stepping in, KyuJong waited until the door was closed before putting his arms around JungMin's shoulders in a light hug. "What happened?" he asked softly.

Eyes widening slightly in surprise at the hug, JungMin's shoulders shook slightly before he wrapped his arms around KyuJong in return, tears soaking into the older man's shirt. "H-He asked me what was wrong...I told him he made me feel unwelcome. He said we were wasting our time trying to make this work," he sniffled. "I answered his question truthfully, what more does he want from me? Everything I do is wrong, everything I do to try and make this work." 

"Sit down, start from the beginning," KyuJong said, pulling him over a bit to the bed to sit down. "Why does he make you feel unwelcome?"

JungMin sat down slowly, looking down at his lap. "Every time I try to make things better, or explain why I act a certain way, it's always insults. And more reasons why things not working out is all my fault. I-I know I'm a difficult person to get along with sometimes...but I'm trying, I really am, and he'll just roll his eyes and make me feel like an idiot for trying. He always makes it seem like he's putting up with me, like I'm lucky he's putting up with me. All I've done since this relationship started is apologize to him. He says he wants to understand, but when I try to explain things to him, how things have been for me, he refuses to understand."

It all poured out, along with more tears. "I've never felt less confidence in anything in my whole life Kyu...I-I love him, but...when everything I do is wrong..." He covered his mouth with one hand, eyes squeezing shut. 

Rubbing his hand up and down JungMin's back slowly, KyuJong listened to JungMin with sad eyes, heart hurting for the shifter because he had been there, and very recently too. "I don't know him that well, so I don't know why he's feeling the way he feels or acts the way he does, but all I can do is offer a bit of advice. Remember when I told you that love is the single best and worst feeling in the world? It's the best because nothing can ever compare to it when you have it, and the worst because even at these times when you're crying your heart out you don't want it to end.

"If you love him, and truly think he's worth being with, then these petty games of blame are something you just have to get past. Do you love him enough for that JungMin?"

JungMin swallowed painfully, trying to focus on what KyuJong was saying. "I love him...but I don't know how much longer I can try to make him understand." He looked up at KyuJong, tears slipping down his cheeks. "I didn't run away, Kyu...I stayed and told him exactly how I feel, just as he wanted...but he didn't want to hear it. He didn't even want to try understanding, just marked me as a lost cause. A waste of time. All my efforts trying to change for the better, trying to be less temperamental and insensitive, and apologizing for everything, and he doesn't even want to try? I love him a lot, but it takes two people for a relationship." 

"And you talked about this with him? I know you two argue a lot, but I mean you've had conversations before about how you want your relationship to go?" KyuJong asked.

"Not recently...we never got that far," JungMin looked down. "If we can't even get past this, then how are we supposed to think that far ahead?" 

"It's not really about thinking ahead, it's about what you want your relationship to be, even right now," KyuJong said softly. "Do you think it's possible that the fact that you two have had such problems communicating in the past is preventing you from making things work now? And I mean the both of you, not just you."

"...Maybe..." JungMin closed his eyes. "I thought we were getting over that, but...it doesn't look like anything's changed. What are you suggesting I do, Kyu? I was trying to make it work..." 

"Trying to make it work by not being your self?" KyuJong shook his head. "You can't try to placate someone like that, especially if you want to be in a relationship with them. There is a bit of compromise when in a relationship, but you still have to be true to yourself. I don't think he wants to give up on you yet Min, he was camped out in front of the door for at least an hour."

"'Being myself' as you put it wasn't working," JungMin said dryly, tears appearing again. "I felt just as unwelcome as I do now. I thought trying to stop the arguing, stop things that made him upset, would help...I thought that was what he wanted. Isn't that what people in relationships do, stop doing things that make the other person upset?" He wiped at his eyes, sniffing a little. "I didn't want to make him upset..." 

"Did you ask him what he wanted?" KyuJong asked, frowning a little at how well this was not going. The both of them were as stubborn as the other and it was like pulling teeth to get anywhere. "It just seems like Min... you're only telling him how you feel when you're upset, which makes him upset. Even if talking leads to arguing most of the time, at least you'll have talked and understand each other a little more so you won't continue to have that argument later on."

"It's not like he's telling me how he feels either..." JungMin shook his head. "And I've tried telling him how I feel outside of arguing before, it didn't go anywhere. There's only so far I can push without some help from him, Kyu." 

"Do you want me to bring him in here and sit him down and mediate between you two? Cause I just don't see either of you figuring how to talk like adults without getting upset," KyuJong said with a sigh. "Neither of you are good at communicating."

"You're not always going to be around to mediate," JungMin whispered, one hand over his eyes. "Let him think it's a waste of time. I...I can't talk to him right now." He had yet to stop crying. 

"No, I won't be, but it will be good to find some common ground, to get to a point where you can talk at least," KyuJong said. "No relationship is easy Min, especially between two very different people. If you love him, and he loves you, then you can find that common ground to talk through things. This is just a set back, don't give up so quickly, and I'll hunt him down and hit him over the head and tell him the same thing if you want me to."

"What if we can't find that common ground?" JungMin looked up at KyuJong, lips trembling slightly. "What if it just doesn't work, Kyu?" 

"Then... you just have to let it go," KyuJong said sadly, rubbing JungMin's back. "But, I don't think that's the case here, I think you're both just too stubborn and too prideful to admit when you're wrong."

"With the amount of times I've apologized for things, I'm not sure I have much pride left." JungMin turned his head away. "But I'm not going to apologize for answering his question truthfully. I'll talk with him, I was willing to talk to him, but I'm not the one who said it was a waste of time and walked out of the room." 

"I know you don't know much about human behavior JungMin, so I'm going to offer you a little insight," KyuJong said, patting JungMin's arm. "Sometimes when someone gets angry enough that they just want to walk away from the situation, they say something they think will incite a reaction. In this case it was HyungJoon saying he was going to walk away, when in reality he didn't want to walk away, but he wanted you to stop him, to talk and work whatever this was out."

"...So it's my fault again, isn't it." JungMin wiped at the tears that continuously fell. "There are many things about humans I don't understand, such as why you say one thing and mean another. That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt." 

"I didn't say it was your fault, JungMin," KyuJong shook his head. "Not everything is meant to hurt you specifically, and yes, humans do some very strange, silly, and downright stupid things. Especially when we're in love. The point is, you can't take it so much to heart like this and shut down whenever you have a fight."

"I can't help it...I love him, and it hurts," the redhead sniffed, head ducked down. "I'll talk to him...but only if he wants to talk without walking out again. I can't be the only one trying." 

"I'll make sure he doesn't walk away," KyuJong said, smiling sadly at JungMin's bowed head. "We humans are pretty simple creatures, some of us just need things beat into our heads a few times before we listen. You want me to go find him now for you?"

The shifter nodded after a moment. "...Thank you, Kyu..." 

"No thank you necessary, I'm just paying you back for your help with Hyun," KyuJong said, patting JungMin's shoulder before getting to his feet. "I'll be right back, so no wandering off."

"I won't," JungMin said quietly, closing his eyes as he tried to compose himself. 

Nodding, KyuJong gave JungMin another quick glance before leaving. Out of the room, he rubbed at his forehead, secretly glad that even though he and HyunJoong had had their own problems in the beginning, it wasn't nearly this bad.

 

******************55

 

KyuJong found HyungJoon sulking in the mess hall, a fretful Zhou Mi had been trying to help him feel better but the engineer was too immersed in his pout to care. After a short (and threatening) conversation, KyuJong managed to get HyungJoon out of the mess hall and back to his and JungMin's room. HyungJoon couldn't even look at JungMin when he was shoved into the room, crossing his arms like a child and sitting on the far end of the bed.

"Alright, so we're going to have a nice little chat," KyuJong said, looking between them. "Who wants to start?"

Watching HyungJoon, JungMin could already feel doubt that this was going to work. HyungJoon wasn't going to listen to anything he had to say. But he had to give it one last try...one last. If this didn't work, and their relationship fell apart, it wouldn't be because JungMin didn't try.

"What I said was the truth," he said quietly after a moment. "You asked me why I was upset, and I told you why. Why did you run away?" 

HyungJoon didn't look like he was going to respond, but KyuJong glared at him and he sighed. "Because all I was doing was pissing you off and it didn't seem like you wanted to be with me anymore anyway if I'm just that horrible to deal with all the time. I was just trying to make it easier on you."

JungMin stared at him. "How was—" He stopped to control his voice before he could start another yelling match, taking a deep breath. "...If I hadn't wanted to be with you, I wouldn't have been going through great lengths to make you happy," he said quietly. "I wouldn't have been trying not to fight, and not to tease you, and not to make you upset. That in no way made it easier on either of us." 

"I didn't tell you you had to do any of that stuff, and it's not making either of us happy because I feel like you're keeping things from me when you act like that," HyungJoon said, glancing at JungMin. "Does doing all that stuff make you happy?"

"You told me you didn't like being teased, and that you didn't like arguing, so why wouldn't it make you happy to stop?" JungMin twined his fingers together, looking down at his lap. "I'd be happy if I could make _you_ happy, but whether I try or not I can't seem to do that." 

HyungJoon sighed heavily, rubbing at his eyes. "No, it doesn't make me happy to be teased, or to argue, but you shouldn't have to act like a doormat either. What I really don't like is you keeping things like this from me. One day you're normal, and the next you're all weird and trying to be someone else. We shouldn't have to try _this hard_ to make this work."

"Well I am," JungMin replied, hands curling tightly in his lap. "And it feels like I'm the only one trying some days. You know why I didn't want to talk to you? Because I get reactions like this." 

"You get reactions like this because you keep things like this from me and then blow up at me when I'm not doing what you think I should be doing!" HyungJoon said, throwing his hands up in defeat. "I want this to work too, and yeah maybe I should do more, but I didn't know I was doing anything wrong until you snapped at me! Look, I'm happy with you, even with all the teasing and arguing and hitting me, I'm _happy_ and I don't need you changing who you are to do it."

"And what part of this told me you were happy? That you actually enjoyed being around me and I'm not just something to put up with?" JungMin hissed, tears prickling at his eyes. "Was it telling me I'm an ass? Was it telling me everything I was doing was wrong when I come clean with why I'm upset? Was it accusing me of thinking you were beneath me, arguing with everything I said? Please tell me where in all this I missed that you were happy, because I'm not a mind-reader!" 

"If I wasn't happy, why the hell would I have put up with any of that?" HyungJoon said, his tone softening. "Look Min, you are an ass to me have been since the beginning, and I still liked you anyway. I argue with everyone, just ask HyunJoong. I argue with you because I don't know what you want from _me_." He sighed and hung his head, running his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, but there's still a part of me that thinks you're going to run off and find someone new person any second now, that this is still just a game, and I'm still just a target to you. You can't blame me for thinking that."

"I told you that you weren't. You asked me, and I told you no, you weren't. Why do you bother asking if you're not going to listen to me anyways?" JungMin looked away, shoulders stiff and trying not to cry. "I wouldn't be an absolute wreck right now over a stupid game," he whispered, shutting his eyes tightly. 

KyuJong who had been watching in silence, sighed when it looked like HyungJoon was going to retort again, holding up his hand for the engineer to be quiet. "JungMin, I think what he's saying is, he wants more definition to your relationship... a commitment."

JungMin glanced at KyuJong with teary eyes. "Then why can't he _say_ it straight-out? If I'm being honest right now, why can't he?" He looked at HyungJoon, jaw clenched slightly. "I still don't know _why_ you want to be with me, if that is what you want. Every time I ask, I get more veiled reasons why you shouldn't be. How can I commit to a relationship I don't feel welcome in?" 

Taking a deep breath, HyungJoon looked straight into JungMin's eyes. "It's because despite of the things that bother me, I still love you, and want to be with you. I don't know why either, I can't give you answer there. I'm sorry if I don't make you feel welcome, I'll try to work on that, because I _do_ want to be in this."

Meeting HyungJoon's eyes, JungMin swallowed thickly, trying to see the truth of that in the younger man's eyes. "I want to be with you too...I wouldn't be trying so hard otherwise, I just wanted you to be happy. You keep sending me mixed signals on what you want too." He sniffled a little, looking down at his lap as tears slid down his cheeks. "I love you...but I can't be trying all by myself." 

Nodding, HyungJoon reached out hesitantly to take JungMin's hand, lacing their fingers together. "Okay, we can try together. I am happy with you JungMin, I'm sorry if I make it seem like I'm not. I just want us to be together."

JungMin looked down at their hands, lips quivering slightly. After a moment he curled his fingers back around HyungJoon's, holding on. He tried wiping at his face with the other hand, a useless attempt to get rid of the tears, too choked up to say anything. 

Wrapping his other arm around JungMin's shoulder, HyungJoon leaned his forehead against the other man's, whispering softly to him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for all this to happen."

Seeing as things were going well, KyuJong took that opportunity to slip quietly from the room.

Not noticing KyuJong leave, JungMin leaned a little against HyungJoon, eyes closed as he listened to the younger man's voice. "I really did fall in love with you," he spoke softly, voice cracking a little from the crying. "I thought I was going to die when you left." 

"I was just right outside, almost came back in a couple times," HyungJoon sniffled. "I fell in love with you too Min, I really do want us to be together."

"I do too," JungMin whispered, trying to calm down. He dropped his forehead to rest on HyungJoon's shoulder, breathing in and out slowly. "I'm sorry for upsetting you." 

"Yeah well, I'm sorry for upsetting you too, so we're even, " HyungJoon said, kissing the side of JungMin's head. "From here on out we try to understand each other more, and no yelling or anything."

"Right," JungMin nodded his head a little, keeping his eyes closed. He did scoot a little closer though. "I was...a little jealous of YoungSaeng and JongWoon. They hardly ever argue, about anything." 

"Well... that's kind of how JongWoon is, he gets along with just about everyone," HyungJoon said, running his hand up and down JungMin's back. "That and he said that that bond thing really helped him understand how YoungSaeng was feeling."

Nodding, JungMin tilted his head slightly to the side so he could look at HyungJoon. "Do you think...that would help us too?" he asked quietly. "If the idea isn't weird to you..." 

"The bond thing?" HyungJoon blinked, looking down at him. He thought about it for a second, not sure if he was supposed to be revolted by the idea, but he wasn't. "If you want to, I don't think it's weird."

"It's not if I want it, it's if you want it. You sure?" JungMin asked, slowly sitting up straight again. "I don't want to push you into anything you don't want..." Would a bond with HyungJoon help them understand each other better? Feeling echos of the other person's thoughts and emotions. Even if it wasn't the full bond, it could help. 

"Yeah... I mean it Min, I want this to work between us and if we could be half as mushy as JongWoon and YoungSaeng then I think it's worth it," HyungJoon nodded, turning towards him. "It doesn't hurt though, right?"

"It isn't supposed to, and YoungSaeng didn't say that it hurt JongWoon...just surprised them both." JungMin drew in a breath, looking at HyungJoon for a moment longer before shifting into his real form. 

HyungJoon's lips curled upwards slightly at seeing JungMin's real form, always amazed by how beautiful it was. "You should spend more time like that, so.. you know you can get comfortable in your real form."

"...Maybe," JungMin murmured, looking up at HyungJoon from under his bangs, a little embarrassed. "I can't eat like this though, and I'll probably be shot if I leave the ship looking like this." He renewed his loose grip on HyungJoon's hand. 

"Shot? Would you die?" HyungJoon asked, looking down at JungMin's hand. Despite wanting this, he was more than a little nervous. He'd only heard tidbits from JongWoon about what YoungSaeng had done to him, so it wasn't like he knew exactly what was going to happen.

"Any race will die if injured enough," JungMin replied, watching HyungJoon's face. "...I'm going to try starting the bond now. Last chance to back out." 

Taking a deep breath, HyungJoon's grip on JungMin's tightened. "I'm not going to back out, I'm ready, and I was only asking because I was curious about what would happen if you get shot in this form, like it seems like it would just go right through you or something, that's all," he babbled.

JungMin's lips quivered slightly. "It would, but we have blood too. Even if it isn't red like yours. Make a big enough hole that we can't heal from in time, and we will die. That answer your question?" 

"I guess so," HyungJoon nodded. "Sorry, I feel uncomfortable asking you stuff... I don't want to offend you or anything."

"I don't mind answering questions," JungMin shrugged. "And you'll never find out if you're going to offend me or not if you don't ask. At least I'll know you didn't mean to if you do." He looked down at their hands. "This might tickle a little...I don't know if you'll want to watch or not. It'll be like I'm making your hand and part of your arm like me." 

"I wanna watch, not like I'll get to see it again, right?" HyungJoon said, giving JungMin a smile. Even before the bonding he was feeling a bit better about how well they were communicating. "Go ahead, I'm ready."

Smiling a little in return, JungMin closed his eyes. It wasn't wrong to feel hopeful about this, right? He shifted his focus to their hands, fingers intertwined. Slowly his hand seemed to melt into HyungJoon's a little, the human's skin taking on a translucent quality that went halfway up his forearm. 

"Woah..." HyungJoon didn't know what he had been expecting, but he stared at where their hands melted into one another. He didn't even know what he was supposed to be feeling, though where his fingers _should_ be there was a slightly tingling that was traveling up his arm.

That wasn't even half as odd as the sudden rush of thoughts and feelings that seemed to come out of nowhere. Even though he had warning for it, it still nearly knocked him over with just how intense it was having someone elses feelings inside your head. "...Wow..."

Eyes opening, JungMin looked up at HyungJoon's face. "Is...Are you okay?" He'd known what to expect, though part of him had been skeptical it would work with a non-Shinbi...but here was the proof. HyungJoon's feelings echoed inside him, surprisingly clear. 

"Fine, just... overwhelming a little," HyungJoon nodded, smiling tensely at him. "How... how long do we have to do this for?" he asked, looking at their hands again, hesitantly poking at his arm. The fact the he could feel the poke surprised the hell out of him. "Okay, now that's weird... can you feel that too?"

"Yes, we're connected right now. And we can stop now." JungMin had enjoyed the tingling feeling, reluctantly pulling away. His hand reappeared from HyungJoon's skin, the human's arm and hand returning to normal. It was as YoungSaeng had said; once there was no more contact between them, HyungJoon's emotions and thoughts faded from his mind. 

HyungJoon looked down at his hand, wiggling his fingers and rubbing at his skin. "So weird... but... nice," he said, looking up at JungMin with a broad smile. "Is that kind of what Shinbi sex is like? Well, I'm sure it's different, but you said.... so.... yeah, kind of?"

"Kind of. Only our hands were together, so it was only a fraction of the feeling," JungMin said, dropping his hands into his lap, relieved that HyungJoon was all right with what had just happened. "According to YoungSaeng and JongWoon, the bond only works with a human when we're in contact." 

"So... touching you, like this," HyungJoon said, running his fingers lightly up JungMin's arm. He was right, the moment he touched JungMin's skin, the shifter's feelings washed over him again, though not nearly as intense as before. "That's amazing," he said softly, continuing to trace his fingers over JungMin's arm.

JungMin's eyelashes fluttered slightly at the renewed bond, feeling the contact much more keenly than he would in his human form. "You...think so?" 

"Yeah... don't you?" HyungJoon nodded, smiling up at him. "I like you like this," he said softly, bringing up his other hand to frame JungMin's cheek, his thumb brushing over the translucent skin before he leaned in to brush his lips over the shifters. 

There was no way to hide from the bond how much JungMin enjoyed hearing that, returning the kiss softly. Sensitive in this form, he practically melted with one arm around HyungJoon's waist loosely, managing not to _literally_ melt against him. Every instinct he had wanted to be completely with HyungJoon, but there was no way to know what would happen to a human. 

Pulling JungMin closer, HyungJoon didn't let up on the kiss, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of the shifter's lips against his, as well as the feelings from JungMin himself. It was indescribable how everything was melding together in HyungJoon's head into a giant ball of _want_. "Min..." he whispered hoarsely, breaking off from the kiss only enough to let his lips trail down to JungMin's jaw.

A surprised, whistling moan slipped from JungMin's lips as HyungJoon kissed along his jaw, head falling back a little. With the bond, the emotions thick in the air mounted in a snowball effect. Everything that JungMin felt from HyungJoon was amplified, growing stronger with every kiss and encouraging the human to continue. His hand ran through HyungJoon's hair and along his back, sliding under his shirt. 

Not used to the kind of sound JungMin made, HyungJoon blinked a bit, almost ready to pull back, but he could feel just how much JungMin was enjoying everything he was doing. That of course just spurred him on further, enjoying the soft feel of JungMin's skin under his lips and tongue. One arm secured around JungMin's waist, he twisted them around and pressed JungMin down against the mattress, his attack sliding down to JungMin's neck and chest.

Distracted by the change in position, JungMin opened his eyes to look at the younger man. When the attack resumed, JungMin swore softly in his own tongue, the sounds quiet keens in the back of his throat as he arched up a little against HyungJoon. His fingers twined into HyungJoon's hair, control on his instincts wavering as a few locks of hair turned translucent. 

HyungJoon felt a slight tingling on his scalp, but he ignored it, too focused on what he was doing. His hands slid up under JungMin's shirt, pushing up on it so he could drop down and press kisses to JungMin's belly.

Squirming at the kisses, JungMin arched up again, one hand leaving HyungJoon's hair to press between his shoulder blades. "J...Joon..." He barely had enough concentration to form the name, head falling back against the bed as the hand against HyungJoon's back melted into his shirt slowly, and the skin underneath. 

That got HyungJoon's attention, moaning softly around JungMin's translucent skin. He could feel _everything_ from JungMin, the bond intensifying almost three fold. "Min...?" he whispered, panting lightly. ".... Can we...? Can we do this?" he asked, confused.

Struggling to focus, JungMin realized what he was doing, silver eyes hazed over as he looked down at HyungJoon. "I...I don't know," he got out, accent thick. "It's never...been done before. Not with a human. I don't know what would happen." 

"... We can try," HyungJoon said, pressing another kiss to JungMin's skin before sliding back up to face to face. "I want to, I want to know what it's like," he whispered, kissing JungMin softly.

"You sure?" JungMin whispered against HyungJoon's lips, practically quivering as he stopped himself from going any further. 

"I'm sure," HyungJoon nodded, kissing him again, deeper. He was sure, enjoying how wonderful the feeling of being joined with JungMin was, never imagining how there could be something so intense.

Feeling the resolution from the young human, JungMin returned the kiss, lips parting as he slowly gave in. He eased HyungJoon down to lie completely on top of him, the shifter supporting his weight entirely. His legs wrapped lightly around HyungJoon's before melting slowly into them. JungMin went carefully in case something went wrong, moaning quietly against HyungJoon's mouth as the younger man's body became translucent bit by bit, from the feet up. 

It was different, but not enough for HyungJoon to tell him to stop, continuing the kiss even as their lips melded together. He wasn't sure how this was supposed to feel, but he couldn't even make a coherent thought, his senses completely overwhelmed.

Soon they were together completely, HyungJoon's skin the same as JungMin's. If one of them moved even in the slightest, the other felt it. JungMin's mental state wasn't much better than HyungJoon's, his thoughts a continuous whisper of the human's name. The hand inside HyungJoon's back moved in a slow, soothing circular pattern. 

Whatever HyungJoon had been expecting, that had been far different than anything he had ever experienced before. The constant push and pull on his senses, JungMin inside his head, whispering his name was more than he had been able to handle.

He wasn't sure how much later it was, but he lay curled up against JungMin's side, the shifter back in his human form. Tracing his finger over JungMin's chest, he looked up at him with a slightly dazed smile. "That was... amazing," he whispered softly.

Eyes half-opening, JungMin's lips curled upwards as well, breathing in and out slowly. "It was," he murmured in return, burying his nose against HyungJoon's hair and just soaking up the content feeling as much as he could. Doing that had drained him, and he was all too happy to lie here with HyungJoon as long as they could get away with. 

"I think it's time to go back to sleep," HyungJoon murmured, nuzzling down against him. "...When did Kyu leave?" he blinked, looking to the door. He had completely forgot the pilot had been in the room with them.

"...Well before we did any of this," JungMin chuckled, feeling around for the bedsheet with one hand and pulling it up over them. He'd have to thank the pilot later for his help...he and HyungJoon had finally seemed to reach that elusive common ground. 

"I should hope so," HyungJoon sighed, closing his eyes and wrapping his arm around JungMin's waist. "Have to be up in a couple hours, don't we," he said with a pout.

"Still got a couple hours, longer if no one wakes us up." JungMin pressed his lips lightly against HyungJoon's forehead, making himself comfortable as he started to drift. 

"Okay," HyungJoon sighed happily, kissing a bit on JungMin's chest before settling. For the first time in a long time, he felt completely at peace with his relationship with JungMin, and this time it seemed like that happiness would last. With that thought in mind, he drifted to sleep with a soft smile.

**************************************56

The detour around the fighting area cost them an extra day, but it was worth not being caught up in a fight. Once they were around the system in question, the _Proteus_ was put back on course to Erith.

As they drew closer to the Sylar capital, RyeoWook spent more time briefing them on what the situation was like, and how to act if they found themselves in trouble. Everyone was nervous, knowing one wrong move would kill them all.

Finally HyunJoong called them all up to the bridge, the ship just fifteen minutes away from Erith space. JongWoon held on to YoungSaeng's hand loosely in an attempt to steady his nerves, watching the speck of a planet in the window slowly grow larger. 

"We haven't even been so much as looked at twice," KyuJong said, watching the sensors. "They're just going to let us come right in."

"Looks like it," YoungSaeng nodded, his thumb brushing over the back of JongWoon's hand. "What's the plan for when we get to Erith? We're not just dropping RyeoWook off and leaving are we?"

"It would be best if you did," RyeoWook nodded, looking back at them. "If you're not in desperate need of fuel, you should get out of Sylar space as quickly as you can."

"We're not just going to dump you in the dragon's den and run," JungMin frowned, leaning against the wall. 

"We know that YunHo wants you here, but things are getting to a point where you won't be safe here, especially if they find out who you are," YoungSaeng said, shaking his head. "Captain, I think JungMin and I should scout around on Erith, we can grab some fuel while we're there, cause we'll need it."

"I'm going too," Zhou Mi spoke up, immediately shrinking when YoungSaeng glanced at him. "If... that's okay, I want to make sure RyeoWook will be safe." The gecko gave the tiny spy a small smile.

RyeoWook looked back at him with wide eyes. "It's more dangerous for you all to be there then it is for me," he said quietly, looking from the gecko to YoungSaeng and JungMin.

"All three of us can blend in without problems," JungMin waved the concern off. "We can at least do that much after coming all this way."

"It would make us feel better to know we're not dropping you into a trap," HyunJoong nodded, looking back at them. 

"That and we can maybe get some information to take back to YunHo," YoungSaeng said. "I'm sorry RyeoWook, I don't think you have a say in this." He did notice with an inward smile that Zhou Mi's tail was wrapped around one of RyeoWook's legs.

RyeoWook's shoulders slumped a little in defeat, the spy staying beside the gecko and murmuring something to him in the alien's language.

"How long before we reach the planet?" JungMin asked. He was fidgeting now, watching the planet with a frown. 

"Ten minutes or so," KyuJong said, glancing over his shoulder. "They're starting to notice us coming."

"Let them notice, we're not hiding," YoungSaeng said, standing behind KyuJong's chair. "Chances of any Federation ship recognizing this one?"

"Very slim," RyeoWook replied. "How many military vessels have you come into significant contact with?"

"Not many," JongWoon frowned, thinking. "Hardly any actually."

"There are very few new arrivals here, most of the military vessels have been out in Sylar space for a couple years," RyeoWook nodded "There wouldn't be any ships you know." 

"Plus with the upgrades and the change in call sign, we should be fine," KyuJong said, glancing at the communications display. "We're being hailed, guess we got the stations notice. Looks like someone called ahead and let the station know we were coming, we've got a slip reserved for us."

"Guess you're pretty important," YoungSaeng chuckled, glancing at RyeoWook.

RyeoWook smiled a little in return. "That's why YunHo sshi needs me out here."

Watching the consoles, HyunJoong sighed and leaned back in his chair. "HyungJoon, check our fuel levels. JongWoon, do the same for supplies, make sure we have enough for the trip back."

Nodding, JongWoon leaned over and kissed YoungSaeng lightly. "Be careful," he whispered, before leaving the bridge. 

YoungSaeng watched him go with HyungJoon following before turning back to look out the window again. The planet was growing larger and larger, several other ships zipping around in their path. He frowned a little at just how many Federation ships were around, and not just the usual fighters, but huge star class battle ships.

"Looks like they're preparing for war," KyuJong said quietly, slowing their approach.

"It's not too late for us to turn and run," YoungSaeng said, glancing at RyeoWook.

RyeoWook's lips were pressed thinly together, watching the ships around the planet. "Something's going on in there, I need to find out what," he said quietly, looking back at YoungSaeng. "If we're going to have any chance of surviving this, YunHo needs to know what they're planning."

"He's going to need more than information," HyunJoong murmured, watching the ships as well. Some of the ships were older models, but others looked even newer than their own ship's upgrades. New, and deadly. 

"I have a bad feeling about this," YoungSaeng said quietly as KyuJong docked with the station. It was a testament to how nervous they all were that KyuJong didn't even try any of his usual tricks. "I don't think it needs to be said Captain, but you and your crew don't leave the ship. I'll talk to Xander and SungMin about getting us fueled up and whatever supplies you need."

"Sounds like a plan," HyunJoong sighed, turning around in his chair to look at them. "Report in as often as you can while out there, or several people here will panic wondering if you're still alive." And he didn't mean just JongWoon and HyungJoon. "How long will you be?"

"Give us an hour," JungMin said, glancing to YoungSaeng. "Hour and a half tops."

"Thank you, all of you," RyeoWook said quietly. "I'm sorry you had to come this far in." 

"As much as we may not have wanted to, I think it's good for us to see what's going on for ourselves," YoungSaeng said, giving RyeoWook a tight smile. "Have you said your goodbyes to everyone then? You probably aren't going to get another chance."

"I have," RyeoWook nodded. He'd gone through the entire ship earlier that day, saying goodbye to everyone. He'd taken the longest in the Geckos' room, but no one was asking.

"Best of luck, RyeoWook," HyunJoong said.

"Safe travels," RyeoWook smiled back at him, bowing slightly before stepping out of the bridge to grab his belongings and meet the shifters at the airlock.

Watching him go, HyunJoong caught YoungSaeng's attention. "If it's too unstable out there, bring him back," he said quietly. "Information or no information." 

"Had planned on it," YoungSaeng nodded, following RyeoWook out into the corridor. "You better let KyuHyun know you're going with us Zhou Mi."

"He knows, we had discussed it," Zhou Mi said, hovering around RyeoWook, though he looked far more confident than usual. "We don't just let one of our own go without making sure they're safe."

YoungSaeng raised an eyebrow at that and glanced at JungMin, but chose to say nothing, just following the gecko and spy down the hall to the stairs.

JungMin followed along beside YoungSaeng, hands in his pockets and watching the other two. "How are we going to do this?" he murmured to YoungSaeng. "Staying in these forms? Maybe we should shift into geckos or something." Zhou Mi would have less trouble staying hidden. 

"We'll be too obvious looking human," YoungSaeng nodded in agreement. "I don't particularly enjoy the idea of looking like a gecko though, and I don't know their anatomy very well. We'll have to do something we already know pretty well." He sighed heavily and groaned. "Guess I'll be going scaly then."

"...Great," JungMin wrinkled his nose. "I'll do the same then. An hour, an hour and a half, then we come back. This place feels like a time bomb." 

"Agreed," YoungSaeng said quietly, pulling out his com device. "Xander, SungMin, can you two meet us at the airlock?"

"Yes sir," Xander replied, a tiny hint of amusement in his voice.

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, JungMin looked around to see if he could spot HyungJoon before they reached the cargo bay. He stepped towards the stairs, sliding down the railing and landing neatly. "What do you think we're going to see out there?" 

"Not sure, probably nothing good though," YoungSaeng said, taking the stairs slowly, his hand ghosting over the railing. When they reached the cargo bay, HyungJoon was waiting there nervously, fussing with a piece of paper in his hands. YoungSaeng eyed him for a moment, glancing at JungMin before moving towards the airlock where Zhou Mi and RyeoWook were waiting with Xander and SungMin.

Glancing after YoungSaeng, JungMin walked up to HyungJoon. "Hey...is that the fuel numbers?" he asked, stopping in front of the human. 

"Umm.. yeah, JongWoon said we're good on supplies until we get back to Valis space, but we need fuel," HyungJoon nodded, handing the paper over. "You'll be careful.. right?"

"I'm always careful," JungMin grinned a little, taking the paper from him. Unable to help himself, he snagged the human's collar and kissed him lightly. "See you in a bit," he stepped away. 

HyungJoon was a little flustered at the sudden kiss, but he smiled and nodded. "Yeah, see you."

Waiting at the airlock, YoungSaeng's lip quirked to the side in amusement, though he was a little disappointed JongWoon didn't come down as well. "Time to go Min."

"I'm coming." JungMin turned and made his way towards the airlock. "Let's get this over with. These two know what they're doing?"

"We're getting fuel and supplies, right?" SungMin piped up.

"Just fuel," JungMin passed Xander the paper. 

"Sounds easy enough, we'll be sure to keep our eyes and ears open too," Xander said, taking the paper and sliding it into his pocket. "Give us a shout if you need anything."

"I'm sure we'll be fine, but thank you," YoungSaeng nodded, watching the two aliens head out the airlock first before turning to JungMin. "We need to learn more alien forms, I _hate_ being scaly."

"You can always be a bird," JungMin rolled his eyes. "I'd just be a squirrel but more people pay attention to a squirrel in the middle of a city than a bird." 

"And you'd probably end up someone's meal," YoungSaeng shook his head. His eyes narrowed slightly, lips pursed. "Bird hm?" Skin rippling, two white wings unfolded from his back and white feathers pushed out along the back of his neck, his hair shifting from black to white. "How about this?"

"Nice," JungMin nodded, looking the new form up and down. "There's no way I'm going full-on scaly, but—"

There was a loud yelp as someone banged into metal before JongWoon appeared at the top of the catwalk. "Did they leave alread—oh, wow," he blinked at the wings coming from YoungSaeng's back. 

"Just pick a form so we can go," YoungSaeng said, stepping away from JungMin and moving back towards the stairs. Flapping his wings a couple of times, he lifted off the ground and flew up to where JongWoon was, having to grab hold of the railing and climb over since he couldn't make a landing. "Hey, we were just about to leave."

Coughing a little at the dust the flapping wings raised, JongWoon blinked at YoungSaeng suddenly beside him. "Oh, okay. Be careful," he frowned worriedly, stepping closer to YoungSaeng. Though now he was getting distracted by the wings, silently amazed. 

Chuckling softly at the distraction, YoungSaeng wrapped his arms around JongWoon's waist, the wings going around the man's shoulders. "I can take this form again later, when we're alone," he said softly.

Blushing a little, JongWoon nodded with a small smile. "Okay." Tucking his fingers lightly underneath YoungSaeng's chin, he kissed him softly. "Promise me you'll come back in one piece?" 

"Promise, you won't even know we're gone," YoungSaeng murmured, returning the kiss before stepping back. He gave JongWoon a warm smile the turned and climbed back over the railing. Dropping off the side he soared down to where the others were waiting.

"All ready then?" JungMin snorted. He'd finally settled on one of the anthro races, light blue scales framing his face. Tiny horns protruded from the top of his head, tail almost touching the ground. 

"Let's go," YoungSaeng nodded, giving JungMin a once over with a wry look. Zhou Mi had opened the airlock again and was stepping out with RyeoWook, YoungSaeng following behind.

JungMin followed them out, closing the airlock behind him. RyeoWook looked back at them with a tight smile before turning and heading down the hallway.

"After you," JungMin murmured to YoungSaeng, keeping an eye on their surroundings. The first thing he noticed as they stepped out into the hallways was the amount of humans around. 

"Well, now I feel even more out of place," YoungSaeng whispered to JungMin, his wings twitching slightly. It was still less than a third of the population on the station, but the way the humans were acting made it more than clear who was really in charge. "Don't get too far ahead of us RyeoWook," YoungSaeng said as quietly as he could to the two who were walking a bit in front of them.

RyeoWook didn't look back at them, but his footsteps slowed slightly so they could all stay together. JungMin's eyes narrowed as he watched the humans walking around. "Where is he going, anyways?" he murmured to YoungSaeng. They hadn't been told what was going to happen when they reached Erith. 

"He was supposed to meet some high ranked person or something," YoungSaeng replied. "You could have asked that before we were in the middle of the hornet's nest you know."

"Just thought about it," JungMin shrugged, still watching around them. They followed RyeoWook through the docking bay out into hallways. The technology around them was definitely Federation-based; even things like more advanced security than you would find in even Valis's headquarters. 

YoungSaeng kept his thoughts to himself about the state of the Valis base. YunHo would be facing a formidable opponent now, and the shifter wasn't sure if even an attempt at taking on Sylar would be worth it.

JungMin watched RyeoWook pause up ahead at a large set of doors. He glanced back at the two of them before pressing his hand to a sensor by the door, and it opened for him, the spy stepping into an office. Frowning, JungMin knew he and YoungSaeng wouldn't be able to follow RyeoWook inside without a good reason. 

Not liking that at all, YoungSaeng gave JungMin a quick look before he followed after RyeoWook, fishing a credit out of his pocket. "Excuse me, you dropped this!" he said, pushed the door open before it could close. His eyes quickly scanned the room, holding the credit out to RyeoWook to take.

RyeoWook looked back at him, not appearing particularly surprised or alarmed. The spy had a good poker face. "Thank you," he nodded, taking the credit from YoungSaeng. There were three others in the room, all high-ranking officials that were put out by the interruption. 

Nodding, YoungSaeng quickly ducked back out of the way of the door, his jaw set. He needed to talk to JungMin immediately, and it showed in his eyes as he grabbed Zhou Mi by the arm and hurried him down the hall, looking for an empty room.

Trying not to frown, JungMin followed YoungSaeng down the hallway. Spotting an empty conference room a few doors down, he went inside and looked around for any cameras before turning to YoungSaeng. "So?" he murmured. 

"So I recognized one of those people in there," YoungSaeng said, keeping his voice down. "And not because I'd seen them out here, but because we grew up together," he hissed, knowing JungMin understand.

Blinking owlishly at YoungSaeng, JungMin's eyes grew. "...You serious? Shit." He stepped closer to YoungSaeng, voice low and serious. "What's going on in there? Who was it?" 

"I'm not sure what was going on, I didn't get a good enough look," YoungSaeng said, his arms crossed. "But it was definitely YoungWoon, I would know that conceited smirk anywhere. He wasn't looking at me though, luckily."

"...so the Federation has their mitts on Sylar even more than we thought," JungMin murmured. He glanced at Zhou Mi, then back at YoungSaeng. "What are we doing then? It's too dangerous to leave RyeoWook in there, but do we have much of a choice?" 

"It's not like we can just go in and pull him out," YoungSaeng said. "We'll have to let him know though, even if I don't like the idea of leaving him here, pulling him out now would make people suspicious."

"Can't afford to make people suspicious now, especially YoungWoon," JungMin groaned, running one hand through his hair. The other shifters had been too young when they were taken by the Federation; unlike JungMin and YoungSaeng, the two oldest of those kidnapped, all the others knew was serving the Federation and being cruel, killing machines. "YunHo needs to know about this." 

"Agreed, and we need to let RyeoWook know," YoungSaeng nodded, glancing at Zhou Mi. "We should go, I don't think we're going to find out anything else of use."

"Will RyeoWook be okay?" Zhou Mi asked quietly. "I think I should stay here and look after him."

JungMin frowned, looking at the tall gecko. While it was true very few people were capable of recognizing Geckos in camouflage, that didn't mean Zhou Mi would be safe if he stayed. "...That wouldn't be a bad idea, but stay out of YoungWoon's sight. He should be able to recognize a Gecko just as we can. Is KyuHyun going to kill us when we get back on the ship?" 

"He knows it was a possibility," Zhou Mi said, straightening up. "We don't like the idea of RyeoWook being alone here, and if this is as bad as you say it is then I have to stay."

"It seems you have gotten very close to the human, strange for a gecko," YoungSaeng mused, looking at JungMin. "Come on, we need to get back."

Nodding, JungMin sighed and looked back at Zhou Mi. "Let RyeoWook know about YoungWoon, be careful." He turned and listened before stepping back out into the hallway, heading back towards the docking bay. 

"Good luck," YoungSaeng nodded, patting Zhou Mi's arm before stepping out after JungMin. When he looked back into the room, the gecko had disappeared. "Let's hope Xander and SungMin have finished refueling," he said to JungMin as they started back towards the docking ring. "I wonder if any of the others are in important positions like this."

"No idea, but if we stick around to find out we'll be the ones found," JungMin murmured in return. "The question is, was YoungWoon always there, or was whoever he's impersonating killed so YoungWoon could take his place?" 

"We'll have to discuss it more later, he can't have always been since I at least had a mission with him a year ago," YoungSaeng said, his eyes sweeping over the other people as they made their way towards the ship. "I would like to talk to RyeoWook about it, but not possible now."

Sighing inwardly, JungMin fell quiet as they walked. The situation on this planet was getting worse with each minute. Especially when, as they stepped into the docking bay, he saw one of the battleships being loaded up with what could only be weapons. Federation-grade weapons.

As they stepped back onto the _Proteus_ , JungMin looked up to see KyuHyun waiting on the catwalk. The second the gecko noticed Zhou Mi wasn't with them, his expression clouded and he gripped the railing tightly. 

"He was insistent, I'm sorry KyuHyun," YoungSaeng said, his expression sad as he went towards the stairs. "Are Xander and SungMin back yet?"

"Yes, they're finishing with the fuel now," KyuHyun replied curtly, turning and leaving the cargo hold. Whatever he and Zhou Mi had talked about, it was clear KyuHyun had not agreed to the idea of the other gecko staying on Erith.

JungMin closed the airlock behind him, shifting back into his usual human form. "Time to tell the others what we found." He was not looking forward to this. 

The wings folding back up in his back, YoungSaeng was pulling his com device out while he climbed the stairs. "We're back captain, we need to have a meeting immediately, where are you?"

 _"On the bridge,"_ HyunJoong replied. _"We'll meet you both in the mess hall."_

JungMin followed YoungSaeng up the stairs, frowning as he thought about what the older shifter had seen. 

It was odd being in the mess hall without Zhou Mi fussing in the kitchen, YoungSaeng taking a seat at the table and rubbing at his forehead while waiting for the others. "I'm not sure how much worse this can get Min."

"Don't say that, because things will find a way of getting worse," JungMin groaned, dropping into a seat. "Let's be honest, how much of a chance do you think Valis and the other factions have of going up against Sylar and the Federation now?" 

"I don't know, with everything we've seen... it doesn't look good," YoungSaeng said quietly. "I just want to get out of here, regroup, and let YunHo figure out how we're going to proceed from here. We're out of our league here."

"We are," JungMin nodded, resting his chin in one hand. He turned slightly as HyunJoong and KyuJong came into the room.

"JongWoon and HyungJoon will be here in a minute," the captain said, sitting down. "We heard from KyuHyun that Zhou Mi isn't coming back?" 

"No, he insisted on staying with RyeoWook," YoungSaeng said, straightening slightly. "Don't blame him, but that just means one more person in harms way."

"Zhou Mi will keep him safe," KyuJong said, sitting down next to HyunJoong. "If I've learned anything is that geckos are survivors right?"

"They adapt to their surroundings, other races consider them pests because they're practically impossible to get rid of," JungMin nodded, but was still frowning. "This might be a little beyond even Zhou Mi's survival skills though." JongWoon came into the room a moment later, sliding into the seat next to YoungSaeng. 

"That bad?" KyuJong asked quietly, catching the nod from YoungSaeng. The others showed up not long after, GyuRi riding on SungMin's back since her wing still wasn't up for holding her weight, her tiny arms around his neck.

HyungJoon sat down next to JungMin, frowning a little at the tenseness from the two shifters. He found JungMin's hand under the table, squeezing it gently.

"The situation is far worse than we had imagined, the Federation isn't just supplying Sylar with weapons and ships... they're in control of Sylar," YoungSaeng said, glancing at HyunJoong.

"In control?" HyunJoong's eyes narrowed as he leaned forward a little. "How so?"

"How would Sylar consent to that, they're a bunch of hotheads," SungMin piped up once he'd gotten both himself and GyuRi onto the chairs. "Even the amount of humans around the station was setting them all on edge."

"The Federation's got one of their own into a top position of command," JungMin said, keeping his grip on HyungJoon's hand under the table as he looked at HyunJoong. 

"Why would Sylar be listening to a human though?" KyuJong asked, confused.

"It's not a human," YoungSaeng shook his head, sighing heavily. "It's a Shinbi. One of the other assassins."

"...That can't be good," JongWoon's eyes widened. "B-but...can't you talk with this Shinbi, get him out like you both are?"

"Doesn't work that way, the other Shinbi have been brainwashed to the point they're little better than mutts following the Federation's orders," JungMin muttered, shaking his head. "Especially this particular Shinbi."

"So what would you suggest we do?" HyunJoong asked quietly. "RyeoWook needs to be pulled out." 

"We can't pull him out now without the Federation or Sylar getting suspicious," YoungSaeng shook his head. "What we need to do is get out, tell YunHo what's going on. With this information that should hopefully get the other factions to help."

"So... Sylar doesn't know they have a Shinbi imposter running their faction," HyungJoon clarified. "They probably wouldn't be pleased if they find out, right?"

"They'd probably be ready to blow up every Federation ship in the sector," JungMin snorted. "The problem is, we can't get close enough to expose him. No, the best thing to do right now is get the information out. If it gives YunHo something more to work with in forging that alliance, then all the better."

"Then that's what we'll do," HyunJoong nodded, drawing in a breath. "At top speed, we should be able to reach Valis space in five days."

"Can Valis even hope to stop them now, though?" SungMin asked quietly. "Some of those weapons they were equipped with, I haven't even seen them before. They looked like they could wipe out a whole planet." 

"We don't really have any choice," YoungSaeng said, looking around. "If Valis can convince the other factions to work together, then we have a chance... a slim chance, but it's what we've got."

"If this is that important, we may not be able to wait until we get to Valis space," KyuJong said, his lips pressed in a thin line. "Captain, we need to send YunHo a message, so he'll know to at least have some time to make a plan. Sylar looks ready to strike with the amount of firepower they've got out here."

"Right," HyunJoong nodded. "We're going to have to wait until we're at least clear of Erith...with this many new ships around, the message might be picked up by someone else. As soon as we're out of sensor and communication range, we'll send YunHo that message." 

"Okay, just get me that soon so I can send it. Is there anything else? We should get going," KyuJong nodded, getting to his feet. "I'll be on the bridge."

"I'm not sure if I can handle anymore surprises or twists with this situation," YoungSaeng said with a sigh, rubbing at his temple.

"That makes two of us, but we'll just keep dealing with it," JungMin sighed, looking at HyungJoon. "Is there any work to do?"

HyunJoong got up to follow KyuJong, brow furrowed in worry over this new development. JongWoon rubbed YoungSaeng's back slowly, not sure what to say and worried about RyeoWook and Zhou Mi. 

HyungJoon blinked a bit at JungMin, still trying to process what had been said. "Umm.. no, not really, I got the fuel cells aligned, so we'll be good for a while at least. You wanna just.. go somewhere and talk?"

"Yeah," JungMin nodded, closing his eyes for a moment before standing up. "Our room?" 

"Okay," HyungJoon stood up as well, glancing at YoungSaeng and JongWoon, the former leaning against the latter with his eyes closed. Taking JungMin's hand, HyungJoon gave him a small smile, leading him from the room. He could hear GyuRi whining to SungMin.

"Could you take me to my room?" the pixie asked, petting SungMin's fur.

SungMin gave a long-suffering sigh, ear twitching repeatedly when GyuRi found a sensitive spot. "Okay, okay, just no makeup in my fur."

Following after HyungJoon, JungMin pushed his hair back from his face with a sigh. "Well, things have gone from bad to worse." 

"Seems like it," HyungJoon said, glancing up at him from time to time as they walked. "How did you know the Sylar person was a Shinbi, one that you guys know even?"

"Shinbi can recognize each other no matter what form they're in, it's something we learn quickly or else we'd have no idea who is who." JungMin shrugged a little, frowning down at the ground. "They gave him the human name YoungWoon, he was one of the youngest to survive training. Saeng and I would recognize him a mile off." 

"Human name?" HyungJoon blinked. It had never occurred to him that JungMin would have a different name. "You mean that you have a name in your language? What is it?"

"I can't pronounce it in this form, we have too different a voice box from humans," JungMin's lips quirked a little. "You didn't think we'd have our own names?" Vague amusement registered through the bond through the cloud of concern over their situation. 

"Well I never really thought about it," HyungJoon grumbled, flushing a little. "So did they give you your human name, or did you get to choose it yourself?"

"The really young ones needed to have a name picked for them, but YoungSaeng and I chose ours ourselves," the redhead shrugged. "They were more cover names for when we were out on missions though. They gave us numbers instead." 

"Numbers? So did they refer to you by your number then, or by your name?" HyungJoon asked, opening up the door to their room.

"Number. Saeng and I used the names amongst ourselves, to remind us we're not animals." JungMin stepped into the room and kicked off his shoes, going to drop down on the edge of the bed with a sigh. 

"Well, I kind of like your name," HyungJoon said with a smile, shutting the door before stepping over to sit down on the bed next to JungMin. "It suits you."

JungMin's lips curled upwards a little at that. "I'd hope so." He looked at HyungJoon beside him. "Did you _want_ to hear my real name? It probably won't sound that different from the rest of our language to you." 

"Yeah, I do," HyungJoon nodded, turning a bit to face him. "I don't think I'll be able to repeat it, but I'd like to hear it."

"Okay then..." JungMin shifted into his real form, something he suddenly seemed to be doing a lot around HyungJoon. He pursed his lips lightly for a moment, debating, before whistling like wind blowing through a thin flute, the sound shifting into a chirp at the end. 

"That's really cool," HyungJoon grinned, scooting closer. "Does it mean anything? Or is it just a name?"

"It means the same thing my human name does, which is why I chose it," JungMin replied after a moment, clearing his throat a little to make speaking in the Federation's language easier. "Made the name feel more natural I guess," his lips quirked slightly. 

"Well I like it, both of your names," HyungJoon said, cupping JungMin's cheek with his hand. "Would it be a little rude of me to ask what your number was? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I'd understand."

The Shinbi hesitated at that, the thought of his number making him uneasy. It was a whole part of his life, over half of his life, that he wanted to forget, but hearing YoungWoon was involved with this mess was bringing all the unhappy memories back. "...Thirteen," he replied after a moment, leaning a little into HyungJoon's hand. "I was number thirteen." 

"You know that's an unlucky number to most people, or a lucky number, just depends," HyungJoon said, leaning in to rest his forehead against JungMin's.

"I know," JungMin frowned, unhappy at the reminder. The contact eased him though, as well as the bond. Though he got offended just as easily as before, it was harder to _stay_ put-out at HyungJoon, nor did he really want to. More often than not the bouts of irritation came and went within seconds. Instead he scooted a little closer, hand lightly on HyungJoon's leg. "Do you think it's unlucky?" 

HyungJoon sighed a little at the question, looking over JungMin's features. "I think.. that because it's such a part of who you are, it's lucky... if you want it to be. I can't make that kind of decision whether it is or it isn't."

JungMin frowned lightly as he tried to figure out what HyungJoon meant by that. He wouldn't consider any of what had happened to him as lucky...except for happening to be in that container that the _Proteus_ was shipping.

"Do you regret finding me and Saeng?" he asked, the thought bringing up something he'd wanted to ask before. 

HyungJoon shook his head pulling back to look into JungMin's eyes. "Not for a second. If it wasn't for you and Saeng... we'd still be living dumbly, not knowing what our government was doing. Finding you and Saeng was the best thing that ever happened to us. I'm sure the others would say the same."

Looking at him, JungMin's lips quirked slightly after a moment and he leaned in a little to kiss HyungJoon. He was relieved about that at least. "We're still sorry you all ended up involved in this," he said, wrapping one arm loosely around HyungJoon's waist. "I'll do everything in my power to make sure you get out of this, okay?" 

"It's not like you asked to be transported around in containers," HyungJoon replied, returning the kiss. "I still don't understand why they were shipping you in a civilian ship though, why not on a military transport?"

"Beats me, they don't tell us anything before they put us in deep sleep," JungMin murmured against HyungJoon's lips. "Probably didn't have any military transport available on time." He wrapped both arms securely around HyungJoon's waist, falling back down to lie on the bed. 

HyungJoon squeaked when he was pulled down, but didn't mind so much their change in position. "Guess we'll never know, but I'm glad it happened, and I'm glad JongWoon couldn't keep his curiosity in check and opened your container." He pressed a couple of kisses to JungMin's jaw.

"Disaster magnet," JungMin chuckled, eyes closing at the kisses. He burrowed closer to HyungJoon, slowly relaxing. "I guess all things considered, we are pretty lucky." 

"Yeah, and we'll stay lucky too," HyungJoon said tangling their legs together. "Right?"

"Right," the Shinbi whispered, ducking his head slightly to kiss HyungJoon softly. He wouldn't give this up for the world, and he wouldn't let anything happen to HyungJoon. "I promise I'll protect you," he murmured against HyungJoon's lips 

"Likewise," HyungJoon smiled, looking into JungMin's eyes. Taking one of JungMin's hands, he laced their fingers together and curled it up against his chest. "We protect each other... well, it'll probably be more on your end than mine, but I don't want anyone hurting you either."

Silver eyes opening to follow the movement of their hands, JungMin looked back up to meet HyungJoon's gaze, lips curling lightly. "All right, we'll protect each other." He wasn't used to anyone other than YoungSaeng saying that, it had been them against the world for so long. "You better be extra careful though, I can take a little more of a beating than you." 

"I know, I'll be very careful," HyungJoon reassured him. "I took out TaeGoon all by myself right? I can handle myself... I had a good teacher."

JungMin grinned at that. "You're a better student than I initially gave you credit for, once you got over the idea of hitting back." He kissed HyungJoon lightly before murmuring teasingly, "that's still not getting you out of more practice later, by the way." 

"Slave driver," HyungJoon grumbled, cutting off anymore conversation by pressing a firm kiss to JungMin's lips and pinning him against the mattress. Despite the assurances given, HyungJoon was still scared about what could happen and he didn't want to miss out on any of these kinds of opportunities, not knowing when he could have time alone with JungMin again.

The other man wasn't complaining, wrapping his arms around HyungJoon's waist and kissing him back insistently. With everything going on, he was all too happy to just spend this time with HyungJoon, not wondering if they'd be alive tomorrow. "This form, or human form?" he murmured against HyungJoon's mouth, hand sliding under the younger man's shirt. 

"This is fine," HyungJoon whispered. "Whatever you're more comfortable with." He really was comfortable with either. Both ways had their good points, and he knew just how lucky he was to experience it with JungMin.

Smiling, JungMin deepened the kiss as he started to ease HyungJoon's shirt off, trailing glass-like fingers along the warm skin. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he felt comfortable in his own skin, not hiding behind a different form. And it was thanks to HyungJoon. 

*************57

"Sending a message like this while we're moving is tricky, and there's no guarantee it even works," KyuJong said, though he was still working on typing the message into the system. "I know we're on a schedule here, but it could only take a minute to stop at a relay station to do this."

Having left Erith the day before, HyunJoong had insisted on no stops, not even to send the message. It would have been far too easy for them to get sidetracked or a Federation ship going by to ask questions. If it looked like they were in a hurry, and they were, then there was less of a chance of getting stopped. But KyuJong was still protesting have to send the message without being able to send it from a fixed point.

"We can't take the chance, Kyu," HyunJoong shook his head, watching the sensors while KyuJong was busy with the message. "Besides getting the message to YunHo, our priority is getting out of this place in one piece, and it's turning into more of a death trap by the minute."

He leaned back in his chair. "Besides, at a station there's a strong possibility they'll be watching communications. It might be harder to send the message this way, but it will be infinitely harder for anyone else to pick it up on it's way to YunHo." 

"I know, but doesn't mean I can't complain about it," KyuJong sighed, finishing off the message. HyunJoong had helped him configure their communications array to send the message and he had to manually guide it along it's path. The danger was the information could decay along the way, or get lost, so he had to watch it closely. "What do you think will happen once we get back?"

"I have no idea, and it's frustrating," HyunJoong sighed, rubbing his temple. He was on the tail end of another double shift, insisting on watching over the ship as they left Erith space. "But with this other shifter involved, we're probably not going to be left out of the fight. We'll be lucky if we're given time to rest." 

"Which means while we're running like this, you should get as much as you can," KyuJong sighed, glancing at him in worry. "You look like hell Hyun, I'm making you go to bed as soon as HyungJoon relieves me."

"I'm fine," HyunJoong chuckled, waving one hand at him lightly. "I've done worse hours than this." Just not with the same level of stress built up. It was his duty to make sure they all got out of here in one piece. Having to leave RyeoWook and Zhou Mi behind had not sat well with him, and seeing KyuHyun looking like his energy had been leeched away made the guilt worse. "How's that message coming along?" 

"Just about done," KyuJong said, finishing up the last leg of the journey. The display indicated it had arrives safely with little data decay, but he sent another copy just to be sure. "I know you've done worse hours, but you look awful Hyun. I wasn't giving you a choice in the matter, and if I have to tie you down and sit on you I will. You're no good to us half dead."

"Yes sir," HyunJoong sighed, tapping lightly at the side of the monitor he was watching. He knew he wouldn't be able to get much rest until they were out of Sylar space though. "So much for a boring job on a civilian cargo ship, huh?" 

"Yeah," KyuJong's lip quirked sadly, finishing up with the communications and turning towards HyunJoong. "It's worth it though, if we can make a difference in everyone's lives, and I wouldn't trade anyone on board for anything."

"No," HyunJoong agreed with him, straightening and looking back at KyuJong. "I just hope...it won't come at too high a price." 

Scooting his chair over to where HyunJoong was, KyuJong took the other's hand, holding it lightly in his hand. "Whatever happens, as long as we're together, we'll get through it. This ship has the finest and smartest crew in the galaxy, and the best captain to see us through it."

Lips quirking tiredly, HyunJoong squeezed KyuJong's hand lightly. "And the fastest, most daredevil pilot in or out of the Federation." 

KyuJong grinned at that, leaning forward in his chair to brush his lips over HyunJoong's. "They don't stand a chance against us," he said softly.

"Oh, ew," HyungJoon had popped his head into the bridge, wrinkling his nose at KyuJong and HyunJoong. "You two can go do that in your room or something."

Chuckling, HyunJoong pulled back slightly to look at HyungJoon. "We've both caught you in far worse situations than kissing, Joon." He stood up carefully, not letting go of KyuJong's hand. 

Flushing, HyungJoon opened the door wider and stepped in to let them go passed. "Not my fault, blame JungMin," he grumbled.

"He really likes the bridge for some reason," KyuJong mused, standing up beside HyunJoong. "Not that I blame him, I like the bridge too. Goodnight Joon."

HyunJoong chuckled, heading to the door and out of the hatch, towards the stairs. "Glad things are working out better for them now. Your help really made the difference." 

"They were both being idiots," KyuJong said, lacing his fingers with HyunJoong's and leaning slightly against him. "Seems a little familiar, doesn't it?"

"Just a little," HyunJoong's lips curled upwards as he ran his thumb over the back of KyuJong's hand. "This idiot at least smartened up eventually." 

"And it's a good thing he did too," KyuJong chuckled. "Or who knows, I'd be the one with JungMin and not HyungJoon."

"That's a mean thing to say," HyunJoong pursed his lips a little. "You enjoyed yourself that much with him?" 

KyuJong glanced at HyunJoong, biting on his lip. He'd meant that as a joke, but HyunJoong was probably still a little sensitive about it. "Even if I did, he wasn't who I wanted to be with."

That earned a small smile, HyunJoong leaning over to kiss the corner of KyuJong's mouth lightly. "I should consider myself lucky then." They headed down the stairs, turning towards their shared cabin. 

"You should, I'm quite the catch," KyuJong said, his lip trembling to keep from smiling.

"Let's not start getting a big head now," HyunJoong teased, pushing the door to their room open and stepping inside. 

Once the door was shut behind them, KyuJong wrapped his arms around HyunJoong's neck, walking backwards and pulling HyunJoong to the bed. "I was just agreeing with you, Captain. Don't captain's like it when their crew agree with them?"

"The majority of the time," HyunJoong chuckled, following KyuJong to the bed with his arms wrapped around the younger man's waist. "But I'm not your Captain in here, remember?" He kissed KyuJong as they reached the edge of the bed. 

KyuJong returned the kiss, kicking his boots off before lowering down to sit on the bed, bring HyunJoong with. Not letting up on the kiss, he scooted backwards, fingers curled into HyunJoong's shirt so the older man was right there with him. "You're right," he murmured when he broke off from the kiss, sliding his hands up under HyunJoong's shirt. "In here, you're just my boyfriend, who desperately needs his sleep."

Pouting a little at how KyuJong turned the situation around, HyunJoong placed soft kisses against KyuJong's jaw. "I don't want to sleep now though," he murmured beneath KyuJong's ear. "Once we wake up we're right back to work, and I never get to just spend time with you. Why would I waste time sleeping?" 

"Because you need it," KyuJong said, sighing softly and tilting his head to the side. His hands worked on getting HyunJoong's shirt pushed up, fingers tracing over his skin. "But this isn't a bad way to spend time either."

"It isn't," HyunJoong smiled, lips trailing down to the crook of the pilot's neck. His own hands helped KyuJong get his shirt off before turning his attention to the younger man's own shirt. "Have I told you I love you recently?" 

A silly smile broke out over KyuJong's face, wiggling out of his shirt first before looking up at HyunJoong, cupping his cheek with a hand. "No, but that's what makes it special every time you do say it," he said, drawing HyunJoong down for another kiss. "I love you too."

Returning the kiss, HyunJoong's hand trailed along KyuJong's chest, caressing the soft skin and tracing along his belly. As he deepened the kiss further, tongue meeting the younger man's, his fingers flicked at the button to the pilot's pants. 

KyuJong arched unconsciously into HyunJoong's hand that moved along his body, making a muffled sound of protest when the fingers played with the button. His own hand slid back into HyunJoong's hair, twining into the short locks while the other slid over his shoulder and down his back to press against in between his shoulder blades.

HyunJoong chuckled at the protest, teasing for a moment longer before undoing KyuJong's pants, easing them down his hips and long legs. He ran his hand up and down one leg, mouth dropping away from KyuJong's to latch on to a spot on his neck. 

Moaning softly, KyuJong dropped one hand down to work on getting HyunJoong's pants undone before using his feet to push them off of his hips and down his legs until he was thwarted by HyunJoong's knees.

The older man was able to kick them off the rest of the way as well, both their boxers joining the pile on the floor. HyunJoong hooked one of KyuJong's legs around his waist, leaving a mark on the pilot's neck before returning to his lips, kissing him softly. 

KyuJong smiled around the kiss, tightening his grip on HyunJoong's waist a little more. He looked up at HyunJoong for just a moment, his darkened eyes full of warmth and love. These few moments he got with the older man, he wouldn't trade for the whole galaxy, and one day, all of this would be behind them, and this feeling of absolute peace when he was in HyunJoong's embrace wouldn't be relegated to these brief moments anymore.

***************************

"...All done," JongWoon sighed, straightening as he closed the last drawer in the infirmary. He'd been going over all their supplies making sure the first-aid kits stored in various parts of the ship were well-stocked and nothing had expired. He zipped up the last kit, shouldering it. "This one goes back in the cargo hold, then I think I'm done." 

"Hopefully we won't have to use any of them," YoungSaeng said from where he was sitting on one of the infirmary beds. "Or at the least, not on me anymore. I wonder if I was subconsciously getting myself into situations and hurt so I could spend more time with you."

The negotiator turned pink as he turned to YoungSaeng. "Maybe? Though you know, there's better ways to accomplish that then ending up in casts." He held out his free hand to help YoungSaeng up. 

YoungSaeng took the offered hand and hopped off the bed. "Maybe, but it's not like it was something I was aware of. But.. whatever it was, it gave us more time together, and that's what's important."

"Yeah," JongWoon chuckled. "Still could have done without the near-death experiences though." He swung their joined hands back and forth slowly as they walked out of the infirmary towards the cargo hold. "Saw JungMin walking around in his real form earlier today, did you?" 

"I did... he's become more comfortable now than he has ever has been," YoungSaeng said, unable to help the smile. "Being with HyungJoon has done him a lot of good.. he was always so self conscious about himself, even before we were taken. I'm so proud of him right now."

"Joon's happier too, so things finally worked out," JongWoon smiled too. "...Have you ever thought about doing the same? I mean, staying in your real form more often." 

YoungSaeng frowned slightly thinking about that. While he had never had the issues with his true form as JungMin had, he still wasn't as comfortable with it as he could have been. "I... don't know. After we were taken, I did my duty as the oldest to look after everyone as best I could. That, to me, included telling the others about where we came from, and having pride in who we were. As we got older and sent on missions, I wasn't able to talk with the others about Shinbi culture as often, and they slowly forgot. I feel... that I failed them in that way, and have lived with that guilt since. I don't have pride in myself as a Shinbi anymore."

Frowning as he looked at YoungSaeng, JongWoon squeezed the younger man's hand lightly. "You did the best you could," he said quietly. "Sometimes no matter how hard you try, circumstances just go against you. But the important thing is that you tried, and you didn't forget all that culture yourself. I think that's the most inspiring thing, holding onto that culture for so long in a hostile environment. I don't know how Shinbi society is, but any person here would be so proud of you for that." 

"I did forget though, there are so many things I forgot or just never knew," YoungSaeng sighed sadly. "We were just kids, didn't even know how our government worked, or anything of any importance. I do know that Shinbi are a very proud people, and that leads to the arrogance and superiority towards others. But I'm not proud of being a Shinbi... not when they wouldn't accept me for who I am after living with humans for so long. It's a hard line JungMin and I walk...because we will never be truly accepted anywhere. Except here."

"Then you can't say you're not accepted anywhere," JongWoon smiled, stopping the younger man to look at him. "Because like you just said, you _are_ accepted here. And I think that what you do know, the stuff that you learn as a kid, that's the most important things you could ever know. Government isn't all that, I know first-hand." He chuckled quietly, taking both of YoungSaeng's hands. "You're the one who told me that you can't hide from who you are. And I don't see any reason to not be proud of it." 

YoungSaeng looked up from their hands to JongWoon's eyes. He had no idea what to say, and could feel the tears welling in the corners of his eyes. "Thank you," he whispered after a moment, squeezing his hands. "You have no idea what it means to hear that."

The human smiled gently, leaning forward to kiss the younger man. He had a better idea than YoungSaeng knew. "No matter what happens, _I'm_ proud of you," he whispered. "No matter what form you're in." 

A coy smile curled on YoungSaeng's lips, taking what JongWoon was saying to heart. He was very lucky to have to the older man, and grateful for him being so supportive. "You mean like... this?" he whispered, pulling back slightly and fluffing out the white wings. "You seemed very interested in this form earlier..."

JongWoon blinked owlishly at the wings that appeared out of nowhere, eyes wide as he watched them unfurl. "Wow..." he murmured. "W-well, it's not every day you see someone with wings...from a Federation civilian perspective. And I might be a little biased, but I think you're prettier than any other person I've seen with wings before." There was wonder in his eyes as he hesitantly reached out before pulling his hand back. "Uh, could I...or would it hurt you?" 

"It wouldn't hurt me, just avoid pulling out any feathers," YoungSaeng smiled, moving the wings closer to his hand. "And thank you, though I think someone like GyuRi is prettier than I am with wings... you know I've never tried a pixie form before, maybe I should add it to the list, I love forms that can fly."

"I've noticed," JongWoon chuckled. "The griffin was really cool." He hesitantly brushed his fingers along the wing, feeling the soft feathers. "I think you're prettier with wings than GyuRi. Don't tell her I said that." 

YoungSaeng chuckled, stepping closer and wrapping his arms around JongWoon's waist. "I won't say a word, but maybe it's better if you don't say things like that out in the halls where she could be listening."

"Point taken," JongWoon grinned a little sheepishly. He lightly caressed along the tip of the wing, his other hand resting on YoungSaeng's arm. "Does this tickle?" 

"No," YoungSaeng's eyes fluttered a little at the touch. "Doesn't tickle... we should move if you're going to continue to do that though, the Captain may not appreciate what I'd do to you out here in the hall."

"...Oh." JongWoon blinked repeatedly at that, turning pink. "Well...I really do need to get this to the cargo hold," he nudged the first aid kit at his feet, "but if you want we could just...relax after?" He wasn't taking any time with YoungSaeng for granted, not with the situation as it was now. 

"That sounds fine," YoungSaeng smiled softly, leaning in to brush his lips over JongWoon's softly. "Want me to lose the wings?"

"Probably, or I won't be able to help myself," JongWoon chuckled sheepishly, kissing him back. "They're beautiful." 

"Maybe later then," YoungSaeng nodded, the wings slowly shrinking and folding back up into his back. "Let's get this delivered, hm?" he reached down to pick up the first aid kit, taking JongWoon's hand with his free one and starting towards the cargo bay again.

Walking along beside him, JongWoon swung their joined hands back and forth slowly as they turned the corner, arriving at the cargo bay hatch. Stepping in, he turned towards where the first aid station was and blinked when he spotted movement out of the corner of his eyes. Turning around though, he saw nothing, just the containers. 

Leaning against the doorframe, YoungSaeng followed JongWoon's line of sight when he turned. Sighing, he pushed away from the wall and started down the stairs, brushing his hand over JongWoon's back as he went by. "Are you okay KyuHyun? We haven't seen you since yesterday."

Blinking owlishly, JongWoon leaned against the railing to see where YoungSaeng was going.

"Just peachy," grumbled KyuHyun's voice, and now that he was looking closer, JongWoon could just barely spot the outline of a person against the containers. 

YoungSaeng moved over to the containers, hopping up on one and looking to his left. "You didn't want Mi to go... had you talked about him staying with RyeoWook?"

"We talked about it between us, RyeoWook didn't know," KyuHyun replied, staying camouflaged against the container. There was a slightly strained note to his voice, half-covered with his usual irritable tone. "I told him...dammit, I told him it was too dangerous to stay. That it shouldn't even be a last resort. He didn't listen." 

"He seemed particularly insistent on staying after we found out about the other Shinbi," YoungSaeng said, his eyes sad. "Geckos don't... ever take in a non gecko into their grouping so I'm curious, he means that much to Mi doesn't he."

"Mi's always been the oddball," KyuHyun sighed. "RyeoWook treats us much better than anyone else, so it was easy to get attached." He was silent for a moment. "I don't know what I'm doing here. I should be back there, with them." 

"You're here because we do need you KyuHyun, and though we don't like Mi or RyeoWook being on that station, they're safer together than if we just left RyeoWook alone," YoungSaeng said softly. "We're going to go back for them, promise."

"When?" KyuHyun whispered. JongWoon placed the kit away and slowly sat down on the steps, watching them. Remembering everything YoungSaeng had told him about geckos, it was rare for even two of them to be alone, much less just one gecko by himself. 

"Soon as we can," YoungSaeng said. "When we get back to Valis space, I'm sure YunHo will have some kind of plan and then we'll come back and get them before things get too bad. We wouldn't have let them stay if we didn't think we would be able to get them out again."

"I'm holding you to that," the gecko said quietly. "No one cares about a missing gecko." 

"I do, and the Captain does, and even JungMin does," YoungSaeng said, reaching out to place his hand on KyuHyun's shoulder. "Are you going to be okay? Would you be more comfortable if you stayed in our room with us?"

"I'll be fine," KyuHyun murmured, the irritation dropped from his voice with only despair remaining. "Thanks for the offer though." 

"Just let us know if you need anything, I'm sure anyone on board would be happy to help," YoungSaeng said, giving KyuHyun's shoulder a squeeze before sliding off the container and walking towards JongWoon.

JongWoon watched him come closer, standing up when YoungSaeng reached the bottom of the stairs. He waited until they were outside of the cargo hold to talk. "You said geckos are always in large groups, right? One being alone is that rare?" 

"Very, and we have to keep an eye on him," YoungSaeng nodded, glancing back at the hatch as they walked. "A gecko by himself can get very depressed."

Nodding slowly, JongWoon felt his heart hurt for KyuHyun. "We'll definitely go back and get them both though," he pursed his lips, determined. 

"Of course," YoungSaeng nodded, looking at him with a small smile. "Did you ever imagine your friend would get himself involved with two people in a group relationship, let alone aliens?" he asked in slight amusement.

"No, it never would have occurred to me ever," JongWoon laughed a little sheepishly. "Wookie's...a lot happier out here than he was in the Federation though, the dangers of being a spy aside. I'm worried he might be hurt by this, but he's happy with the geckos." 

"Mi will keep him safe as best he can," YoungSaeng said, reaching their room and opening the door. "I actually feel a little better that RyeoWook has someone to watch out for him, though I do feel bad for KyuHyun being stuck so far from them. If I would have known that one of the Fed assassins was there... I would have pulled him out before they were aware he'd arrived."

"You didn't know though, none of us did, so we'll just work with what we have," JongWoon sighed, stepping into their room. He closed the door and kicked off his shoes, pulling YoungSaeng towards the bed. "Now though, relax?" 

"Sounds good," YoungSaeng nodded, collapsing onto the bed, pulling JongWoon down with and curling around him. "One day, when this is all behind us, I think I'll sleep for a week," he said with a sigh, burying his nose in JongWoon's hair.

"That doesn't sound that bad of an idea," JongWoon smiled tiredly. He rested his head against YoungSaeng's chest, closing his eyes and listening to his heartbeat. "Find a nice planet somewhere to just rest on. There many water planets out here?" He missed his home planet, everything leagues under the water's surface. 

"A couple there's one in Arcadan space that's gorgeous," YoungSaeng said, running his hands up and down JongWoon's back. "The sky is a gorgeous shade of purple, so the whole planet is a giant purple ball of water. Maybe we can go there one day and see it."

"That would be fun," JongWoon chuckled, wrapping his arm around YoungSaeng's waist. "Purple sky...haven't seen that before. There many marine life there? Otters?" he grinned, peeking up at the younger man. 

YoungSaeng laughed, rolling his eyes a little. "No, there's no otters. I'm not sure what kind of life is on the planet, it's mostly just a tourist spot, though I don't know if many people are doing things like that these days."

"It's a pity, there's so many cool planets out there, it would be neat to visit them all," JongWoon smiled. "Don't you think?" 

"See them, and not have to focus on a mission, yes, that would be nice," YoungSaeng nodded, returning the smile. "I've seen a lot of what this corner of the galaxy has to offer, but I'd love to see it again with you."

"Something to look forward to then," the older man squirmed a little happily, burying his face against YoungSaeng's shirt again with a content sigh. 

"I know I will," YoungSaeng said softly, kissing the top of his head. "You comfortable like this?"

"Yeah, you?" JongWoon ran his hand along YoungSaeng's back slowly. 

"Mhm," YoungSaeng hummed sleepily, his eyes closing of their own will. It had been a long few days, and it didn't seem like it was going to get any easier for the next while. He would take what rest he could get.

Grinning happily, JongWoon scooted closer. "Love you, Saeng," he whispered against the younger man's collar. 

"Love you too," YoungSaeng replied, relaxed and content with the warmth of the older man against him.

Chuckling, JongWoon relaxed as well, just listening to YoungSaeng's heart. Their relationship had come a long way. While they did sleep together occasionally, it wasn't just about sex, and moments like this demonstrated that. JongWoon was just as happy lying curled up against YoungSaeng with clothes as he was without, and he knew through the bond that YoungSaeng was just as content.

Who (or what) they were didn't matter as long as they were with each other. 

*****************58

KyuJong eyed the communications display, his lips quirking back and forth as he read over the message. It was another day before they were to reach the border between Valis and Sylar space, YunHo had sent a message detailing what had been happening.

"When we get to the border, there's going to be a fleet waiting for us, YunHo included," KyuJong said, glancing at HyunJoong. "Merin and at least three other factions are combining forces for this. I think our information worked."

"About time," HyunJoong sighed, relieved. If they had been able to give YunHo the leverage he needed, then this hadn't just been for nothing.

"Better be a big fleet, or they're pancake on the Federation battleships," KyuHyun muttered, tapping at navigation. 

"Maybe catching Sylar and the Fed fleet off guard will give a small advantage," YoungSaeng said, lounging in one of the chairs. "Cause they'll need it."

"It's better than nothing, hopefully other factions will join in when they see what's going on," KyuJong said, typing up a reply message. "Letting YunHo know we'll arrive within the day."

"Looks like we're going to be launched right back into the thick of it," HyunJoong murmured, looking at the message while KyuJong replied. "Hopefully they'll have additional supplies, we're running low, right JongWoon?"

"Mhm," JongWoon nodded, curled up beside YoungSaeng. He was practically glued to the older man all the time now.

JungMin poked his head into the room. "Party on the bridge? What's everyone doing up here?" 

"We were getting bored waiting below decks," YoungSaeng said, his arm around JongWoon's shoulder. "Plus we wanted to know if there was any new information, and it seems there is. Where's HyungJoon?"

"Engineering, fixing up a couple of things. He'll probably be here soon." JungMin slipped into the room, leaning against the table. "What's the news?"

"Valis reached an agreement with Merin and at least three other factions, they have a fleet assembled and ready to meet us at the border," HyunJoong replied.

JungMin whistled. "I'm impressed, usually they're too fond of ripping each other's heads off to agree on anything." 

"Times change I guess," YoungSaeng shrugged. "At least we know they're taking it seriously. I wonder if we'll be able to get a message to RyeoWook once we meet up with YunHo."

"Possible, I'm sure he knows how.... uh.." KyuJong trailed off, blinking at the sensors. "We've got a ship on our tail," he said, eyes narrowing. "....It's Federation."

HyunJoong's attention snapped to the sensors. "Federation?" So much for getting out of here without a fuss. "Can we lose them?"

"Too close to asteroid clumps to go to warp," KyuHyun replied, glancing over at them. "You sure it's Federation and not just someone in a Federation ship like everyone else out here?" 

"I'm positive it's Federation," KyuJong nodded, increasing their speed as much as he could. "We could easily lose them in the asteroid field near the border, just need to get some distance-" Not able to finish the sentence, the whole ship rocked when there was an explosion off their nose.

"They're gaining on us," YoungSaeng hissed, strapping in and making sure JongWoon was strapped in as well.

"We're being hailed," KyuJong gritted his teeth and glanced at HyunJoong. "What do we do? We can't outrun them."

HyunJoong's eyes narrowed, looking at the blinking sensor. "Let's answer their call then," he said, thinking about how they could get out of this. He glanced around to make sure the others weren't in range of the camera, turning to KyuJong and nodding. 

Sighing heavily, KyuJong answered the hail, glancing up at the screen and his heart nearly stopping in his chest. 

"Hello there, _Captain_ ," JaeJoong said snidely. "What are you doing way out here?"

HyunJoong couldn't speak for a moment, throat dry as he looked up at the screen. Out of all people to run into out here...what was _JaeJoong_ doing out in deep space?

Moreover, they were in serious trouble now. There was no way JaeJoong wouldn't know they had arrest warrants in their names.

"I could say the same for you," HyunJoong replied, not letting his face betray his shock and alarm even as his hands gripped the armrests a little tighter. "A little far from home, aren't you?" 

"For the moment," JaeJoong shrugged. "But it's funny, _I_ have a reason to be out here... but you do not. In fact, according to Federation command, you and your crew are wanted in the theft of Federation property. Property that I was supposed to pick up from a base about five months ago. Care to explain?"

JungMin glanced at YoungSaeng, jaw clenched slightly. JongWoon was holding onto his boyfriend's hand tightly, eyes trained on the screen.

"We are under no obligation to explain anything to you, JaeJoong, whether the accusations are true or not," HyunJoong replied, tone calmer than he felt. 

"Oh.... is that what you think?" JaeJoong chuckled, shaking his head. "Oh, Hyun, you should know better than that. This _is_ a Federation ship after all, and because you are all citizens of the Federation, we have the right to detain your ship. I could be persuaded though to show leniency, if the property you stole from the Federation was returned."

YoungSaeng closed his eyes, taking in a shallow breath. Nothing about this situation would be good for them, not if JaeJoong warned Sylar about the two shifters on board and their recent stop at Erith.

JaeJoong was enjoying this, HyunJoong could easily see. It was hard to believe he'd once loved this man. But he would be damned if he would give YoungSaeng and JungMin up that easily. JaeJoong couldn't even know what that 'property' was...right?

"And if that property is no longer in my possession?" HyunJoong asked, expression not wavering. "Five months is a long time." 

"Well then I'll just have to let our good friend _Tablo_ know you don't have it anymore," JaeJoong said, his smile widening. "See he was really hoping you would still have it, cause otherwise he has no purpose being alive anymore. He was pretty sure you'd have the two aliens on board still, and I agreed with him. You're quite the bleeding heart, Hyun."

HyunJoong's eyes widened in shock. Tablo? He remembered all those months ago, when YoungSaeng and JungMin drew him aside to warn him that Tablo had recognized them while upgrading the ship...that Tablo must be working with the military. But nothing had come of it; they'd left without interference, Tablo even agreeing to do several additional upgrades free of charge.

"JaeJoong, what have you done," he said slowly, working to control his voice. 

"What I was commanded to do, and that was to find you," JaeJoong said simply. "Here's the deal, _Captain_ , Tablo's life for the two aliens. You hand them over, and I'll see that Tablo is given to you, alive, and you and your ship will be escorted back to Federation space. No marks on your record, no imprisonment, you can go back to your normal lives. You have ten minutes to decide, or we're taking them by force."

The screen cut out, the call ending and KyuJong turned off the communications display. He didn't know what to say, staring down at the console and swallowing thickly.

HyunJoong was silent, hands clenching the edges of his armrests. The Federation military would even go so far as to kill Tablo if their demands were not met? Somehow, he didn't doubt that they would...or that JaeJoong would. The man was ruthless. JaeJoong knew that he had them now; HyunJoong wouldn't attempt to run with Tablo's life on the line. Daniel Armand Lee had been a close friend for years, almost like an older brother, and had given HyunJoong his first ship, the _Proteus_.

JungMin clenched and unclenched his jaw, looking at YoungSaeng. What were they supposed to do?

"What are we going to do?" JongWoon whispered, voicing the thought they all had. 

YoungSaeng opened his eyes and met JungMin's look, his jaw set and lips thin. "You and I should talk," he said, giving JongWoon's hand a squeeze before he got to his feet. "There isn't much time Captain... you trust us and our decisions, right?"

HyunJoong looked back at them, brow furrowed. "I do," he nodded, but there was an anxious knot in his stomach.

JungMin drew in a breath and pushed away from the table, shoulders stiff. He already knew where this was going, and knew YoungSaeng was thinking the same as him. Glancing at the others on the bridge, he turned and walked out, waiting for YoungSaeng. JongWoon looked up at YoungSaeng with wide, scared eyes. 

Giving JongWoon a tight smile, YoungSaeng stepped out into the hall and closed the hatch behind him. He looked up at JungMin, eyes hard. "We're putting them in danger, you know we have to do this," he said quietly, already knowing what JungMin was going to say.

"I know," JungMin replied quietly, drawing in a shaky breath. "You know that if we go in that ship, chances are good we'll be dead within the week." If they weren't dead, it wouldn't be a mercy sparing. "We'll never see them again." 

"I know, but if we run, they'll die," YoungSaeng said, closing his eyes. "At least this way, they'll have a chance, even if it is back in Federation space."

Looking down at the ground, JungMin nodded. The past five months had been the happiest moments of his life, and it was all over now. "Guess we better say goodbye," he said quietly, looking back up at YoungSaeng. 

"We can't tell them we're expecting to die, you know exactly what they'll do," YoungSaeng said, shaking his head. "We tell them we have a plan, that we'll get out of it. They can't know, Min."

"...Right," JungMin murmured, one hand over his eyes. "...Can I at least see HyungJoon before we go?" 

"Yeah," YoungSaeng nodded, fighting back any tears. Taking a moment to compose himself, he opened up the hatch to go back in, giving JongWoon another tight smile to reassure him. "Captain.. hail the other ship again... tell him we'll accept the terms."

KyuJong turned around in his chair, looking at them both with wide eyes. "That's _suicide_ , Captain... we can't just hand them over."

JongWoon's eyes widened as he echoed KyuJong's protest, standing up.

"Kyu's right, we can't do that," HyunJoong shook his head, eyes tight with worry as he looked at them both. "We'll figure out something else."

JungMin stepped out from behind YoungSaeng, managing to unclench his hands. "It's fine, we know what we're doing. We can get out of there, and regroup after." 

"There's no way we can get away from the Fed ship, and they'll just follow us all the way to the border if they don't blow us all up," YoungSaeng said, managing to keep calm. "We'll be fine, you'll have Daniel, and you'll be safe. We don't have time to argue about this. Captain, I asked you to trust us in whatever decisions we make, I'm asking you to trust us now."

HyunJoong looked between them both, lips pressed thinly, and JungMin got the distinct feeling he could see right through them and knew they didn't have any sort of plan.

But none of them had a choice. It was obvious that if they didn't follow JaeJoong's demands, Tablo and all of them would be killed.

"...Okay," HyunJoong said after a long moment.

"No!" JongWoon exclaimed, eyes wide and hands shaking. "There has to be...there has to be something else we can do!" 

The tone of JongWoon's voice nearly broke YoungSaeng there, but he had to stay calm. "JongWoon.. please... don't you trust me?" he asked, turning to the older man. "We'll be fine."

JongWoon looked at him, the corners of his eyes burning. "I trust you...but I don't trust them," he whispered, shaking his head and taking the younger man's hands. "Please, we'll think of something else, don't get on that ship." 

"We don't have time," YoungSaeng whispered, shaking his head. "I wish we did, but we don't. Please JongWoon," his voice dropped even lower so only the older man could hear. "You have to trust me."

"Captain, they're hailing," KyuJong said quietly.

HyunJoong drew in a breath, looking at the flashing light before glancing back at JongWoon and YoungSaeng. JongWoon stared at YoungSaeng, eyes glassy. Finally he looked down, sniffling a little as he nodded stiffly.

"Accept the call," HyunJoong said quietly to KyuJong, sitting back down in his chair. JungMin looked at them all, jaw clenching and unclenching, before leaving the bridge. 

YoungSaeng sat down beside JongWoon, his arm tight around the older man's waist and holding him close. He watched KyuJong accept the call on the console, the pilot looking utterly depressed.

"Well _Captain_?" JaeJoong's smirking face was on the screen again. "I trust you'll make the right decision... or the wrong one, whichever, it doesn't matter so much to me at this point but my superior officer is really riding me hard about this."

HyunJoong kept his expression straight, not willing to give JaeJoong anymore satisfaction than he already had. "We'll accept your terms," he said shortly. And JaeJoong better hope that they never meet again. 

"Very good, we'll dock momentarily," JaeJoong said in amusement. "I should be surprised that you're so willing to give these creatures up, but then you were always kind of a pushover. See you in a bit, Hyun."

KyuJong didn't even wait until the call ended, cutting communications just to get JaeJoong's snide look off of the screen. "Docking's only going to take a few minutes," he said quietly, turning around to the console.

"Should get down to the cargo bay then," YoungSaeng nodded, slowly standing up again.

JongWoon stood up with him, holding on to the shifters arms as they left the bridge. "One minute, please?" he whispered, not letting him go as the others started to file towards the stairs. HyunJoong squeezed KyuJong's shoulder lightly, swallowing thickly as he looked at YoungSaeng and JongWoon before leaving them. 

YoungSaeng didn't give JongWoon a chance to say anything, wrapping both arms tight around him and holding him close. "I'm sorry JongWoon, I wish there was another way," he whispered. "I love you, don't you ever forget that."

Tears slipped down JongWoon's cheeks as he clung to YoungSaeng just as tightly, not willing to ever let him go. "D-don't talk like you're not coming back," he whispered, sniffling. "You _have_ to come back Saeng, promise me you will." 

"I promise," YoungSaeng said, hating himself for making a promise he knew he was going to break. "We'll be fine, do you think after all this time that JungMin and I would just roll over and let them do what they wanted to with us? No, not anymore," he said, wishing he could believe it himself.

That earned a watery smile, JongWoon burying his nose in YoungSaeng's hair. "I love you too, Saeng," he whispered, voice cracking. "So, so much." 

"I love you too JongWoon," YoungSaeng replied, kissing the side of his head before pulling back to kiss his cheek and nose and eyes before kissing him on the lips. There was a grating noise and the ship trembled slightly, the Federation ship docking with the _Proteus_. "I think it's time to go, be strong JongWoon... I _will_ be back."

Nodding tearfully, JongWoon pulled him close and kissed him deeply before slowly pulling back. "I'll be waiting for you," he whispered, twining their fingers together. 

YoungSaeng smiled softly, squeezing JongWoon's hand and leading him down the stairs. He saw JungMin and HyungJoon in one of the cargo bay corridors, the engineer looking confused and heartbroken, clinging to JungMin tightly.

JungMin barely glanced up as YoungSaeng and JongWoon came down the stairs, holding on to HyungJoon just as tightly and running one hand along his back. "It'll be fine, okay?" he whispered. "I told you, we'll regroup with you guys later." It was horrible concealing from the bond his own fear, and the guilt at lying, but he did it. 

"I.. I don't understand," HyungJoon shook his head, his fingers curling into JungMin's shirt. "Why are we even listening to this asshole? Why did you agree to this deal? I _hate_ JaeJoong," he rambled, not wanting to let go.

"We're listening because he has Tablo on board and from the sounds of it we'll be lucky to get him back alive, and if we tried to run they'd probably blow us up on the spot." JungMin pressed his lips against HyungJoon's forehead. "I hate him too, and I'll get a few slashes in for you before getting out of there, okay?" 

"You better," HyungJoon sniffled, looking up at him with teary eyes. "And if you get yourself hurt, or killed, then I'm going to be so mad at you, so you be careful."

JungMin's lips quivered a little. "Got it. I'll avoid your wrath then." He tucked his fingers under HyungJoon's chin, kissing him firmly. HyungJoon didn't know it..but this would be their last kiss. 

HyungJoon returned the kiss, holding JungMin as close as possible. There was something strained in the bond, but HyungJoon brushed it off as just nerves. JungMin would be fine, he had to keep telling himself that.

"Min," YoungSaeng called over to them, the airlock was opening, he could hear the door on the other side sliding open.

Drawing in a shaky breath as they broke the kiss, JungMin tweaked HyungJoon's nose. "Practice while I'm gone or I'm gonna come back and kick your ass," he told the younger man, kissing him again before stepping back. _Love you_ , he sent through the bond before dropping his hand.

JongWoon hugged YoungSaeng tightly before breaking away as JungMin walked over to them, HyunJoong standing by the door ready to open it. "Ready?" he asked, eyes pained as he looked between them. 

YoungSaeng nodded, standing next to JungMin and looking up at him as the airlock door opened. He could hear HyungJoon sniffling a little behind him.

"Well this brings back some memories," JaeJoong stepped into the cargo bay, looking around with a smile. "Same piece of flying trash that I remember. Too bad that all those upgrades you did weren't to make this at least look better, Hyun."

"Someone as shallow as you could never see it's real value," HyunJoong's eyes narrowed. "Where is he?" He wanted JaeJoong off this ship, and had no obligation to be nice. 

JaeJoong snorted, shaking his head a little at HyunJoong. "Still so bitter after all this time? It was just business Hyun, you should understand."

"This is a limited time offer," YoungSaeng said, eyes narrowing when JaeJoong looked at him. "No Tablo, and we'll shove you out into space." YoungSaeng saw stars, his head snapping to the side at the strike to his cheek. It took all his effort not to lash out at JaeJoong, putting a restraining hand on JungMin's arm to keep him from doing the same.

"You weren't given permission to speak," JaeJoong hissed, lowering his hand. "Bring him out," he called behind him.

JongWoon quivered at HyungJoon's side, itching to punch JaeJoong. Permission?! They weren't animals! He could see JungMin controlling his temper beside YoungSaeng, needing to be pulled back a little before he could attack. The sound of shuffling footsteps caught the negotiator's attention then, and his eyes widening in shock.

Tablo was shoved through the airlocks to sprawl out on the floor, beaten and bloody. One arm was visibly broken, dried and fresh blood marring his face, neck and clothes.

HyunJoong quickly crouched beside him, one arm around Tablo's shoulders. "Get him to the infirmary," he ordered, glancing back at JongWoon and HyungJoon. JongWoon ran forward to help the badly injured man to his feet. 

Lips pressed together, YoungSaeng watched HyungJoon and JongWoon help Tablo slowly towards the stairs. He gave JongWoon one last reassuring smile before he turned back to JaeJoong. Still feeling the sting of the backhand on his cheek, he met the man's eyes, not letting JaeJoong get the better of him.

"Now that that's all settled, you two, in," JaeJoong pointed into the airlock where security guards were waiting for them. YoungSaeng took a breath, glancing at HyunJoong before stepping into the airlock.

JungMin followed after YoungSaeng, chin up defiantly. HyunJoong watched them go, heart twisting in his chest.

He wasn't an idiot. He knew chances of going out of this was slim. And he hadn't had a chance to thank YoungSaeng and JungMin for everything they'd done on this ship.

"You got what you wanted," HyunJoong said, turning to JaeJoong. "Now leave." 

"As you wish, _Captain_ ," JaeJoong inclined his head. "Your escorts should have arrived by now, so I'll leave you in their capable hands. I think it would be wise if you kept your nose out of trouble from now on Hyun, I might not be around to save you again." JaeJoong chuckled at his own joke, turning and following the two shifters through the airlock.

Jaw clenched, HyunJoong watched them go, the airlock closing behind them. Locking it, he turned away when SungMin poked his head out over the containers.

"What are we doing now?" SungMin asked quietly.

"Finding a way to escape from those escorts," HyunJoong replied, mind already made up as he turned to head back towards the stairs, climbing them. They weren't going back to Federation space, and he knew the others of his original crew would agree with him. The only question was how to avoid the deportation.

He went back to the bridge first to talk with KyuJong; JongWoon would be looking after Daniel. "Are those escorts here?" he asked quietly as he stepped back into the bridge, going beside KyuJong. 

"They are," KyuJong nodded, taking in a deep breath he looked up at HyunJoong, his eyes glassy and his expression serious. "He has my ship, Hyun," he whispered, clenching the armrests of his chair to keep from shaking.

HyunJoong's eyes widened in shock. "...Your family's ship? You're sure?" He hadn't noticed the name of the ship JaeJoong commanded before, too focused on the situation. 

KyuJong nodded, turning back around to the security camera feeds he'd been looking at. Bringing up one of the outside cameras, he pointed at the name printed on the side of the ship. "That's her.. that's _Pandora_. So not only does he have our friends, he has my ship."

Hands trembling a little as he clenched them into fists, HyunJoong stared at the name. After a moment he swallowed thickly, arms wrapping around KyuJong's shoulders. "I'm sorry, Kyu," he whispered quietly. "We'll get them back...we have to. But I don't know if we'll be able to do the same for her." 

"I know, but I'd rather see her dead in the space than him flying her," KyuJong said, burying his nose in HyunJoong's collar. "What are we going to do Hyun?"

"First we need to talk to Daniel, find out just what has been going on," HyunJoong murmured, kissing the side of KyuJong's head. "Then we're going to ditch our escorts and regroup with Valis. If JungMin and YoungSaeng haven't reappeared by then...then we go after them." He wasn't going to give up on those two, not after everything that had happened in the last five months. 

"Okay," KyuJong nodded, pulling back a little out of HyunJoong's embrace. "You don't think they're planning on trying to escape.. do you."

"No," HyunJoong shook his head, drawing in a shaky breath. "I think they said what they had to so we'd let them go." He cupped KyuJong's jaw lightly, looking down at him. "We're _not_ just going to let them go like this." 

"Didn't think we would," KyuJong said, putting his hand over HyunJoong's and leaning into the touch. "We owe them far too much to just send them off to die like that." A beeping at his side meant they were being hailed, and he sighed, closing his eyes and not wanting to answer the call.

HyunJoong clenched his jaw a little, sighing. Leaning forward, he kissed KyuJong's softly, brushing the hair out of his eyes and pulling back to sit down again. "Let's get this over with." 

 

******************************59

With JaeJoong's ship moving away, two smaller fighters took it up position on either side of the _Proteus_ and slowly turned them towards Federation space. Based on their location, it would be at least a week before they reached the border, and that was only if they didn't make any stops in the meantime.

After the first hour though, KyuJong was annoyed with how the other ships were flying so close to them and he was getting irritable. "Maybe you should go see how Tablo's doing?" he suggested, glancing at HyunJoong.

HyunJoong nodded, watching the fighters for a moment before standing. "See if you can spot any weakness that we can use to our advantage," he murmured, kissing KyuJong's lips softly. "And...where did KyuHyun go?" he had noticed the gecko was missing, figuring he was elsewhere in the ship. But he had yet to return. 

"Don't know, haven't seen him since you all left the bridge," KyuJong said, shaking his head a little. "Have SungMin sniff him out if he doesn't show up."

Nodding, HyunJoong kissed KyuJong again, needing the contact after the encounter with JaeJoong. Then he pulled back. "I'll be back soon, radio down if anything happens." Running his fingers gently through KyuJong's hair, he turned and left the bridge, heading towards the infirmary.

Stepping in, he saw Daniel had been laid down in one of the cots, his broken arm in a cast that was still drying. JongWoon tended to his many other injuries, sniffling quietly and glancing at HyungJoon every now and then.

"How is he?" HyunJoong asked.

"Pretty beat-up," JongWoon replied, voice cracking. "Some of these injuries are weeks old and infected, he's going to need constant care." 

"What are we going to do Captain?" HyungJoon asked quietly from where he was seated on one of the other beds. "We can't just leave them there... he'll do the same to them that he did to Daniel," the tears were running down his cheeks, and he sniffed a little. Movement at HyunJoong's legs caught his eye and he saw GyuRi slipping in, looking around in confusion.

"What's going on? Who's this? Where's JungMin?" the pixie asked, looking up at HyunJoong.

"We're not going to leave them, Joon," HyunJoong said quietly, looking down at GyuRi. Drawing in a breath, he sat down in a chair and started to explain to GyuRi what had happened, being as gentle as possible.

The explanation made JongWoon start crying all over again, getting up and going to sit beside HyungJoon, hugging his best friend tightly. 

The pixie's wings slumped lifelessly down, looking up at HyunJoong with wide eyes. "..Gone?" she whispered, letting that sink in. "I'll kill that bastard... kill him for taking my Min away," she sniffled, turning away and padding over to the cot Daniel was lying on. "Is he going to die?" she asked, crawling up onto the cot near Daniel's feet and looking down at him.

"Not if we have anything to say about it," JongWoon shook his head, sniffling. "It's bad, but he can pull through."

"They haven't been able to kill me yet," Daniel murmured then, eyes cracking open. "I'm sorry, HyunJoong. They were very...persistent."

"What happened?" HyunJoong asked quietly, moving his chair closer to the head of the bed. "JungMin and YoungSaeng said months ago that you were working for the military...but you've always hated the military."

"Still do," Daniel chuckled, then coughed, wincing at the pain. "They caught me and my illegal activities eventually, and agreed to let me go if I provided intel for them. I didn't tell them anything about you or your friends...but they found out I was involved anyways and decided it might be worthwhile to 'question' me on a few things." 

"How did he know we were out here then? Did you tell them where we were going, or was it just coincidence," HyungJoon asked, running his hand up and down JongWoon's back. 

GyuRi glared at HyungJoon, her tiny lips pressed together. "No arguing, he's injured," she said sternly.

" _I_ didn't even know where you were going," Daniel murmured, eyes closing again. "It took a long time but they got it out of me that your two alien friends had been on board, they must have guessed where you were going after... JaeJoong insisted on taking me along. Some form of insurance, I guess. I'm sorry."

HyunJoong clenched his jaw, hands fisted in his lap. JaeJoong knew him well enough to know he wouldn't run if Daniel's life was in danger. It was the best kind of 'insurance' he could have brought. "It's not your fault," he shook his head. If the state of his injuries were any indication, Daniel had gone through all kinds of torture before finally cracking.

"What are we doing now, Captain?" JongWoon sniffled.

"We're not going back to the Federation," HyunJoong said, glancing over at them. "We're getting rid of these escorts the first chance we get, regrouping with Valis, and going to get our friends back. If any of you have any objections, say so now." 

"Sounds good to me," GyuRi said, though her attention was now completely focused on Daniel, checking his bandages. "I'll kill anyone who thinks they can take my Min away from me."

"So what do we do first?" HyungJoon said, ignoring the way GyuRi was prattling on.

"The escorts come first," HyunJoong said, leaning back in his chair. "They're two fighter ships though, smaller and faster than ours. If we tried to run, they'd bring us down within minutes." 

"So we need to take them out," HyungJoon nodded. "Any idea how we're going to do that? I mean, it would be easy to take out their engines, if they're just standard class fighters. I should go take a look at them and see what we're dealing with."

"That would be an idea," HyunJoong nodded. "We'll aim to immobilize them preferably, no one needs to die for this."

"Don't have to take out all their engines," Daniel murmured, cracking one eye open again. "Even the new fighters can be taken care off if you remove one of their side engines. They'll still be able to move, but nowhere fast if they don't want to spin in circles." 

"Well it's not like we'll get more than one shot before they turn those guns on us," HyungJoon nodded, getting to his feet. "I'll need someone's help though... JongWoon?" he looked at his friend in question.

"I'll watch over him," GyuRi said, patting Daniel's shoulder. "He's in good hands."

"..." JongWoon stared at HyungJoon. "...You're not asking me to help you aim, right?"

"Let's get going," HyunJoong stood, looking down at GyuRi sitting on the bed next to Daniel. Well, if the pixie wanted to help then he wasn't going to say no. "Call up if there's anything," he smiled a little at her before heading to the door. When he saw SungMin lingering in the hallway, he turned to the short anthro. "Can you track down KyuHyun?" The fox nodded and padded off. 

"KyuHyun's missing?" HyungJoon blinked, looking at JongWoon. "No, I'm not going to ask you to aim, just do some looking," he said, holding out his hand. "And even if I do ask you to aim, you'd do splendidly because it'll help us go get Saeng."

Swallowing, JongWoon nodded and took the offered hand, standing. "Let's...let's do this then. The sooner we get away, the sooner we can get them back," he gave HyungJoon a tight smile. "They...going to be able to escape, you think?" 

"I think if anyone could, it would be those two," HyungJoon nodded, squeezing JongWoon's hand and leading him over to the door. "They'll be fine, and I bet we'll have them back in no time at all, and they'll laugh at us for being so worried."

"Yeah," JongWoon's lips quivered as he tried to smile, tears slipping down his cheeks again. They had to be fine, they just had to be. They headed towards the bridge, HyunJoong ahead of them. "Gotta get away from these people first though. 

"Easily done," HyungJoon grinned. "You know much of anything about fighter ship engines?"

"Not really," JongWoon shook his head, glancing at HyungJoon beside him. "I'm no engineer." 

"It's fine, you can just keep me company for a bit anyway, get our minds off it," HyungJoon said, heading up to the bridge. Xander was clinging to the ceiling, sniffing along a seam line. "Hey... Xander, have you seen KyuHyun?" HyungJoon asked, looking up at him curiously. He wasn't about to ask what the flesheater was doing.

"Nope, haven't smelled him in a while either," Xander said, his fingers holding onto the grooves in the ceiling.

"Wonder where he went to, hopefully he's not depressed and hiding again," JongWoon frowned worriedly. Glancing up at Xander again as they passed underneath him, JongWoon climbed the stairs towards the bridge and stepped inside. HyunJoong had sat down next to KyuJong again, telling the pilot what they were going to do in quiet murmurs. 

KyuJong glanced over at the two when they came in, his eyes tight with worry. "So we're going to attack two Federation fighters, run for it before they can destroy us first, and somehow get to the border without being intercepted again. Then, we're going to go after JaeJoong who is likely heading back to Erith, who knows our ship on sight, somehow rescue not only RyeoWook and Zhou Mi from the Sylar base, but JungMin and YoungSaeng from a Federation ship. That's what we're doing?"

HyungJoon looked at JongWoon and HyunJoong, shrugging. "Yeah, that's kind of the plan, I guess, right Captain?"

"The basics of it," HyunJoong sighed, pushing his hair back as he thought. "It will be easier to get lost in the crowd if that fleet YunHo has assembled strikes at the same time. We're going to have to improvise as we go."

"That's the best plan we could come up with right now," JongWoon winced, staying beside HyungJoon. "We all set to start?" 

"Well it could be a worse plan," KyuJong sighed, turning around in his seat. "You're all just lucky I'm the best pilot out there, otherwise this would probably be a suicide mission."

"Can we get a visual on these fighters?" HyungJoon asked, going to one of the monitors. "I need to see the engines, we're only going to get one shot."

HyunJoong leaned over the consoles, tapping at the keys to flip through the cameras. Finding the closest one, he tilted the camera to the side so they were looking at the back of one of the fighter ships. "There, Joon." He set up another camera to find the second ship's engines. "Think you'll be able to hit them?" 

"No problem," HyungJoon nodded, leaning in to study the ship's configuration. "This spot, right here," he said, pointing at a small exhaust port. "One hit to that and the whole exhaust system shuts down, flooding the engine. Like pouring sugar in an old style combustion engine. They won't be going anywhere, but they'll still be able to fire any weapons they have. Once the engines are taken out, we'll have to move, quickly."

"To them, we'll pretty much disappear," KyuJong smiled, checking navigation again. "We'll do a roundabout so they don't know which way we're heading."

"Alright... JongWoon?" HyungJoon turned to his friend. "You think you'll be able to do this? I'll need you in the other turret so we can take them out simultaneously."

JongWoon's eyes widened. "You _are_ asking me to aim. My aim is horrible, Joon."

"You can do it, JongWoon," HyunJoong looked at him. "YoungSaeng and JungMin are counting on us getting there." The negotiator swallowed thickly, looking down and nodding stiffly. 

"It's easy, the guidance system does most of the work," HyungJoon said, putting his arm around JongWoon's shoulder. "You can do this, I have faith in you."

"You're not going to get a lot of time between aiming and firing, they'll be watching for anything suspicious," KyuJong said, glancing back at them. "You'll have five seconds at most to reposition the turrets and fire, so make sure your aim is spot on."

"No pressure, huh?" JongWoon looked at KyuJong with a pained look, before turning back to HyungJoon. "Let's go then...we need to get out of here." He stepped out of the room again, heading towards the starboard turret. 

HyungJoon followed, giving JongWoon a reassuring clap on the shoulder before turning towards the port turret. Sliding into the seat, he booted up the controls and turned on the monitor. The screen flickered, bringing up the grainy feed from the outside cameras. The exhaust port was no bigger than his head, a very tiny opening on the outer hull.

Taking a deep breath, he tapped into the display, bringing up the targeting and using the manual override to line up his shot, compensating for the drift of the ships flying next to each other and whatever drag was on the guns. Hopefully JongWoon would fare just as well. Hitting the coms on the console, he finished aiming. "You alright over there JongWoon?"

Sitting down in the seat, JongWoon looked at the controls for a moment before starting to do the same as HyungJoon. It wasn't that he'd never used the turrets before...it was just that they stopped letting him go anywhere near them after he hit the side of a station rather than the asteroid floating beside it.

Bringing the crosshairs to the tiny opening and making the small adjustments, he bit on the inside of his cheek when HyungJoon's voice came over the coms. "Yeah...just about done. Okay, aiming done. Fire on the count of three?" 

"Got it," HyungJoon nodded, more to calm himself than anything since no one could see him. "You ready up there Kyu?"

" _Ready here_ ," KyuJong replied. " _Good luck you two._ "

Taking a deep breath, HyungJoon's finger hovered over the firing button. "One.... two.... three." His finger pressed into the button, the gun moving into position and firing a succession of three blasts. Watching on the monitor, he let out a whoop when the second shot hit the exhaust directly, the engine stuttering and ship banking sharply.

Pressing 'fire' at the same time, JongWoon released three shots at the same time as HyungJoon. He didn't hit the exhaust port; all three shots took out the closest engine as well as damaged the one in the middle, the ship spinning out of control. "...Oops."

"That's fine, they can't aim if they can't steer straight," HyunJoong gripped the sides of his chair tightly. "Let's get out of here." 

"Will do," KyuJong nodded. "Hold on everyone," he said, tipping the controls to bank down sharply and veering out of range. Neither of the ships were in any condition to give chase, but the ship HyungJoon had hit was trying to fire at them. A pulse brushed over the hull, KyuJong hissing as he slammed the controls back and to the port side to get clear.

Within seconds, they were out of firing range, and another minute before they were out of sensor range. KyuJong nearly fell over in relief, but kept his focus on piloting. "Keeping this course for another minute or so, then we'll head towards the border," he said, glancing at HyunJoong with a small smile.

"Good," HyunJoong nodded, squeezing KyuJong's shoulder lightly. "Great job everyone."

"We're safe?" JongWoon asked, voice sounding a little far away; he'd fallen out of the turret chair at the first hairpin turn. 

"For the moment," KyuJong said, checking the sensors. "Don't think we're going to be followed, but we should keep an eye on the sensors just to be safe until we reach the border."

Nodding, HyunJoong flicked through the monitors, seeing a failed attempt by one of the fighter ships to hail them. Removing it from the log, he glanced up as SungMin came into the bridge.

"We're away?" the anthro asked.

"Yes, and going to meet with Valis soon," HyunJoong nodded. "Where's KyuHyun?"

"He's...not on the ship. I looked everywhere, the last trace of his scent I could find ends at the airlock." 

"... You don't think he snuck onto JaeJoong's ship, do you?" KyuJong asked, looking at HyunJoong with wide eyes.

"Who did?" HyungJoon asked, stepping in after SungMin. "Wait, KyuHyun? He's not on the ship?"

"No," HyunJoong frowned at that information. "He must have...of course, he would have wanted to get back to Zhou Mi the second he heard we were going to be deported." They were missing a navigator again. "He'll be fine, he hides pretty well."

JongWoon popped up behind HyungJoon. "How soon until we reach the border?" 

"This little detour put us about... four hours off track, so we'll get there in the morning," KyuJong said, sighing slightly. "I'll send another message to YunHo, let him know what happened."

Nodding, HyunJoong leaned back in his seat, rubbing at his temples. This was a mess.

JongWoon looked at HyungJoon. "I'm going to go check on Daniel again...you?" he asked quietly. He needed something to do to distract him from worrying himself sick over YoungSaeng. 

"Might as well come with," HyungJoon said, glancing at the captain and pilot before stepping out into the hall. "You coming with SungMin?"

"I guess," the anthro nodded, ears drooped slightly as he followed after.

JongWoon stayed beside HyungJoon, hand lightly on his best friend's arm. It was going to be a long wait until they could see JungMin and YoungSaeng again. 

KyuJong watched them go, his eyes sad and heart twisting in his chest. "I can't even imagine what they're going through right now," he said quietly, typing in the message to be sent out. "What do you think our chances are Hyun? Realistically."

HyunJoong closed his eyes at the question. "...About as much chance as YunHo does going up against Sylar and the Federation. But if we don't try, we'll never know." He opened his eyes to look back at KyuJong. 

"Figured as much, but I think I'd rather die than run back to Federation space right now," KyuJong said quietly, meeting HyunJoong's eyes. "Not when there's so much at stake."

"Agreed," HyunJoong nodded, biting on the inside of his cheek before averting his eyes. "I should be doing the exact opposite right now. It's my duty to keep you all safe, and this is probably going to get us all killed." 

Finishing sending off the message, KyuJong turned to HyunJoong, smiling thoughtfully at him. "And right now, nearly half of the crew is in harm's way. Even if it was just one of us, we wouldn't leave them behind, right? We all know the risks, and there isn't one person on board right now that would agree to leaving them to die."

Nodding slowly, HyunJoong looked up at KyuJong. "I just keep thinking that I should be doing this differently... _not_ putting more people in danger than there already is. No Captain should be putting his crew in life-threatening situations like this." But he couldn't think of any other way to get their missing friends back. 

KyuJong smiled softly, scooting closer to bring up his hands and frame HyunJoong's jaw with them. "Well you're not an ordinary captain, and this isn't an ordinary crew. All we've got in this whole galaxy, is each other." He leaned forward to press his lips to HyunJoong's. "If it makes you feel better, you can tell yourself there was a mutiny."

Lips quivering slightly, HyunJoong kissed KyuJong back, wrapping his arms around the younger man. "There probably would be if I decided to just go along with the escorts, huh?" He was probably just out-of-sorts after seeing JaeJoong again. 

"I can guarantee there would have been," KyuJong nodded, kissing him again. "We're seeing this through... remember that we promised JungMin and YoungSaeng that we'd keep them safe... we're keeping that promise."

"Right," HyunJoong nodded, returning the kiss and running his fingers gently through KyuJong's hair. After a moment he slid his chair closer, resting his cheek on KyuJong's shoulder. "Once we're back on course, you should go get some sleep...things are going to be crazy when we reach that fleet." 

"Only if you go with me," KyuJong said, running his hand up and down HyunJoong's back. "You could use a couple hours of sleep Hyun, and don't you even try to tell me you're fine, cause I know better."

"Yes mother," HyunJoong chuckled, tilting his head to kiss the pilot's covered shoulder. "Here." Standing up, he made KyuJong do the same to drop into the seat the pilot had just vacated, pulling KyuJong back down into his lap. "Hope you don't mind if I want to be close right now," he nuzzled the back of KyuJong's neck, arms securely around the younger man's waist. 

"Don't mind at all," KyuJong smiled, getting himself comfortable and leaning back a little while he worked. "If we get yelled at though, I'm blaming you."

"Like I've said before, we've caught them in worse situations than cuddling," HyunJoong chuckled, burying his nose against KyuJong's hair and closing his eyes. 

"But it might not be the best idea to flaunt our relationship in front of them," KyuJong said, though he smiled at how close HyunJoong was and leaned back a little more into him. "If we ever get face to face with JaeJoong again, I may just kill him. I hope that's alright."

"I should probably say no, but I won't," HyunJoong shook his head. "Just don't put yourself in danger, he's not worth that." 

"Yes, sir," KyuJong chuckled, turning his head and tilting back a little to give him another kiss. "I don't like being one of those people who think they're better than someone's ex... but I really am in this situation."

HyunJoong's chuckle was cut off with the kiss, returning it softly. "You are, _so_ much better. Thank you for everything, Kyu." 

"You're welcome Hyun," KyuJong replied, smiling back at him. "It's going to be a while before I need to be relieved... did you want to go check on Daniel?"

"I will soon, that's probably where JongWoon's gone, Daniel's in good hands," HyunJoong replied, playing with strands of KyuJong's hair. "He put himself in danger for us, he better pull through. Daniel's helped me with so much over the years." 

"He seems like a good man, and it's a shame he got pulled into this," KyuJong said, glancing at the sensors. "Doesn't seem like he'll be welcome back in Federation space either."

"No, he won't be," HyunJoong sighed. "Granted, Daniel knows many people and could probably bribe his way back in eventually, but he'd be safer out here....as long as this thing with Sylar is dealt with." 

"Well, that's what we're doing right? That's what all this is for," KyuJong said, turning sideways in HyunJoong's lap and putting an arm around his neck. "You know, when this is over... I don't even want to go back to Federation space."

"No?" HyunJoong kissed his temple softly, KyuJong's hair tickling his nose. "Where do you want to go?" 

"Anywhere really... as long as you're there," KyuJong said, closing his eyes. "There's nothing back there for me... this is my home now, and I like it out here... I never realized just how stifled we were by rules and procedures. I like that I don't have to get clearance in triplicate just to move the ship a meter."

HyunJoong chuckled, brushing his lips along the corner of KyuJong's lips. "I noticed you liked the competitions for a spot at the stations. Always thought you were too much of a daredevil to enjoy a regular cargo ship." 

"It's all I knew, so I wasn't complaining," KyuJong shrugged. "Wasn't made for military life or anything like that... but I like this... I like being able to live by our own rules."

"Then that's what we'll do," HyunJoong nodded, smiling at him. "Once this is over, no one will be able to tell us to do anything we don't want to." 

"Except each other," KyuJong added, smoothing down HyunJoong's hair. This talk left a slightly bitter feel in his mouth, knowing the chances of them getting out of this alive were so slim. Squeezing his eyes shut tightly, he curled up in HyunJoong's embrace, nuzzling into the underside of his jaw. "I love you Hyun," he whispered, fingers curling into his boyfriend's shirt.

Smiling softly, HyunJoong rested his head lightly against KyuJong's, closing his own eyes. "Love you too Kyu," he whispered, keeping the younger man secure in his lap.

No matter what, he had to believe they were going to get through this alive. All of them, and then they could finally reclaim their own lives. 

****************60

The rest of the day and into the night went smoothly for those on board, though the atmosphere had changed, the tension and fear palatable. They took short shifts so everyone could get a bit of sleep since they would need it, except GyuRi, who hovered constantly over Daniel in the infirmary. HyungJoon found it odd that she had taken to taking care of the older man so easily, and quite unlike what they had seen from the pixie before.

When morning came around again and KyuJong took over from Xander on the bridge, they were approaching the border and YunHo's fleet was in sensor range. "Looks like they're ready for war," he said quietly, opening up the hailing frequency and targeting the lead ship.

HyunJoong watched them approach, seeing the amount of ships that came up in the sensors. "They're going to need that many...and more," he murmured. The fleet's size was impressive...but he was still worried it might not be enough. All those ships around Erith couldn't have been the Federation's only stronghold.

Upon hailing the lead ship, YunHo's image flickered onto the screen. _"Good to see you again. We received your messages...the shifters have been taken?"_ The bronze-skinned man was wearing full uniform, expression serious.

"They have, we believe the ship is heading for Erith," HyunJoong nodded. "Have you given thought to our earlier message about the supposed 'leader' of Sylar."

 _"I have, and we will discuss this further on my ship. Bring your ship to dock alongside my own, and let my crew know of any supply concerns. I will have an escort waiting to bring you to my office."_

"I'm not sure if that's good or bad," KyuJong said with a frown, ending the call and moving back to the helm. "What are we going to need for supplies so I can get a list together?"

"Food, and probably medical supplies?" HyungJoon said, glancing at JongWoon.

"Yeah," JongWoon nodded. "I have a list already made," he waved it in his hands. They needed to stock up on as much medical supplies as they could get, just in case.

"Wow," SungMin said from up on the table, watching as the pinpricks in the distance slowly grew, YunHo's gathered fleet coming into view. That was a _lot_. 

"Can we tell YunHo to tell his fleet not to blow up JaeJoong's ship until _after_ we've got everyone on board?" HyungJoon asked, nervously fretting behind KyuJong's chair. For his part, KyuJong said nothing about HyungJoon being behind him as they approached YunHo's ship and got ready to dock.

"I'm sure we can suggest that we called dibs," KyuJong said wryly, the corner of his lip curling in a smirk.

"We'll definitely make it a condition," HyunJoong nodded. He slid over to the co-pilot's controls, assisting in the docking procedure.

JongWoon gripped the sides of his chair, watching the fleet with wide eyes. It had never fully occurred to him that this was going to turn into a full-out war...and they were in the middle of it. He just wanted to reach YoungSaeng, JungMin, RyeoWook and the geckos and get out of here, fast. A war was no place for them. 

The docking was complete within minutes, KyuJong mildly distracted by some of the other ships around. None looked half as good as the Federation fleet, though some like YunHo's flag ship would be worth it's weight when it counted.

"Who's going with?" HyungJoon asked when KyuJong had finished docking, getting to his feet. "Obviously not Daniel or GyuRi, what about the rest of us?"

"I'll stay here," JongWoon said quietly. He wouldn't be of much help either way.

"I'll go," SungMin piped up, hopping off the table.

HyunJoong stood and stretched. "You coming too, Kyu?" 

"Yeah, I'll come," KyuJong nodded, tapping a couple more times into the console before turning and getting up.

"I'll stay here," Xander said, stretching his legs out and propping his feet on top of the table. "Keep an eye on the ship, just in case."

"Okay," HyunJoong nodded, stepping towards the hatch. "Let's get going then." SungMin padded out after him, going on ahead towards the cargo hold. JongWoon watched them go, not moving from his chair. 

"We'll be back in a bit," HyungJoon said, squeezing JongWoon's shoulder a little before following the others out.

The walk to the airlock was quiet, HyungJoon trying not to look around for the two people that were missing. Going to a meeting with YunHo without the two shifters was weird, and even though they had become more comfortable being around alien species, they knew a group of humans together was going to get them some looks.

When they stepped out of the ship, one of the alien escorts from the Valis station was waiting with them along with another alien, in a mechanic's dirty outfit. The supply list was passed off to him. Beckoning with a long finger, the escort turned and walked away. HyunJoong glanced back at the others before following. HyungJoon wasn't the only one who felt strange walking through a different ship without YoungSaeng and JungMin watching their backs...it left them feeling exposed and in danger.

They reached YunHo's office shortly, the escort disappearing inside. After a moment he reappeared and let them in, closing the door as the four crew stepped into the office.

YunHo nodded at them, motioning to the chairs across from him. "Sit down. Your supplies are being seen to?" 

"Yeah, someone just took our list," HyungJoon nodded, rubbing at his arm. YunHo's office was much smaller than the one on the Valis station, and the chairs weren't quite as comfortable. Sitting down, the engineer looked over at HyunJoong, chewing on his lip.

"When do we leave?" KyuJong asked, wanting to get right to the point.

"As soon as those supplies reach your ship," YunHo replied, leaning forward. "It took effort to bring this many factions together, but now that they are, they are eager to strike. But the information you brought on one of Sylar's 'leaders' is interesting as well. A Shinbi working for the Federation, you say?"

"Right," HyunJoong nodded.

"Very interesting...if we could expose this Shinbi, we might not even need to step in. Sylar would turn against the Federation, and we'd just need to deal with the aftermath. However...exposing the shifter won't be easy. Especially with both your own shifters captured." 

HyungJoon squirmed in his chair a little. "Uhh.. I... may have a way, but it'd require getting close enough," he said.

"How?" KyuJong blinked and looked at him. "We really can't get that close to him, that'd be suicide."

"Well, yeah, if you're caught," HyungJoon said. "But I've been tinkering on and off with those collars.. you know the ones that were on JungMin and YoungSaeng when we found them? See, the controllers are tuned to the proper collar, so you hit the button on one, you're not going to shock the both of them."

"How does that help us?" KyuJong asked, trying to understand where this was going.

"I can find the frequency of any collar, and tune the controller to work for that collar."

YunHo frowned, thinking about that. "So if we were able to get close enough to this other shifter...you would be able to shock him into revealing who he is."

HyunJoong leaned back in his chair. "That's a good idea..."

"Very good," YunHo nodded. "The only question is...how to get that close." He frowned lightly. "This fleet would serve as a good distraction. I can send escorts to help you get to Erith."

"We can get to Erith, expose the Shinbi, and then get the rest of our crew back," HyunJoong said, looking at the other three.

SungMin was nodding along. "We're still going to have to figure out how to actually get up to this Shinbi guy without getting shot, but that actually isn't that bad." 

"We're going to have to assume that JaeJoong has let the Shinbi imposter know about us, and what we look like," KyuJong said, looking at SungMin. "Except for the non humans, he didn't see any of them so it would be easy for them to get close."

"Send Xander and SungMin?" HyungJoon blinked. "Is that a good idea?"

"I think the rest of us are going to be a little preoccupied with finding JungMin and YoungSaeng," KyuJong said, looking to YunHo. "There's always the possibility of getting the controller to RyeoWook and let him know, he'd be able to do it without anyone suspecting."

"That is also a good possibility," YunHo nodded. "And allow us to focus on other things."

"Xander and I can find him, sniff him out," SungMin offered. "While you all focus on YoungSaeng and JungMin."

"And my escorts can get you in and out of Erith," YunHo concluded. "With a time limit however. If the battle doesn't go our way, I can't guarantee your safety."

"We'll take what we can get," HyunJoong said, glancing at his crew. "You will keep us updated on the situation."

"Of course." 

"I doubt we'll be noticed in the midst of all the fighting," KyuJong said, looking at YunHo. "We should be able to get out without having any of your ships out of the fight, we know how thin you'll be stretched as it is."

"It would be great if you could, but we always plan for all possibilities," YunHo replied. "Including the possibility of needing to retreat. You know I will do my best to pull you and your ship out of Erith if the emergency arises, but I can't make any guarantees."

HyunJoong looked down, before nodding and returning YunHo's gaze. "We understand that."

"Good. This might be the last time we speak. As soon as we pass that border, anything can happen, but I will support your ship as one of my own," YunHo told them. "Go back to your ship, and set up your com lines to match with our own. I have scouts that will keep watch, so you can have time to rest properly. Until we arrive at our destination." 

"Thank you, YunHo, we appreciate that," KyuJong said, giving the bronze alien a small smile. That would mean they could at least leave the ship on autopilot if not for a little while to get some well needed sleep.

Smiling a little in return, YunHo turned to HyunJoong. "You will receive a quick briefing once we're close, but until then, rest."

"Thank you," HyunJoong nodded, standing with the others. YunHo at least didn't seem that bad a person to work under. He had treated them fairly.

The group left the office, the escort waiting for them. As they headed back to the ship, HyunJoong looked back at KyuJong. "We'll set up the autopilot, com lines and make sure the supplies arrive...then rest. Sound good?" 

"Sounds wonderful," KyuJong smiled, leaning against HyunJoong a little. "It's another five days back to Erith right? So plenty of time."

Walking behind the couple, HyungJoon sniffled a little without meaning to, looking down at the flooring as they walked. Five more days that JungMin and YoungSaeng were being held, having who knows what done to them. Considering what he knew of JaeJoong, and just seeing how the ass had hit YoungSaeng so easily made HyungJoon imagine all kinds of terrible things. Some of them were more likely than others, but he couldn't help it.

SungMin padded along beside HyungJoon, looking up at the human. After a moment he placed his paw in one of HyungJoon's limp hands. "You okay?" 

Jumping a little at the touch, HyungJoon looked at SungMin, smiling after a moment. "Yeah... yeah I'm okay, just... worried."

"It'll be fine," SungMin smiled up at him, one ear twitching. "For my race, there are two things you never do. It's said that if you do, you lose not only your honor, but your whole reason for being. You know what those two things are?" 

"No," HyungJoon shook his head, sniffling a little again. "What are they?"

"One is to run from a fight you must take part in. It's the lowest form of cowardice to run when you're needed." SungMin tapped his claws against HyungJoon's palm, smiling up at him. "Two, is to leave someone behind. No one is _ever_ left behind. So we will get them back, for sure." 

HyungJoon listened to what SungMin said, taking his words to heart. A smile crept onto his lips and he nodded. "Yeah... we will. Thank you, SungMin. I appreciate, I really do."

Grinning up at him, SungMin stayed beside the engineer until they reached the ship, the airlock closing behind them.

"Joon, could you just take a look at the engines again to make sure we're running at full strength?" HyunJoong asked, looking behind him to the younger man. "Then get some rest." They were all going to need it. 

"Yes, sir," HyungJoon nodded, hands in his pockets as he headed towards engineering.

"I'll check to see if everything's been delivered, you should check on Daniel," KyuJong said, patting HyunJoong's arm. "I hear GyuRi hasn't left his side."

"Who knew she'd be a good nurse," HyunJoong chuckled, leaning over to kiss KyuJong lightly before heading up the stairs. "I'll meet you on the bridge?" 

"Yup, I'll head up there soon as I'm done down here," KyuJong said, picking up one of the datapads and starting to go through containers.

*****************************

The days before they reached Erith space were tense ones. Despite the chance to rest, many of the crew couldn't, working to make sure the ship was in top shape. There was also a lot of training, everyone keenly aware that it might save their lives. Even SungMin and Xander helped out, briefing the crew on the different alien races they might run into and how to deal with them.

The hole left by their missing crew members was felt sorely. There was no Zhou Mi bustling away in the kitchen, no KyuHyun being a pest in general.

JongWoon and HyungJoon spent every second they could together, in an effort to ease the pain and worry for YoungSaeng and JungMin. There was no sign of JaeJoong's ship, and every day they went without news of the two shifters ate at them both.

They refused to even consider the possibility that YoungSaeng and JungMin might already be dead.

Five days in, everyone was on high alert. Erith was just four hours away, and the last vessel to spot the fleet hadn't been destroyed before it could relay a message to the rest of Sylar. _"Stay close to my ship,"_ YunHo had told them that morning over video conference. The other ships had been briefed, and escorts chosen to bring the _Proteus_ safely to Erith. Those two fighter ships flanked the cargo vessel now. 

"There's no way we're going to get out of this unscathed," KyuJong said quietly, his fingers tapping on the controls, glancing at HyunJoong beside him. It was just the two of them on the bridge at that moment, HyungJoon was in engineering making sure the shields would hold up, Xander had taken it upon himself to check their weapons and took SungMin with him. The other three were in the infirmary, GyuRi and JongWoon taking care of Daniel. They would probably see at least a few of them before the real battle started. "You think Fed and Sylar ships are going to meet us halfway, or are they waiting for us there?"

"I think they're waiting to ambush us," HyunJoong murmured, voice just as quiet as he watched the sensors. "Think YunHo knows it too." They'd seen a few ships split away from the fleet earlier, probably to either scout the way ahead or lie in wait in case of an emergency. "Either way, we'll find out soon enough," he said, looking back at KyuJong. 

"If we do get ambushed, are we staying with the fleet or trying to make a break for Erith?" KyuJong asked. Their priority was getting the other members of their crew, and the ship wasn't made for battle despite the upgrades that went into it.

"I think we'd be more of a hindrance here than anything," HyunJoong said. "And someone else for YunHo to look after. If anything happens, we'll continue on to Erith, with or without our escorts." He looked out the window to the smaller fighter ship flying alongside them to their right. 

"It's probably best that way," KyuJong nodded, shifting slightly in his chair. "I've been thinking about it, and it's probably a good thing actually that JaeJoong has my ship... this way I know exactly how to take his ship out since I know that ship inside and out."

HyunJoong frowned lightly. "I suppose so...you going to be okay with that?" he asked, watching the younger man. It was his ship after all, the ship he'd spent his whole life in. Going up against it was one thing, destroying it...? 

"It's not my ship anymore," KyuJong shook his head. "I'd rather see her in pieces than in his care. Besides, like I've said before, this my home, with you on this ship."

Watching KyuJong, HyunJoong loosely wrapped one arm around the pilot's shoulders, leaning forward to kiss his temple. "You'll always have a home here, no matter what." 

KyuJong smiled, resting his head on HyunJoong's shoulder. He was about to say something when the sensor warning went off and the flag ship was hailing them again. Straightening in his seat, he checked the sensors, lips pursing. "Sylar ships."

Looking as well, HyunJoong swallowed. Lots of Sylar ships.

YunHo's face appeared on the screen. _"As soon as you see an opening, go! My ships will cover for you."_ A second later he was gone, to give instructions to the rest of the fleet.

HyunJoong pressed the overhead coms. "Sylar ships have appeared, it's going to get a little bumpy. HyungJoon, JongWoon, take the turrets, everyone else hang on." 

Making sure his seatbelt was buckled, KyuJong leaned over to HyunJoong, fingers curling into the Captain's shirt to give him a firm kiss before letting go and turning to the controls. "Shields are up and at full power, keep an eye on those sensors for me. I'm going to be flying on instinct here."

Leaning back after returning the kiss, HyunJoong set himself up to watch the power levels and the sensors. The ships around them were changing formation, their escorts staying right beside them.

Then Sylar was right on top of them. A large explosion nearby rocked the ship, pieces of debris flying as one of the Merin ships was torn to pieces. Beams shot across their vision, Sylar and Valis ships alike fighting for their lives. 

"Hold on," KyuJong slammed the controls down, the ship ducking under the first wave of Sylar ships and narrowly missing a pulse directed right at them. An explosion in KyuJong's side vision meant one of their escorts was gone. "Notice there's no Federation yet?" he said, careening around ships and debris.

"Letting Sylar weaken themselves so they can pick up the scraps," HyunJoong clenched, watching the sensors. One of the Sylar ships going after their second escort took a hit on it's engine, careening into another ship and destroying them both. That would have been either JongWoon or HyungJoon in the turrets. "There's an opening above us Kyu," HyunJoong reported, seeing a break in the second wave of ships. 

"Taking it, let's hope our escort can keep up," KyuJong said, the ship banking sharply to port and then ascending. "That practice with asteroids is really coming in handy about now," he said, jaw clenched tightly.

It was with a sheer amount of luck, and a smidgen of skill that they managed to get above the worst of the battle with not only themselves in tact, but their escort as well. Sighing a little, KyuJong made for Erith, jumping into warp, the Valis fighter on their starboard flank. There were very few ships to deal with on the way, the fighter doing most of the work while KyuJong just made sure they didn't get shot down.

"Tell our escort to hold position out of the station sensor range, we could put in a call to RyeoWook to let him know we're coming," KyuJong said, glancing at HyunJoong. "He'd vouch for us, right?"

"He would," HyunJoong nodded. He had no doubt RyeoWook and YunHo had been in contact since dropping the spy off, meaning he would be fully aware of the assault and perhaps of the _Proteus_ going after their missing crew members.

Getting on the coms with their remaining escort, HyunJoong convinced him to hang back before turning his attention to Erith. Drawing in a breath, he sent out the call for RyeoWook. He had no doubt others would be listening to the call as well, if JaeJoong hadn't informed everyone at Erith to watch for their ship. Their call sign had been changed again after regrouping with YunHo, so maybe it would throw Sylar and the Federation off for a bit. They had other things to worry about.

As their escort dropped back to wait, RyeoWook picked up the call. _"Yes?"_ The spy sounded a little harried.

"Approaching the station, we will be landing in ten. Are you available?"

 _"...Yes sir, I will be right there,"_ RyeoWook said after a moment, disconnecting the call. 

"We're not going to have much time," KyuJong said quietly, watching as they approached Erith again. "Lucky for us, _Pandora's_ still docked at the station," he said as he made a quiet approach to the far side of the station, finding a slip to dock into. "What's our plan?"

"HyungJoon explained to SungMin and Xander how to adjust the control's frequency to match any collar, right?" HyunJoong asked, looking back at him. "They'll go after the shifter with RyeoWook...after we get information from RyeoWook on where they might be holding YoungSaeng and JungMin. It's safe to say KyuHyun and Zhou Mi are both with RyeoWook as well."

He turned to KyuJong, hands lightly on the man's shoulders. "Kyu...I want you to listen to me. I'm going with JongWoon and HyungJoon to get them back, you need to stay here and keep the ship safe. We'll be in touch through the com lines. If things go very bad, and I tell you to go, I want you to go, okay? Get back to that escort and back to YunHo." 

KyuJong's eyes widened a little, shaking his head. "I'm not just going to leave you Hyun," he said quietly. "I can do... something... I can't just leave you here, who knows what he would do to you."

"I'd rather know you at least can get out," HyunJoong said, kissing his forehead. "If I can keep even just one of us safe, it would be you. Promise me that." 

Taking a deep shaky breath, KyuJong nodded. As much as he hated it, he knew HyunJoong was right. He was more useful if he could get away for reinforcements. "Okay, I promise... if something goes wrong I'll go back to YunHo. But you promise me you're not going to take too many risks... you're not allowed to get hurt Kim HyunJoong."

"I promise," HyunJoong smiled softly, stroking KyuJong's cheek. He kissed the pilot firmly, lingering for a moment before straightening and making sure he still had the gun in his back pocket. "Love you, stay safe," he said before turning and leaving the bridge, jogging lightly to the cargo hold. At the same time he spoke into his com device, telling the others to meet him at the airlock. 

The others were waiting by the time HyunJoong got there, except for GyuRi and Daniel who were still in the infirmary. HyungJoon was going over last minute instructions with Xander and SungMin about the controllers having finished making the adjustments. "Just press this button here, wait for the beep, then... that's it," he said, handing the controller to Xander. He looked up when HyunJoong joined them. "We're ready... RyeoWook's meeting us out there I hope?"

"Right, with both geckos hopefully," HyunJoong nodded. "You all ready?"

JongWoon looked pale but determined, gun in one pocket. "As ready as we'll ever be I guess."

"Then let's get them back," HyunJoong nodded, going to the airlock and opening it. As he pushed it open and stepped out onto the exit ramp, he saw RyeoWook standing by the bottom of the ramp waiting for them. 

 

*******************61

Sticking close to JongWoon, HyungJoon gave the tiny spy a tight nod. He didn't see the geckos, though and wondered if they were around and just hiding. Glancing at Xander, the flesheater smiled at him and nodded as if in answer to his question.

"How's it going RyeoWook? There seems to be a little bit of a scuffle going on out there," Xander said, starting down the ramp. "I think we should maybe talk somewhere in private for just a bit?"

"...Yes, let's do that," RyeoWook nodded, glancing between them before stepping back so they could get off the ramp. They were acutely aware that anyone could be listening to them.

The group followed RyeoWook through the dock and out into the hallways, HyunJoong watching carefully for any sign of JaeJoong. There weren't as many in the hallways as before, busy responding to the assault not far away. 

HyungJoon glanced at JongWoon in between looking around as they walked. If he hadn't of known better, he'd have felt like he was in Federation space with the amount of humans walking around. Not only that, but the Federation officers looked rather at ease, strange for anyone in the midst of a war.

Down an empty hallway, they were shown into an empty room, the door closed once they were all in. Zhou Mi was the first to appear, launching himself at HyunJoong and clinging to his neck. "I knew you were going to come back for us, KyuHyun said you were good as gone but I just knew you would."

The second KyuHyun appeared, SungMin growled at him. "You left us you cowardly lizard!"

"Hey, wait wait!" KyuHyun explained, backing back up against the wall when the anthro approached. "I had a reason!"

HyunJoong hugged Zhou Mi back before looking at KyuHyun. "Which was?"

"He knows where JungMin and YoungSaeng hyungdeul are," RyeoWook said quietly. "And he can bring you to them." 

"That's good to hear, about how long will it take to get him and get out?" Xander asked, swaying side to side.

"They're being held in a cell block three levels down, not really any security to worry about," Zhou Mi said, though he was avoiding looking at JongWoon and HyungJoon. "It won't take long to get there, but they may not be in good condition to walk fast..."

"What do you mean?" HyungJoon asked, his eyes narrowing. "What does that mean?"

"Since the Federation didn't have any more collars to use in keeping them prisoned, they've had to...improvise," KyuHyun said slowly, not looking at the two humans either. "Come on, the faster we get there the faster we'll be out of this forsaken place." He headed to the door again.

"RyeoWook, you'll be with SungMin and Xander," HyunJoong said. "We need to expose that shifter to Sylar."

"...Yes," RyeoWook nodded his understanding, eyes worried. "We'll meet you back at the ship in...half?"

"Right, let us know if anything happens," HyunJoong replied. 

"Good luck," Zhou Mi smiled softly, squeezing RyeoWook's hand lightly before following after the humans and KyuHyun.

"They'll keep him safe," HyungJoon said softly to the gecko, giving him a small smile. Focusing on anything other than JungMin's well being at the moment, he tried to offer a little support, knowing how the gecko was feeling.

"He will, which is why I'm going with you all, to keep you all safe," Zhou Mi said, patting HyungJoon's shoulder.

"This way," KyuHyun motioned in a direction before disappearing. HyunJoong felt light tugs against his shirt every now and then, KyuHyun keeping him on track while staying hidden.

JongWoon stayed next to HyungJoon, heart pounding in his chest. How far down could they get without someone trying to stop them.

They were approaching a locked set of double doors. "Get closer, put your hand near the keypad," KyuHyun hissed in HyunJoong's ear. Doing as he was told, HyunJoong saw numbers being entered beside him as KyuHyun got the door open. Behind it were metal stairs going down. 

Swallowing thickly, HyungJoon glanced at JongWoon beside him when the started down. They passed a few officers on the way, but since they were wearing uniforms no one seemed to pay the three humans any mind. He knew Zhou Mi was just behind him and would let them know of anyone coming up behind them.

The stairway led to a hallway with containment cells lining each side. Mostly empty, HyungJoon could see two officers standing guard next to a door at the far end of the corridor.

"Walk slowly," Zhou Mi whispered in his ear, the gecko brushing by him and he could barely make out seeing the form moving in front of him and moving past HyunJoong as well. "We'll take care of the guards Captain," the gecko said, loud enough for them to hear.

Giving a barely visible nod, HyunJoong's footsteps slowed. He felt KyuHyun go on ahead as well, the slight outline moving against the wall until he was close to the farthest guard from them.

JongWoon watched with wide eyes, hands clenched into shaking fists beside him. For a long, long minute, there was nothing.

Then the guard's neck was snapped without warning, the body dropping to the floor. 

The other guard wasn't even given a chance to react, his head slamming against the wall and slumping over the other body. "Hurry Captain," Zhou Mi hissed, the bodies being dragged away from the door.

HyungJoon was trembling all over, jogging towards the door and looking for a way in. A security pass was pressed into HyunJoong's hand. "That will get you in and turn off the restraints system, we'll join you shortly." Zhou Mi said.

Fingers curling around the pass, HyunJoong nodded. "Let's go then." He slid the pass through the sensor by the door, hearing a click as it unlocked. The other two humans right behind him, HyunJoong pushed the steel door inwards and stepped through.

The strong stench of blood and decay made JongWoon gag as the lights flickered on. Focusing on what was in front of him, his eyes widened and the feeling left his legs, nearly falling to his knees.

YoungSaeng and JungMin were shackled to the wall across from them, iron braces securing their wrists and ankles with additional links around their necks and waists. Both shifters were slumped against them, not fighting, littered with dried blood and dirt. Blindfolds covered their eyes, preventing them from seeing what was going on around them.

But what made JongWoon want to be ill were the sharp-ended poles piercing through their stomachs, reappearing through their backs like shrimp on a skewer. The cloth and skin surrounding the poles were stained dark with blood. 

HyungJoon felt his stomach drop into his feet, and he nearly threw up from the combination of the sight and the smell. Covering his mouth, he had to close his eyes for a few seconds to get his composure. They didn't have time for him to balk now. Opening his eyes he squeezed JongWoon's shoulder before moving closer to he two shifters.

"Min?" HyungJoon whispered, stepping up beside JungMin, reaching up to take off the blindfold. He couldn't even tell if the man was alive or not.

As the blindfold fell away, JungMin's eyes cracked open slowly, a hazy silver that refused to focus on HyungJoon's face. "...J-oon...?"

JongWoon's hands shook as he shakily followed HyungJoon, stepping up to YoungSaeng. "Please be alive, please," he sniffled, touching YoungSaeng's cheeks and trying to undo the blindfold as well. 

HyungJoon laughed shakily, smiling at JungMin as tears brimmed in his eyes. "Yeah, it's me, we're getting you out of here," he said, brushing his fingers over JungMin's cheek. He glanced over when YoungSaeng made a soft sound, waking up at JongWoon's touch. "Captain... can we get these restraints off?" he asked, glancing towards HyunJoong. Zhou Mi had stepped in at that point and went to JungMin's side, frowning slightly at the spike through his belly.

"You might want to get those things out of their stomachs first," KyuHyun called in from where he was watching the door. "Or they're going to fall on their faces and impale themselves even more."

JongWoon sniffled as he wiped away the tears falling down his cheeks, looking down at the spike inside YoungSaeng. To prevent them from fully healing themselves...to drain their energy with their blood. "H-How do we get these out without hurting more?" he stammered, looking at the part of the pole that had gone fully through his boyfriend and nearly being sick all over again.

"J...J'st pull," JungMin got out through clenched teeth, closing his eyes. 

"It's not barbed or anything, should slide right out," Zhou Mi said quietly, looking behind JungMin where the spike was protruding from his back. "You want me to do it?" he asked, HyungJoon, the human shaking his head.

"N-no... I...I can do it," HyungJoon said, swallowing and taking the spike in both hands. "On the count of three... One... two..." he had to close his eyes, couldn't even look at JungMin as he pulled. "Three."

A sharp cry escaped JungMin as the spike was pulled out, the sound rebounding in the room. He slumped against the restraints again, panting harshly as the wound continued to bleed heavily, his shirt soon drenched in red.

"O-okay...your turn Saeng," JongWoon sniffled, looking up at his boyfriend with wide eyes. Gripping the spike tightly, he counted quietly, pulling when he reached three. 

YoungSaeng's eyes screwed shut, the sound he made was like a dying animal, slumping over as well when the spike was removed. It took too much energy to even lift his head at that point.

"Captain, the restraints," HyungJoon insisted, looking at the wound in JungMin's stomach with worry. They needed to get to an infirmary to take care of that.

HyunJoong swiped the pass over a sensor by YoungSaeng, the braces holding the shifter against the wall popping open. Trying to catch YoungSaeng when he fell, JongWoon yelped as he fell onto his rear, YoungSaeng on top of him.

"Th-they're not going to make it to the ship...does the station have first-aid kits around like other stations?" JongWoon stammered. He pulled off his overshirt and pressed it against the hole in YoungSaeng's stomach, trying to stop the flow of blood. HyunJoong hurriedly went to the other sensor by JungMin, swiping the pass over it as well to release the redhead from the wall. 

JungMin fared better since Zhou Mi was helping HyungJoon hold the shifter up, but it was pretty much dead weight. There was no way they'd get back to the ship. They eased JungMin down to the floor, propping him up against the wall and HyungJoon holding him up. He could hear YoungSaeng murmuring something as he rolled off of JongWoon.

"I'll see what I can find," Zhou Mi said, disappearing back out into the hall. It was a few minutes before he returned with a first aid kit from the guards station not far away. "This is all I could find," he said, passing it to JongWoon.

Pulling the kit open, JongWoon split up the bandages that were available, blinking to see past the tears. "Don't talk, y-you'll strain your injury," he whispered to YoungSaeng. "Joon, wrap up his stomach as best as you can," he passed half the bandages to the younger man along with gauze pads. It wasn't enough...they'd be soaked through within minutes.

"How are we getting them back to the ship?" HyunJoong asked quietly as JongWoon pulled YoungSaeng's shirt up, holding the younger man in a half-sitting position so he could wrap the bandages tightly around his middle. "We'll be spotted for sure."

"They're too hurt to shift, right?" KyuHyun asked, glancing back at them. "They'll be easy to hide if they can shift into something small." 

"They can't shift if they're majorly injured," HyungJoon said, pressing the thick gauze to JungMin's stomach. "At least... that's what I've understood, they didn't really explain."

"We have to hurry and get off the station before RyeoWook outs the other shifter, or you're all in danger," Zhou Mi said, looking at the humans. "I'll see if I can find some sort of cart or something." The gecko disappeared out the door again.

JungMin tried to open his eyes, unable to focus on HyungJoon as he struggled to stay conscious. "...why are you here?" he mumbled, head falling back against the wall. "I-t's dangerous...Joon..."

Helping JongWoon by supporting YoungSaeng as the medic worked, HyunJoong watched their conditions worriedly. 

"Did you really think we were just going to give up on you?" HyungJoon said quietly, focusing on binding up JungMin's torso. "You wouldn't have left us behind, we weren't going to leave you, we promised we'd keep you guys safe."

The corners of JungMin's lips twitched slightly as he closed his eyes, whispering a barely audible "silly human." The tease wasn't reflected in the bond that only showed pain and relief.

Securing the end of the bandage, JongWoon sniffled as he and HyunJoong helped YoungSaeng lean against the wall as well. "Just wait, we're going to get you out of here, okay Saeng?" he whispered, tears still streaming down his cheeks as he brushed away blood from YoungSaeng's lips. 

YoungSaeng's eyes opened slowly, and he looked up at JongWoon with a very small smile. He didn't say anything though, not having the energy to do more than that. He was very grateful to see JongWoon, if not just this last time before he died.

The door to the room opened again, Zhou Mi returning with a maintenance cart he had found not far away. "It's not much, but it's all I could find," he said, wheeling it towards the two shifters. Kneeling down, he opened up one of the wide drawers, tossing all the contents onto the floor. "This should be enough room JungMin, the other drawer can hold YoungSaeng."

"They'll be fine in there?" JongWoon asked skeptically, but he knew they weren't going to find any better. Swallowing thickly, he looked at HyunJoong. "I-I'm going to need help to get him in..."

"I'll get his feet," HyunJoong nodded, and between them they carefully eased YoungSaeng up off the floor and sitting up inside the drawer that was long enough for their legs. HyunJoong went to help get JungMin in as well, JongWoon making sure YoungSaeng was as comfortable as he could be.

"You're going to be okay, I promise, stay awake until we get to the ship okay?" he whispered to his boyfriend, cupping his cheek lightly. 

"I'll try," YoungSaeng replied, leaning a little too heavily into the hand on his cheek. "I'm very tired though."

"Need to lay him down so we can close the drawer," Zhou Mi said softly, a supporting hand on YoungSaeng's back. "He'll be able to breathe just fine, and it won't take long to get to the ship. We do have to hurry." He glanced at the other two humans who had started to lift JungMin up.

"No, stay awake, please," JongWoon whispered, deathly afraid that if YoungSaeng lost consciousness, it would be the end. Sticking his head inside the drawer so he could kiss the shifter's cold lips, he carefully eased YoungSaeng to lying down with Zhou Mi's help. "We'll be there before you know it," he said, closing the drawer carefully.

JungMin gave a strained noise of pain as he was laid down in the drawer, eyes screwed shut again. 

HyungJoon winced at the noise JungMin made, biting down hard on his lip while getting the shifter's long legs arranged so he would be comfortable. "It's okay Min, you'll be just fine," he whispered, scooting up to wipe away some of the dried blood from his cheeks. "Just hold on okay?"

"We have to go," Zhou Mi said quietly, but firmly. HyungJoon nodded, leaning in to give JungMin a quick kiss before closing the drawer.

"I'll push the cart Mi," HyungJoon said, getting to his feet, the gecko stepping out of the way and heading toward the door. "We'll have to take a different way back so we can grab a lift, hopefully we can get to the ship before all hell breaks loose."

"Don't jinx us," KyuHyun said, waiting at the door. "There's a lift this way, come on," he flitted on ahead to take care of anyone who might be around.

JongWoon stayed behind HyungJoon, watching the cart worriedly. They had to get back in time, they just had to. HyunJoong closed the door behind them as they left, pulling out his com to let SungMin, Xander and RyeoWook know they were on their way back. 

The geckos walked ahead of them a ways so it didn't look like they were with the humans, which could come in handy if they ran into any Federation personnel, but also close enough in case they got into trouble to help.

HyungJoon's grip on the handle of the cart was white-knuckled, and he had to make a conscious effort to not stop and check on JungMin every few steps. There was a very real possibility one of them could die because they were so weak.

It wasn't until they were stepping off the lift near the docking ring when an alarm sounded, and the sounds of gunfire were ringing through the halls. Aliens and humans alike were running back and forth with weapons drawn.

"Think that's our cue, run!" Zhou Mi said, disappearing. "We'll cover you, just go!"

"JongWoon, your gun," HyunJoong pulled the negotiator up to cover one of HyungJoon's sides while he took the other, his own gun out and at the ready. KyuHyun had already disappeared, and it was too chaotic to follow his outline.

"Guess they exposed the shifter," JongWoon panted, then yelped as a large alien blundered into their path. Before he could shoot it, an invisible KyuHyun slammed into the alien and brought it to the ground, tail wrapping around it's neck to block it's windpipe. 

While the cart was heavy, once it got going it was a very effective battering ram. HyungJoon found that out when some kind of alien tried to get in their path, only to be knocked off it's feet by the cart and tumbled off to the side. He hoped JungMin and YoungSaeng would be okay after that.

"Fancy meeting you here!" Xander chirped, coming up beside them as they ran, his spines rattling irritably behind him. "Hurry hurry!"

"They're _mad_ ," SungMin called as he ran past them to barrel into another alien who came after the humans, fangs and claws sinking into purple flesh.

The group ran into the docking bay. Ships were exploding at the far end as the fight raged on. HyunJoong called into the com. "We're just about there Kyu, be ready to go!" They couldn't stay in this mess without being killed. 

" _Ready... Captain_ ," KyuJong said, his voice shaking a little. HyungJoon glanced worriedly at HyunJoong as they ran, the airlock within sight.

Federation officers were trying to make their way onto any ship they could get on, fighting aliens as they went. Movement at the side of the cart and Xander was crouched low, his spines angled upward over his head. The rattling noise grew louder and hundreds of darts were shot from the spines into the face of a Federation officer drawing his weapon at them.

"Hurry!" Zhou Mi was at the airlock, keeping anyone out who tried to climb on board, waving at them frantically.

JongWoon had to help HyungJoon push the cart up the ramp into the ship, HyunJoong and SungMin running in after them. The second everyone was inside, HyunJoong pulled the airlock shut and locked it.

"Quick, we need to get them to the infirmary," JongWoon hurried to the side of the cart YoungSaeng was on, pulling the drawer open and praying the shifter was still alive. "Saeng? Saeng, you still with us?" KyuHyun went to help him. 

"Hm?" YoungSaeng's eyes fluttered but they didn't stay open, his head rolling a little.

Opening up the other drawer on the other side, HyungJoon and Zhou Mi were already getting JungMin up and out of the cart. "Min? You awake Min?" HyungJoon said, supporting JungMin's arms while Zhou Mi got his feet.

JungMin managed a low noise in the back of his throat as confirmation, too out of it to even try opening his eyes.

"Keep me updated on their conditions," HyunJoong said, hurrying on to the stairs when he was sure the others had the two shifters. They needed to get away now, before they were blown up, and he didn't feel the ship moving any.

Taking the stairs three at a time, he hurried up the levels to the bridge, hearing the commotion outside echoing through the ship. There wasn't much time left.

"They're safe Kyu, we need to get out of here," he called as he turned the corner and stepped into the bridge...only to freeze. 

"Ah, so good of you to join us _Captain_ ," JaeJoong smiled from where he was sitting in HyunJoong's captain's chair, a gun pointed at the back of KyuJong's head in front of him. "I think we can take off now pilot, unless you wanted to give the command, Hyun?"

Instinctively reaching for his own gun, HyunJoong stopped when he noticed the gun against KyuJong's head. Slowly he lifted his hands back up so JaeJoong would have no reason to shoot. "JaeJoong, let him go," his eyes flashed with anger and fear. "Let him go and we'll let you go back to your own ship peacefully. You're outnumbered." It wouldn't be long before one of the others came to check why they weren't leaving. 

"You think I'd go back to my own ship when all the Federation ships are being blown out of space?" JaeJoong chuckled, shaking his head a little. "No, see I'm not going anywhere. You're going to get me clear of this mess. I said take off, pilot."

"No," KyuJong's jaw set, and his fingers curled tightly into the fabric on his pants. "Just.. shoot me because I'm not doing it."

JaeJoong sighed dramatically. "Oh you've taught him well Hyun, taught him how to be the martyr," JaeJoong brought the gun around and pointed it at HyunJoong, firing.

Staggering, HyunJoong fell to his knees, one hand automatically going to his stomach. Red spilled over his fingertips before he collapsed onto the floor, blinding pain washing over him.

JongWoon's head snapped up from where he was lying YoungSaeng on the bed, eyes wide. "Was that...a gunshot?" KyuHyun put down YoungSaeng's feet and disappeared. 

KyuJong had jumped at the gunshot, head snapping back to look at HyunJoong with wide eyes. He nearly got up but JaeJoong was pointing the gun at him again. "I said, take off, or I'll shoot him in the head next time."

It was a tense second before KyuJong slowly eased back into his seat again, looking at HyunJoong in worry before turning back around and starting up the engines for flight.

HyunJoong wanted to do something, anything, but he could barely move. Struggling to his hands and knees, he slipped in the growing pool of blood and collapsed back down, head spinning.

*****************62**********************


	6. Chapter 6

The ship had started to move away from the dock, on it's way to leave the station, when fingers lightly touched the side of HyunJoong's neck, checking a pulse. Then the fingers were gone, HyunJoong forcing his eyes open to see no one.

Nothing happened for a moment. Then invisible hands slapped away JaeJoong's gun, wrenching it from his grasp. 

"What..?" JaeJoong blinked at his hand, starting to get to his feet as he looked around. He didn't notice KyuJong looking back him with baleful eyes, and definitely missed the pilot getting to his feet. What he _did_ notice though, was the sharp right hook aimed at his cheek before it connected and he went down ass over teakettle, head slamming into a console.

"That was for taking my ship," KyuJong said, following JaeJoong to where he was writhing on the floor, a sharp kick going to his ribs. "That's for JungMin and YoungSaeng, and this..." he knelt down, drawing his arm back and landing another solid punch on JaeJoong's jaw. "Is for shooting my boyfriend."

KyuHyun appeared in the middle of the room, eyes flashing dangerously. "What shall we do to him? I reckon Xander's getting hungry again, don't you?" he grinned viciously, stepping closer. 

"Xander doesn't eat trash, remember?" KyuJong said, shaking his hand out and not giving JaeJoong another look. Going to HyunJoong's side, he rolled his boyfriend over a little, concern in his eyes. "Hold on Hyun, okay?" he whispered, looking around for the first aid kit. "Can you hand me that KyuHyun?" he asked, pointing at where it was on the far wall. "And call down to the infirmary."

KyuHyun pulled the first aid kit down and passed it to KyuJong, holding on to JaeJoong's gun. He went to the com system, pressing down. "We need another medic over here, there was an intruder in the bridge. HyunJoong's down. Oh, and someone to take out the trash too."

HyunJoong opened his eyes, blinking blearily up at KyuJong. His vision was going black in the corners, shirt stained a dark red. "You okay?" he murmured, coughing. "Remind me never to piss you off, you've got one hell of a punch." 

"JungMin was a good teacher," KyuJong smiled softly, opening up the first aid kit and pressing gauze to the wound. "You're going to be fine okay? You're not allowed to die," he sniffed a little, glancing over to where JaeJoong had been laying on the floor. "KyuHyun... he's gone," he said quietly.

"What?" KyuHyun glanced back, and swore. "He's not going very far," he ran out after JaeJoong.

"No dying, got it," HyunJoong mumbled, though he wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to stay conscious. "Managed to last all this time without...without getting shot." He rested his head lightly against KyuJong's knee, closing his eyes. 

"...Hyun?" KyuJong whispered, heart clenched tightly in his chest when HyunJoong stopped talking. "No.. no no no, stay with me," he pulled the soaked gauze pad away and replaced it with a fresh one, willing whoever was coming to help would hurry.

JaeJoong had been a crew member on the _Proteus_ for a long time, and with that he knew the best places to hide, which he needd to do if he was going to get to the weapons and take back control of the ship. The only problem was he had to avoid the amount of crew that seemed to spring out of nowhere everytime he turned a corner, and there was also the feeling that he was being followed. Finally making it to the cargo bay, he closed the hatch and leaned up against the railing, panting a little to catch his breath.

"Tch, amateur," a voice startled JaeJoong, and a hard shove to his shoulder had him toppling over the railing into the containers below.

KyuHyun appeared beside the containers as the human dropped down, grinning and tail waving behind him. "Well? Are you going to give up, or are we just going to have to beat you senseless?" If the human even got up after that, the species seemed unbearably clumsy when dropped from heights. 

JaeJoong groaned, rubbing at his head as he tried to sit up, a sharp pain running up his arm. He scowled at the gecko when he saw it, managing to push his way out of the containers he stumbled a little once he got his feet under him and slowly backed up. "Just stay away from me, filthy aliens.. Hyun you really have lost your damn mind."

"Filthy? I think we're quite clean actually," a voice said behind him just before a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and he was tossed none too gently to the floor. Rolling into the open airlock, JaeJoong winced when his back hit the outer door. He looked up to see a different blue face peeking at him from around the corner.

"What are we doing?" GyuRi frowned at KyuHyun and Zhou Mi as she came through the cargo bay hatch. "Have you two caught him yet?"

"Sorta," KyuHyun called back, approaching the airlock as well. The gecko was all too happy to see the fear on the human's face. "I'd say you're the filthy human, but that might be an insult to the other humans here. Now, are you going to play nicely, or do we have to call the flesh-eater?"

"..." JaeJoong scowled, trying to sit up a little. "I don't have to listen to aliens, do you have any idea who I am?"

"A human Federation officer," Zhou Mi said, blinking a little at JaeJoong on the floor. "I'm not sure how that's going to help you out here though, especially after what you did to JungMin and YoungSaeng."

" _This_ is the human who hurt JungMin oppa?" GyuRi asked, making her way to the bottom of the stairs and padding across the floor towards them. "The same human that tortured Daniel oppa?"

"The very same," KyuHyun replied, smirking down at JaeJoong. "What do you think, GyuRi? Should we get Xander?" 

"Why?" GyuRi shook her head, holding up her hands to Zhou Mi to be picked up. The gecko obliged and lifted her up into his arms. "If Xander wants him, he can go find him."

Now that she was up higher, the pixie was level with the airlock controls that Zhou Mi was next to, and she leaned forward to press the button to close the door to the chamber. JaeJoong was on his feet, pounding on the door, but that didn't dissuade GyuRi from pressing the button to depressurize the airlock.

KyuHyun grinned, watching the outer airlock doors open and the human fly out, sucked into cold space. "And _that's_ why you should listen to aliens in deep space, Federation prick."

"Did I miss the show?" SungMin asked, up on the railing. 

"Not much of a show," GyuRi said with a pout. "We didn't get to see his head explode."

"That wasn't very nice GyuRi," Zhou Mi tutted, tweaking the pixie's little nose. "But I don't think anyone on board is going to complain." He looked up at SungMin, setting GyuRi down. "Any idea what our status is?"

"No idea," SungMin frowned. "Three people down, and none of them are looking good. The whole place smells like blood."

"We should go then, they probably need help," KyuHyun strode over, climbing up onto the railing and getting past SungMin and into the hallway. 

"What happened on the bridge?" Zhou Mi asked, following behind KyuHyun. GyuRi had attached herself to SungMin's back again since the pixie was far too slow to keep up with everyone. "There were gunshots, did someone else get hurt?"

"HyunJoong was shot," KyuHyun frowned. "Pretty badly too."

"RyeoWook went up and is helping bring him to the infirmary. We're going to run out of beds," SungMin said, padding along on all fours to avoid dislodging GyuRi. 

"Now I really don't feel bad about shoving him out the airlock," GyuRi said sweetly.

"Shoved who out an airlock?" Xander popped his head out from one of the intersecting corridors.

"That asshole who hurt JungMin oppa and YoungSaeng oppa," GyuRi replied.

"Oh... good," Xander nodded, falling into step with them. "So where are we going?"

"KyuHyun and I are going to the bridge, I don't think anyone's piloting right now if the Captain's hurt," Zhou Mi said, turning a corner and starting up the stairs.

"Not a good thing right now, we need to get out of here," KyuHyun followed Zhou Mi, taking the stairs two at a time.

SungMin continued down the hallway to the infirmary, walking in to find all three beds used. Daniel had moved to one of the chairs so HyunJoong could be lain down, wanting to help but still injured himself.

RyeoWook helped KyuJong try and stem the flow of blood from HyunJoong's stomach, but the Captain had fallen unconscious at some point, skin ashen from blood loss. JongWoon tried his best to look after YoungSaeng and JungMin with HyungJoon's help, frantically padding the hole in their chests and backs to stop the blood. 

GyuRi hopped down off of SungMin's back and crawled up in Daniel's lap to be out of the way, watching all three with wide eyes. "Are they going to be okay?" she asked, making herself comfortable.

KyuJong glanced at GyuRi briefly, his hand gripping HyunJoong's tightly and trying to help RyeoWook as best he could. "We don't know," he said softly, keeping his voice steady. If any of them lived through this, it would be a miracle.

"They'll be fine," HyungJoon said, scowling down at JungMin as he pressed fresh gauze to the wound in the shifter's stomach.

"They will be," JongWoon sniffled, working determinedly. They weren't going to lose them, not now. Not after coming this far. He touched YoungSaeng's cheek lightly before returning to his task, tightening the bandages around his stomach.

Daniel wrapped his good arm loosely around GyuRi to make sure she didn't slip off his lap, careful for her wings. He watched the others with worry, eyes sad. It seemed like almost as soon as they secured clean bandages, they were soaked through again. 

"What happened to JaeJoong? Did the geckos catch him?" KyuJong asked, trying to distract himself from HyunJoong's pain.

"Shoved him out an airlock," GyuRi said simply, her hands resting on top of Daniels arm. The pilot actually stopped and looked at her, with a bemused expression. "I don't think he'll be bothering any of us again."

"Good," KyuJong's lips quivered in amusement before he turned back to HyunJoong. "I wonder how it's going out there... the battle I mean."

"We'll probably hear from the geckos soon, they went up to the bridge," Xander said from where he was leaning against the door.

"Hopefully we'll clear the fight soon," RyeoWook said quietly. And hopefully YunHo's vessel and other faction ships had survived.

For a minute there was nothing, everyone focused on their tasks. JongWoon started to cry as he looked at the red covering his hands, YoungSaeng's and JungMin's. They were losing them.

_"HEY! We've got a situation up here!"_

RyeoWook's head snapped up at the alarm in KyuHyun's voice. "What's going on?" he asked. What more could happen?

 _"There's massive,_ massive _battleships appearing out of nowhere! I swear, they weren't there a second ago! They're disabling all the other ships!"_

"...Appearing out of nowhere?" KyuJong frowned a little. "Whose ships can do that?"

"And disable other ships? No idea," Xander shook his head, looking at SungMin in confusion.

YoungSaeng's eyes opened slowly and he met JongWoon's eyes. "...Shinbi..." he whispered, his voice rattling in his throat.

" _Um... we're surrounded_ ," that was Zhou Mi's scared voice. " _They haven't disabled us yet, but they won't answer any hails_."

"Shinbi?" JongWoon repeated in a bare whisper, eyes wide in shock. Shinbi were here?

They didn't have any time to ponder that more, because, out of nowhere, they weren't alone in the infirmary.

JongWoon yelled in alarm as glass-like arms pulled him away from the bed, bandages falling out of his hands as a weapon was pressed against the side of his head. Six strangers had appeared beside them without warning, surrounding the beds and disarming the humans tending to the injured. All of them the same, liquid glass in appearance to YoungSaeng and JungMin's real forms, sharp silver eyes watching them. 

Pressed up against a wall, HyungJoon knew it would be stupid to try and struggle, just staring at the Shinbi with wide eyes. Where had they come from? KyuHyun and Zhou Mi would have said something if another ship had docked with them.

Two of the Shinbi were conferring with each other, looking at each of the other occupants in the room with unreadable expressions. They seemed to come to some sort of conclusion though, as they stepped over to JungMin and YoungSaeng's bedsides, placing their hands to either side of the wounds. Just like when YoungSaeng had healed JongWoon, the skin around where they had placed their hands rippled and melted into the hands, the wounds beginning to close. YoungSaeng's eyes opened wide and he gasped, back arching slightly up off the bed.

JungMin had a similar reaction, one flailing arm nearly hitting the hand against his stomach before a second hand grabbed his wrist, keeping him still while the injury was closed.

Staring as YoungSaeng was healed, JongWoon almost forgot about the cold metal against his temple, tears slipping down his cheeks. YoungSaeng was going to be okay. "Oh, thank God," he whispered, sniffling.

SungMin watched from the doorway with wide eyes, acutely aware of the weapon leveled at him as well. He slowly crouched down to show he wasn't going to move. It wouldn't be wise to anger these people now.

Finally the Shinbi healing JungMin pulled his hand back, the wound closed into a thin scar. JungMin sank back onto the bed, groaning before he slowly opened his eyes, gaze focusing on the Shinbi above him. 

The two Shinbi looked at each other again, conferring in that language that HyungJoon had no hopes of understanding. They didn't seem to agree about something, though the other Shinbi in the room said nothing, just keeping their eyes on the humans and other aliens.

Sitting up slowly, YoungSaeng shifted into his true form, glancing at JungMin first then looking at the two Shinbi standing over them. This was the first time they'd seen any of their people since they had been captured, and he was a little confused about what they were talking about. He spoke up quietly, looking between them.

The two Shinbi looked back at him, then at JungMin as the younger Shinbi also shifted into his real form. One replied quietly, shaking his head, the second looking at him sharply. The first shifter continued, JungMin listening to him.

JongWoon looked between them as JungMin seemed to answer some question, wondering just what they were talking about. He wiped at his eyes to be able to see properly, sniffling. They weren't in trouble, were they?

RyeoWook's attention went from the Shinbi back to HyunJoong, and when he heard a break in the conversation he drew in a shaky breath, looking at the Shinbi keeping him and KyuJong against the wall. "Please, we need to tend to our Captain," he said quietly, hoping they understood. The other Shinbi glanced at him. "He's injured, and he'll die if we don't help him." Without anyone there now, HyunJoong didn't look far from it. "Please..." 

YoungSaeng looked over at HyunJoong, his silver eyes going wide as he looked back up at the Shinbi. " _He will die, let them help_ ," he said, trying not to stutter over his words. It had been a long time since he had spoken more than a few simple sentences, and with how quickly the other Shinbi were speaking he was having a little trouble keeping up.

" _That is not our concern_ ," one of the Shinbi replied, his form a soft purple. " _These are humans yes? Their bodies are fragile, they die too easily_."

" _Then help him, please_ ," YoungSaeng said, sitting up a little more, his eyes going to the other Shinbi, the one who seemed more sympathetic. " _These are good people, they helped us_."

The Shinbi looked back at him, expression hesitant. _"Their race have never been good to us."_

 _"Maybe not the race, but these humans, they have been,"_ JungMin spoke up, unwilling to take no for an answer. _"If not for them, we would be prisoners of the Federation. They put their lives in danger for us, please help him."_

The Shinbi was silent, though JungMin saw how he looked over at HyunJoong. Finally he turned and slowly stepped over to the bed, all crew watching him. 

" _Why is this human in particular important? There are other humans on board_ ," the Shinbi standing over HyunJoong asked, looking at YoungSaeng.

" _It was because of his decisions that we are alive_ ," YoungSaeng said, getting shakily to his feet. " _He helped us escape the humans and brought us out of Federation space, he came back for us when we were recaptured. This war going on now, the Federation ships being driven out, is because of him_."

Listening to him, the Shinbi glanced towards his companions before returning his gaze to HyunJoong. JungMin watched as he lifted one hand, removing the bandages from around HyunJoong's wound, the bullet wound still bleeding. HyunJoong was completely unresponsive, and barely seemed to be breathing.

 _"We will speak more about this shortly,"_ the shifter said, before pressing his hand lightly over HyunJoong's stomach. JongWoon's eyes widened as he watched HyunJoong's skin slowly become transparent, the hand entering his skin and pulling out a small bullet from where it had been stuck inside him. Then the bullet wound slowly started to heal over, sealing. The shifter's eyes narrowed slightly, HyunJoong gasping sharply as he tossed his head to the side, starting to breathe easier. 

KyuJong, who had been standing nervously to the side, let out a cry of relief when HyunJoong started to breathe normally again, whispering thank you's to the shifters as he clung to RyeoWook's side. When the Shinbi pulled his hands away from HyunJoong's skin, he continued to look down at the human for a moment as if in contemplation before he turned to look at the other, speaking softly.

Whatever was said didn't sit well and the other stiffened noticeably, speaking in harsh tones, motioning around the room. His objections were waved off, the other speaking quietly again before turning to JungMin and YoungSaeng.

" _This human, is as you say_ ," he said, looking at HyunJoong again. " _I could see how true his intentions were and the dedication he has to his crew. It is admirable, for a human, but that does not mean we will accept humans outside of their territory. That is why we are here, and why we have stopped this war from starting. We will think on what we have learned from this human, and return shortly. This ship will remain under Shinbi control for the time being_."

JungMin nodded slowly, relieved beyond measure HyunJoong had been healed. The slight bond that took place must have caught the older Shinbi by surprise. _"Understood."_ He still wasn't sure what to make of seeing their own kind again, still disorientated after being brought back from the brink of death.

JongWoon blinked in confusion as the gun against his head was removed, the Shinbi holding him releasing him. What had they been saying? 

When they were released, KyuJong immediately went to HyunJoong's side, taking his boyfriends hand again and holding it tightly. There were happy tears in his eyes as he leaned down to kiss HyunJoong's cheek, so relieved that he was alive. He looked up at the Shinbi who had healed him, smiling. "Thank you, thank you so much."

The alien didn't reply, whether it was from not understanding the language or another reason entirely, YoungSaeng wasn't sure. The Shinbi turned to YoungSaeng and JungMin again. " _When we return, we will hear your story in detail, and we will bring the other we found on the station with us. He does not seem to understand us, speaks only in the human language, you will translate for us_."

JungMin frowned slightly at that; YoungWoon was a wild card, no telling what would happen when he was brought here. But he nodded his understanding after a moment. The Shinbi race being willing to listen to them at all was beyond what he and YoungSaeng had ever hoped for.

The Shinbi gathered together, one of them speaking into something hidden in his hand. Then they were gone as suddenly as they'd appeared, dissolving into thin air.

Shaking as everyone was still for a moment longer, shocked, JongWoon was the first to move. "Saeng!" He bolted to his boyfriend's side, wrapping both arms around him in relief as tears fell again. "You're okay!" 

Making a small sound of surprise, YoungSaeng's arms went around JongWoon holding him tightly. "Of course I'm okay," he said softly, burying his nose in the human's hair.

HyungJoon didn't launch himself at JungMin like JongWoon had, but he did approach slowly, his lower lip trembling. Hitting JungMin on the arm, his voice choked in his throat. "Idiot. What's the big idea, getting yourself nearly killed like that."

Yelping at the hit, JungMin looked up at him. "If I was nearly killed, why are you hitting me." He snagged HyungJoon by the collar, pulling the human onto the bed beside him.

Stirring, HyunJoong opened his eyes, blinking at the ceiling. It took him a moment to figure out where he was, glancing around before he looked at KyuJong, still holding his hand. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing much," KyuJong chuckled softly, leaning down to give HyunJoong another kiss. "I'll tell you all about it later, okay? You just need to rest."

"Any idea how long until they come back?" Xander asked quietly, looking to YoungSaeng and JungMin.

"Not sure, it could be ten minutes or tomorrow," YoungSaeng said, pulling back a little from JongWoon to smile at his boyfriend, cupping his cheek with a hand. He shifted back into his human form to make talking easier.

JungMin did the same, arms loosely around HyungJoon's waist to prevent him from going anywhere.

JongWoon beamed back at YoungSaeng, kissing him and shifting closer. "So we can rest for a bit?"

"I'll go tell the geckos," SungMin said before disappearing.

Sitting up, HyunJoong brought his free hand over his stomach, surprised to see no injury and feel no pain. He did nod at KyuJong's words though, fingers curling securely around the pilot's. "...Where's JaeJoong?" 

"GyuRi took care of him, we don't have to worry about him anymore," KyuJong replied, glancing at the pixie who was leaning up against Daniel's chest.

"I shot him out the airlock," GyuRi said, no small amount of pride in her voice. "Hopefully he got sucked up into an engine or something."

HyunJoong's lips curled slightly. A part of him was sad it had come to that, but JaeJoong had chosen his own fate, and HyunJoong had no more pity left for him. "Fitting."

JungMin dropped his head onto HyungJoon's shoulder, closing his eyes. The healing had done wonders, but it had done nothing for the exhaustion. He probably wouldn't be awake for much longer. 

"You should rest, Captain," KyuJong said, squeezing HyunJoong's hand. "I'm sure you'll want to be awake when the Shinbi come back. That goes for you two as well, get some rest while you can."

"I think we could all use a little rest," HyungJoon said, holding JungMin up and running a hand up and down his back.

"Looks like you've lost your bed Daniel," YoungSaeng said, easing down onto the bed and pulling JongWoon down with him. "Sorry about that."

"That's okay, he can stay with me," GyuRi said, flushing a little. "So I can keep an eye on him..."

JungMin cracked one eye open at that, lips curling into a small smirk as he looked at GyuRi. "To 'keep an eye on him', huh?"

"She's a very attentive nurse," Daniel commented, straight-faced.

HyunJoong held back a chuckle, shaking his head. He was confused at the mention of Shinbi, wondering just what had happened while he was unconscious, though he was glad JungMin and YoungSaeng were okay. "Can I try going to our own room, or are you going to strap me to the bed?" he asked, looking at KyuJong. 

KyuJong frowned a little at that, shaking his head. "I think you should rest here for a bit, just an hour or so to get your strength up, then we can go to our room, okay?"

"I'll show you where my room is," GyuRi was climbing off of Daniel's lap, taking his hands and gently pulling on the man to get him to move. Xander had disappeared at some point, probably to tail after SungMin.

Watching Daniel and GyuRi leave the room, JungMin chuckled tiredly. "I think wedding plans are over." He dropped a kiss to the crook of HyungJoon's neck before falling back onto the bed, arms around the younger man's waist to drag him down too.

"Fine fine," HyunJoong sighed, carefully settling back down. "Are you going to stay here?" JongWoon had happily settled next to YoungSaeng, nose buried against the shifter's hair and running one hand slowly along the younger man's arm. 

"Of course, they'd have to drag me away," KyuJong said, sliding up onto the bed next to HyunJoong and curling up against him. Hopefully it would be the last time he ever have to worry about HyunJoong dying, something he didn't want to think about for a very long time.

"I don't know Min, I think the wedding plans are still on, just not with you," YoungSaeng said tiredly, chuckling at the squeak HyungJoon had made when he was dragged down onto the bed.

"Poor Daniel," JungMin chuckled, closing his eyes. He and YoungSaeng had been prepared to die, but he wasn't going to question what had happened. He knew how lucky they were to have these people around them, and how lucky _he_ was with HyungJoon next to him. 

Getting comfortable, HyungJoon brushed his lips over JungMin's cheek, curling up against him. "Love you," he whispered, so glad he was able to still say it to JungMin, and to also hear it back. Closing his eyes, he sighed contently.

"Love you too," JungMin breathed in return, lips curled into a soft smile before he slipped into sleep. HyunJoong was asleep soon after, body unused to being healed suddenly, resting his forehead lightly against KyuJong's.

JongWoon was tired, but he didn't think he'd be able to sleep just yet, too busy soaking in the relief from being back beside YoungSaeng. He pressed his lips lightly against the younger man's forehead, eyes closed. 

YoungSaeng was already asleep, HyungJoon following not long after. It had been a tense and scary day for all of them, if not week. KyuJong knew they probably weren't going to get much time to sleep, so he didn't bother at that point, just content to lay with HyunJoong and listen to his heartbeat, and feel the hot breath against his skin.

************************63

A few hours later, everyone but KyuJong firmly entrenched in sleep, Zhou Mi called down to the infirmary. The Shinbi were hailing but neither of the geckos could understand them, and needed one of the shifters to help translate.

Giving HyunJoong a light kiss, KyuJong slid off the bed and padded over to JungMin and HyungJoon who were closer, lightly shaking the redhead's shoulder. "Min? It's time," he said quietly.

JungMin stirred, foiled from swatting at the offending hand by the fact both his arms were still wrapped around HyungJoon. He reluctantly pulled himself out of much-needed sleep, eyes cracking open. "...Hm?" He blinked at KyuJong, carefully unwrapping his arms from the younger man beside him so he could sit up. 

HyungJoon whined in protest, his arms going around JungMin's waist. Chuckling a little, KyuJong went around to YoungSaeng's bed, lightly shaking the man's shoulder to wake him up as well. "The Shinbi are hailing us, you're needed on the bridge," he said to JungMin.

Squawking lightly as he was nearly pulled back down onto the bed, JungMin eyed the engineer with a small smile before carefully removing the arms from around his waist, kissing HyungJoon's temple and sliding his legs out of the bed. "How long were we asleep?" He stood, trying to flatten his mess hair before shifting into his real form again. 

"A few hours, not long," KyuJong said, stepping out of the way as YoungSaeng finally stirred, looking at those who were talking with a baleful expression. KyuJong returned to HyunJoong's side, taking his boyfriend's hand and kissing his cheek lightly. "Captain, time to wake up."

HyunJoong stirred, eyes opening slowly. "Hm? What's going on?" He sat up slowly so he wouldn't knock heads with KyuJong, rubbing his face a little.

"Shinbi are hailing apparently," JungMin said, reluctant to leave the room but wondering what their race had decided. "Come on Saeng, we got work to do." 

YoungSaeng wrinkled his nose a little but sat up, looking at JongWoon for a moment before getting to his feet. "They really couldn't wait until we've slept a little?" he yawned, then shifted slowly into his Shinbi form and padded towards the door.

"I wonder how all the factions fared in this, and if YunHo's okay," KyuJong said, helping HyunJoong get to his feet. They hadn't heard anything about what had happened yet. HyungJoon was sitting up as well, blinking at them all in confusion.

"Guess we'll find out soon," JungMin said, giving HyungJoon a small smile. JongWoon had woken up too when YoungSaeng got out of bed, propping himself up on his elbows and looking from one person to the other.

HyunJoong stood up, smoothing out his clothes absently. He frowned a little when he found the dried blood on his uniform from his wound, before walking over to the door as well. "Let's not keep them waiting then." 

Following after, KyuJong's hand found HyunJoong's again as they walked through the corridors to the bridge. He was probably being a little clingy, but HyunJoong had almost died in front of him after all. YoungSaeng and JungMin were just behind, and the twins would probably join them when they woke up a bit more.

On the bridge, Zhou Mi visibly relaxed when he saw the others coming through the hatch, and gladly gave up his seat to KyuJong. "They won't stop hailing us, I answer, they see it's not you two and they hang up. It's a little annoying," he said with a sigh.

"Guess they figure there's no point in talking since you can't understand each other anyways," JungMin said, stepping up to in front of the video feed with YoungSaeng. HyunJoong sat down next to KyuJong, still a little confused about what was going on. Seeing the large battleships around the ship that were definitely more advanced than anything he'd ever seen before, he blinked in surprise. 

"Woah..." KyuJong breathed, looking at the ships with wide eyes. Not just that, but how effectively they seemed to be corralling the faction ships, though there was no sign of any of the Federation ships. A light flashing on the communications console indicated another call was coming through, KyuJong looked to the shifters before accepting the call.

YoungSaeng knew it was the Shinbi they had spoken to earlier, and he inclined his head politely. " _We will be meeting with you shortly on your human's ship. We have gathered faction leaders together for talks of peace. This Captain of yours, will represent the Federation. But that will come after our talk with you two, as well as the other. Prepare for our arrival._ "

The call was cut off on the Shinbi side, and YoungSaeng blinked and looked at JungMin. " _I thought I was imagining how curt our people were growing up, but they really are, aren't they?_ "

 _"No small talk, that's for sure,"_ JungMin snorted. _"Then again we are in the middle of a warzone."_

"Uh...translation for us non-whistling folk?" KyuHyun piped up. By then, the twins had also appeared, JongWoon looking at the battleships in shock.

"They're going to be coming here to talk with us," JungMin said, glancing back at them. "Then after we're going to be having peace talks with faction leaders. HyunJoong, you're apparently Federation representative."

"...Okay..." HyunJoong blinked. "What happened to the other Federation ships?" 

"They didn't say," YoungSaeng said, looking out the window as well. "Either chased back to Federation space or..." he left the thought hanging, seeing debris floating just off their bow.

"Why would they come here? Why would they get involved? I thought that wasn't what they did," KyuJong asked.

"Don't know... I'm sure it will be brought up, but good luck getting an answer out of them," YoungSaeng said with a shrug. "I imagine it has to do with the Federation advancing into territory that doesn't belong to them."

"That's our best bet for now," JungMin nodded. "Might want to change into a uniform that isn't soaked with blood, Captain, if you're going to be representing your entire race."

"That would be a good idea," HyunJoong sighed, standing and walking out of the bridge.

"They gonna dock with us?" JongWoon asked, blinking.

"Probably just teleport in like before," JungMin shrugged.

"...Teleport? They did what?" KyuHyun stared at them. 

"They teleported into the medbay... I don't think anyone truly believes when we say they are far more advanced technologically than any other race out here," YoungSaeng said, shaking his head.

"I believe it now... their ships just popped up out of nowhere," Zhou Mi said, pressed against KyuHyun's side. 

"Their ships have cloaks, so they can't be seen," YoungSaeng nodded. "I imagine they've been watching the situation out here for a little while, or at least have sent out scouts."

"Think they're teleporting directly where we are?" JungMin asked YoungSaeng, one hand on his hip. "If so, we should probably move to a conference room, or the bridge is going to be very crowded in a minute." 

"Let's go to the mess hall so there's enough room," YoungSaeng nodded, turning to go to the hatch. "Let the Captain know where we'll be, and it would probably be best if you all just stay out of the way."

"Okay," JongWoon nodded, eyes wide as he stepped out of their way. JungMin followed out after YoungSaeng, quirking a small smile at HyungJoon as they passed the two.

 _"Any idea what they decided on?"_ JungMin asked YoungSaeng, a little nervous as they went to the mess hall. 

" _Your guess is as good as mine_ ," YoungSaeng replied. " _I hope that in wanting to meet that they aren't going to just blow everyone up, but we both know that either is possible._ "

" _If they wanted to blow everyone up, they would have done so already I think,"_ JungMin replied, hands in his pockets. _"No one's able to stop them."_

" _No, but we have to think that they took a hand in this because they want to become a part of the rest of the galaxy again_ ," YoungSaeng said, starting down the stairs. " _The other options are too depressing_."

 _"What are they going to do with us?"_ JungMin asked, following him. They arrived at the mess hall a minute later, JungMin dropping into a chair. 

" _I didn't think they would look twice at us_ ," YoungSaeng said, taking a seat. " _They obviously were confused about us being here as it was because of YoungWoon. I am not looking forward to seeing him_."

 _"Neither am I. He's one of the worst,"_ JungMin groaned, resting his head in his arms. _"And he's not fit for anyone's company, let alone Shinbi company."_

" _I wonder if any of the others were out here_ ," YoungSaeng sat back in his chair, fingers running over the table top. " _Some were better than others, I just think they followed along with the others because they were closer in age_."

 _"If they're around, the Shinbi will be able to find them, if it's in their best interests,"_ JungMin sighed, tilting his head to the side to look at YoungSaeng.

HyunJoong came into the room, wearing fresh clothes. "No sign of them yet?" 

YoungSaeng quirked his lips slightly at JungMin before looking at HyunJoong, shaking his head. "No, I doubt we'll be waiting long though. We'll do our best to keep you aware of what they're saying, if we can."

"Thanks, I appreciate that." HyunJoong slid into a seat next to them. "Glad to see them again?"

"Half-half?" JungMin snorted. 

"We'll have a better idea of how we feel after this," YoungSaeng said, feeling more than a little anxious, and he knew JungMin felt the same.

As if on cue, three Shinbi transported into the room directly across from them, one YoungSaeng narrowed his eyes at sharply. YoungWoon was in his human form, glaring at everyone in the room, especially JungMin and YoungSaeng.

JungMin eyed YoungWoon, wondering how the Shinbi had managed to bring him this far. Without understanding their own language, he wouldn't have been very comfortable.

The Shinbi who had healed HyunJoong, a gentle blue hue, nodded to them before motioning at the chairs, speaking. JungMin glanced at him, then at YoungWoon. "He wants you to sit down." Probably so he couldn't try escaping as easily. 

"Why?" YoungWoon pulled on the grip the Shinbi had him in. "I don't have to listen to them."

"Sit down YoungWoon, they are not going to put up with your games," YoungSaeng said coolly. The assassin scowled, but sat down as he was told.

" _Why does this one not understand us_?" the Shinbi who was a light purple color asked, sitting down to one side of YoungWoon.

" _We should start at the beginning_ ," YoungSaeng said, glancing at JungMin. " _We were taken as children from one of the outlying colonies... stolen by humans and raised by their military to be assassins. We were not allowed to speak our language, or be in our true forms. Some of the children have forgotten much, including the language_."

 _"How many children?"_ asked the blue-tinted Shinbi.

JungMin had to think about that for a moment, trying to remember. _"It was around fifteen. Less than half survived the training. We were the two oldest of those taken, so we were able to hold on to what we knew of Shinbi culture and language."_

" _We tried to instruct and remind them of our people... but the human influence was too much_ ," YoungSaeng said, looking between the two across from them. YoungWoon was sulking a little, knowing that they were talking about him but didn't understand.

" _Explain why you are here, and he was on that station_ ," the purple Shinbi asked. " _Are you working alongside with what he was doing_?"

 _"Not this particular problem, no,"_ JungMin shook his head. _"We were lucky to end up on this ship, and escape the Federation's hold. We might have been sent out here too if we stayed. You must know the Federation wants control over more territory than it's own. He was impersonating a Sylar top official to give the Federation further control. We were working with Valis to prevent Sylar's expansion."_ It was the most he'd spoken in one shot for years, trying not to stumble over his words.

The two Shinbi looked at each other, YoungSaeng unsure what their expressions meant. There was no way to know what would happen with this meeting, and if the Shinbi believed that they were no better than humans, then it was likely they wouldn't have any chance in meeting with them again.

" _If you were released from Federation control, why did you remain with humans_?" one of them asked, looking to JungMin. " _Why not return to your people_?" 

_"Even if we had been given a chance and the ability to find the nearest colony, we had no reason to believe we would be allowed back into Shinbi society,"_ JungMin said, after glancing towards YoungSaeng. Might as well come clean. _"We considered ourselves abandoned."_

That seemed to elicit a reaction from the Shinbi, both of them looking at JungMin in confusion. " _Why would you believe you would not be welcome back_?"

" _Everything we know of our people... says that Shinbi would believe us to be no better than humans_ ," YoungSaeng said quietly. " _Were we mistaken_?"

" _You are Shinbi, you are one of our children_ ," the blue-tinted Shinbi said. " _We would never deny one of our own._ "

JungMin blinked at them both, caught off-guard by that. They would really be welcome back? _"Even if we were unable to fit back into society flawlessly?"_ He questioned. _"We have spent over half our lives among humans, many of our mannerisms reflect that. Then there are those like him,"_ he nodded towards YoungWoon, who was still looking annoyed, _"Who can't even speak our language anymore, let alone be around other Shinbi."_

What about HyungJoon? And JongWoon? He wanted to ask. 

" _Such things can be fixed. You belong with your people, that is of no question_ ," one said, shaking his head.

" _You must understand our concerns though_ ," YoungSaeng said, frowning a little. " _It has been so long for us that we just don't know how well we would adjust, and there are other things. If we were to come back, we would have a great deal of difficulty_."

" _These things can be discussed later_ ," the other Shinbi said, trying to ease the tension in the room. " _We will think on what you have said, but for the moment we have other things to address. The faction leaders will be joining us soon._ "

That was a whole other can of worms. JungMin frowned. _"What happened to the Federation ships?"_

 _"Those who cooperated were escorted back to their own territory,"_ the blue Shinbi replied. _"Several of our ships are stationed around the border to make sure there aren't any problems."_

JungMin relayed that quietly to HyunJoong, wanting to keep him up to date on the conversation. The Captain nodded slightly at the information. YoungWoon across from them had gone from being annoyed to mildly alarmed. 

" _Why did you step into the war_?" YoungSaeng asked, looking to the two Shinbi again. " _You had no part in this._ "

" _Anything that poses a threat to our empire is of concern,_ " one replied. 

" _It also became known to us that a ship encountered Shinbi within this faction's space. We felt obligated to investigate,_ " the other said.

Blinking, JungMin glanced back at YoungSaeng. A ship encountering Shinbi? One of the other Shinbi?

Then he remembered when YoungSaeng had pretended the _Proteus_ was a Shinbi vessel. Would that have been it?

About to comment, he blinked as several more people appeared in the room beside them, phasing into existence. A few more Shinbi, as well as what must be the faction leaders. YunHo was among them, giving HyunJoong, YoungSaeng and JungMin a slight smile and nod. One of the leaders was in chains...a representative of Sylar no doubt. 

Waiting until the other representatives sat down, the Shinbi looked to JungMin and YoungSaeng. " _You will translate for us... it may take some time for us to learn this common language you all share._ "

YoungSaeng inclined in his head. " _Of course,_ " he said. " _How shall we begin_?"

" _A cease fire between all factions, and division of claimed territories, and effective governments_ ," the Shinbi replied. " _The Shinbi will not have any further dealings with thugs or criminals._ "

JungMin translated this for the factions, and as expected there were several protests from various factions. "The factions have existed this way for centuries, why should it change now?" Argued the Merin leader, eyes narrowed. "If a faction is too weak to rule it's corner of space, it's taken over by a stronger hand. Weakening the factions into politicians will just encourage the many smaller gangs that are now controlled by the superior factions."

"I have to agree there," YunHo said quietly. "Before Sylar's dealings with the Federation, the factions have maintained a level of stability that the governments out here have failed to achieve. Changing the structure so suddenly would not have the desired effect." 

YoungSaeng relayed that to the Shinbi who did not seem pleased. " _This situation with the Federation can not happen again. Something must be done to ensure that no outside government will influence the factions into gaining control of more territory._ "

" _What if the factions created a sort of... quasi leadership?_ " YoungSaeng suggested. " _Each faction will have delegates that meet with each other a few times a year to discuss things like territory or any external threats?_ "

The two Shinbi looked at each other, considering. _"What is the probability of such an arrangement not falling through with the first sign of difficulty?"_ The blue Shinbi asked, returning his gaze to the faction leaders.

After the questions and suggestion were translated, YunHo appeared thoughtful as he looked at the other faction leaders. "It has been attempted in the past, when much of the galaxy wasn't mapped out and conditions were rougher than they are now. We have spoken prior to this, and we do agree some level of cooperation will be needed to make sure this incident is never repeated. And through this we have demonstrated we are able to work together towards a common goal." 

" _Something of this nature will need a guiding hand_ ," YoungSaeng said after he translated what YunHo had said to the Shinbi. " _Not a person here will doubt that the Shinbi are more than capable of being that guiding hand. As long as the Shinbi agree that they will not be taking over the faction controlled areas of space._ "

The two Shinbi conferred quietly before the one with the purple one nodded. " _We can agree to that. The Shinbi do not have any interest in more territory. What of the Federation? Will they agree to stay within the limits of their territory?_ "

HyunJoong frowned lightly as their gazes went to him, JungMin translating. "It isn't clear what the Federation will agree to at the moment. But the military's endeavors out here aren't common knowledge, even of the government we believe. If the civilians were to be enlightened to what has been going on, and the Federation opened it's borders so humans could learn to be accepting of alien races and not fear them, then maybe an agreement could be reached." 

"That could take a while though, and someone would need to convince the government of this," YoungSaeng said, shaking his head slightly before he had an idea. "Unless... JongWoon could do it. He could do it, don't you think Captain?"

"JongWoon?" HyunJoong blinked at that. He'd been aware of their negotiator's noble heritage since JongWoon had signed up to work on his ship; he actually did pay attention to politics every now and then, and the Perun Kim family had a large influence. But he also knew JongWoon wasn't on the best of terms with his family. "The idea would have to be presented to him...he would be able to persuade the government though, if he were to agree."

"JongWoon?" JungMin blinked in confusion. "What about JongWoon?" 

"JongWoon has some... family sway on the government," YoungSaeng said, turning back to the Shinbi to let them know what had been discussed. This seemed to appease the Shinbi, and they nodded, agreeing to what HyunJoong had suggested. All that was left for that was to convince JongWoon, but YoungSaeng didn't see that as a problem.

YoungSaeng turned to the other faction leaders, including YunHo. "You all agree to this arrangement? To set up delegates to meet and decide things in talks and not with constant battles?"

The faction leaders had been talking quietly amongst themselves; even in the room it was clear there were some not on as good a term with others, but they seemed to have reached an agreement.

"We will need to speak with the rest of our faction regarding this, but from us, you have an agreement," YunHo nodded after a moment. 

"Good, then we can start discussing terms, and reach an accord?" YoungSaeng nodded, translating to the Shinbi who agreed as well. "We might be here for a while, just so you're all aware."

"What about me?" YoungWoon spoke up for the first time. "I don't need to be here for this, can someone send me back to the Federation now?"

YoungSaeng looked at JungMin and then at the Shinbi. "I don't think you'll be going back to the Federation YoungWoon... not for a while at least."

"Why not?" YoungWoon demanded, and JungMin could see the alarm in his eyes as he clenched his hands into fists.

"You don't belong with the Federation," JungMin shook his head. "But no, you don't need to be here for this. _Is there somewhere he can stay in the meantime?_ " He asked the Shinbi. 

One nodded, motioning one of the others that had transported in with the faction leaders forward. YoungWoon was hauled up to his feet and disappeared, his loud shouts of protest cutting off.

" _The other Shinbi children, they need to be returned to us as well,_ " the blue Shinbi spoke again. " _That is another condition of the Federation._ "

HyunJoong frowned once he'd received the translation. "That is something that will probably take longer, but we'll see what we can do. Let JongWoon speak with the governments first, if he can reach an agreement with them then the other Shinbi will be released."

Relaying this, JungMin frowned inwardly. They would be expecting all the kidnapped children to go back to the Empire with them, right? What about himself and Saeng? 

YoungSaeng was thinking along the same lines as JungMin, but decided it would be best to ask at another time since there were many other things to over. He did assume though, based on their previous discussion, that the Shinbi representatives were not treating them the same as the others who had been kidnapped, so maybe that accounted for something.

The talks were a long and arduous process, with all sides maneuvering and bargaining for the best end of the deal. Sylar's representation was quiet, which was to be expected, and only made a small noise when it was decided that the territory Sylar had secured during its partnership with the Federation would be divided amongst the other factions fairly.

There were many more decisions to be made, but what they had done and agreed to so far needed to be discussed with the factions and governments not represented. It was unlikely that anyone would have a serious problem with how things were handled, especially since the Shinbi would be a visible fixture in the galaxy now.

It was getting close to the sixth hour of talks when they signed the accord that called for the cease fire and ended the war. YoungSaeng was feeling good with how things were handled, and even the Shinbi looked pleased.

Leaning back, HyunJoong sighed inwardly in relief, looking around the table. He wasn't used to these kind of long meetings, but it had worked out well. There was still the question of what the real Federation government would say to all this; HyunJoong may be from the Federation, but he was only a civilian, and didn't have much of a say in the end. They would need JongWoon's influence to have any real chance of this pulling through.

 _"We will return representatives to their ships so the details of the accord may be discussed further,"_ the blue Shinbi said after a moment. _"Plans will be made for another session of talks in a month's time. Would that be enough time to discuss amongst yourselves?"_

Once the question was translated, there were murmurs of agreement from the faction leaders. YunHo gave HyunJoong a quirked smile before agreeing as well. 

" _Would it be alright if YunHo, the Valis representative stayed here for the moment? We will return him to his ship afterwards_ ," YoungSaeng asked the two Shinbi.

" _Why?_ " one asked, glancing at YunHo and then back.

" _He helped us, we would like to speak to him_ ," YoungSaeng replied.

" _Very well, the rest shall be taken now,_ " the purple Shinbi stood, motioning for the other faction leaders to be taken back to their ships.

" _We will have to discuss what it will happen to you two at a later time,_ " the blue Shinbi said, getting up as well.

JungMin tried not to frown at that, tapping his fingers against his knees lightly. As YunHo started to rise, JungMin caught his attention. "Can you stay for a moment?" he asked.

The bronze-skinned man quirked a brow lightly before nodding. "Of course." He watched as the other representatives were gathered into a group.

HyunJoong was once again amazed as they all disappeared, wondering how such technology could be achieved. He relaxed a little when it was just them in the room. 

YoungSaeng relaxed as well, shifting into his human form to make talking easier with the others. "Well, I think that was the first time anyone in that room agreed on anything... ever," he said with a small chuckled. "You did well YunHo, I think they valued your input. How well did Valis fare in the battle?"

YunHo chuckled tiredly, rubbing one hand over his face. JungMin knew his particular race could last a week without rest of any kind, but the alien was starting to look like he needed it. "Better than predicted. We lost the majority of our first two waves of fighters...but after that the Sylar and Federation ships seemed to lose direction and break ranks. It was child's play after that. I'm guessing things went well from your side, or you both would not be here in front of me," he nodded to YoungSaeng and JungMin. JungMin nodded before shifting into his human form as well. 

"We weren't aware of much of what happened, but from what we are told it was pretty simple to get in and out," YoungSaeng nodded, glancing at HyunJoong. "Though there was a small complication once we left the station, but that seemed to take care of itself." He took a deep breath, sighing in relief. "I wanted to thank you, for everything that you've done for us. We may not have trusted you in the beginning and vice versa, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that we count you as a trusted ally."

"I can say the same for you all," YunHo nodded with a small smile. "And I am glad you are all safe. I would say you deserve a long vacation...though I don't think that falls under my control anymore, does it?"

JungMin blew his hair out of his eyes in frustration. "Yeah, well...we still have to figure this thing out with the Shinbi, and whatever everyone else is doing...though a vacation would be nice."

"If there is anything I can do for any of you, you need only ask," YunHo told them. 

"Well, I don't know about you all, but I am starving," YoungSaeng said, stretching out his arms. "Would you like to join us for a meal YunHo? The gecko is an excellent cook."

"That sounds good right about now," YunHo chuckled.

"Who's going to break the news to JongWoon that he gets to negotiate for something a little bigger than supply deals?" HyunJoong asked, stretching out as well before going to the door. He needed to check how things were fairing on the bridge. 

"I'll let him know... he might kill me for being the one to suggest it though," YoungSaeng said ruefully, getting to his feet. There were some underlying issues with JongWoon going back to the Federation that YoungSaeng didn't want to think about, the least of which being JongWoon's reaction to it.

When the door opened, there was a small 'eep' from YoungSaeng's left, and when he turned his head, he could just barely make out Zhou Mi's form disappearing down a side hall. "Yah! Get back here gecko!"

"Got one." JungMin snagged a wall-colored tail and pulled upwards, KyuHyun shrieking as he was dangled upside-down. "I missed how much fun this was."

"Har har har," KyuHyun groaned, flailing around as he tried to get free.

HyunJoong shook his head at the gecko. "Can you go after Mi and ask him if he can make dinner?"

"I need to be put _down_ first!"

"Here you go!" JungMin tossed him down the corridor after Zhou Mi like a bowling ball, YunHo laughing. 

"And quit spying! You hear everything that's going on now, no reason to be listening at doors!" YoungSaeng called after him. "You would think after all this time they'd stop doing that," he sighed, shaking his head a little as they headed towards the stairs.

"Old habits break hard I guess," HyunJoong chuckled, stepping up the stairs towards the bridge.

"It's surprising you have geckos working on the ship at all, they're rather notorious for being uncooperative," YunHo mused, lips quirked in amusement. 

"These two are... very different from other geckos we've encountered," YoungSaeng said, glancing at YunHo with a smile. "Just ask RyeoWook."

"I've heard already," YunHo chuckled.

They stepped into the bridge, JongWoon perking up as they came in. "Meeting's over? You were in there for a while," he said.

"It was long, but I think we settled a lot," HyunJoong smiled, stepping up behind KyuJong's chair and resting his hands lightly on the pilot's shoulders. "How are things up here?" 

"Good, I guess... we haven't really gone anywhere yet," KyuJong said, looking up at HyunJoong with a smile. "Most of the Shinbi ships left.. or at least I think they did. I just didn't know which way to head."

"I think the first stop will be to YunHo's ship after we've had some food," YoungSaeng said, sitting down next to JongWoon, his arm going around the man's waist. "You and I need to talk in private," he said softly."

Leaning against the Shinbi lightly, JongWoon blinked at YoungSaeng in confusion. "Uh...okay?" He wondered what YoungSaeng wanted to talk about. "Right now?" JungMin had happily dropped into the chair next to HyungJoon, complaining about having to sit still for so long. 

"If you want, it can wait though if you want to wait until after we've eaten," YoungSaeng said, tucking his fingers under JongWoon's chin to draw him into a light kiss. HyungJoon wasn't complaining about JungMin nearly dropping in his lap, all but clinging to the shifter's side.

JongWoon happily agreed to wait until after dinner, wrapping his arms loosely around YoungSaeng to return the kiss. Okay, he might have been panicking a little while waiting for the meeting to finish (he didn't know how such a large wound could be healed all in one shot, what if there was a relapse? What if something wasn't healed properly and YoungSaeng collapsed?). He couldn't help it though, holding onto the younger man to make sure he was safe.

Letting HyungJoon attach himself to him, JungMin glanced around the bridge and decided it was too quiet, and since they had to wait a bit for dinner anyways, he wanted to be somewhere more comfortable. "Want to go to our room?" he murmured in HyungJoon's ear, quite happy to be back beside the human. 

Lips curling upward, HyungJoon looked up at JungMin and nodded. "Yeah sure," he murmured, disentangling himself and getting to his feet. "Call us when dinner's ready?" he said, looking to the others. YoungSaeng eyed them both with a nod, a small smile playing on his lips as he held JongWoon close.

JungMin chuckled as he stood, looking at the two sitting across from them. JongWoon didn't look like he was planning on letting go either. The redhead stepped out of the bridge beside HyungJoon, sticking right beside the human, close enough for their arms to brush as they walked. "You weren't too bored waiting? _I_ was bored after the first hour of translating their squabbles." 

"Extremely bored," HyungJoon sighed, looking over at JungMin as they walked. "I'd just gotten you back and you get dragged away for a meeting... I didn't think it was very fair."

"Not at all," JungMin pouted, looking back at him. "Well, I'm back now?" 

"Yeah..." HyungJoon nodded, chewing on his lip. He was quiet all the way back to their room, opening up the door and stepping inside. "What's going to happen Min? Are you going to go back with the Shinbi now?" he asked once the door was closed, nearly tackling JungMin in a hug.

"I d—" JungMin squawked as he was tackled, slamming backwards into the wall. "Ow. Almost-killed person, a little less of slamming into things please?" He wrapped his arms around HyungJoon though, not allowing him to move away. One hand twined into the human's hair. "I honestly don't know what they want with me and Saeng. The way they talk makes it seem like they want us to go back." 

HyungJoon mumbled an apology, his nose buried in JungMin's shoulder. "Do you want to ?" he asked, his grip tightening. "I know it would mean a lot to you and Saeng...right?"

"It used to be all we wanted." JungMin rested his head against HyungJoon's, eyes faraway as he thought. The chance to go back home...it had been just a dream for so many years, one they'd given up on. Their lives seemed chosen for them, until they were to end messily on a mission gone bad. This...this was beyond anything they had ever thought of.

But...

"I'm not sure...if I want to go now though." 

"Why not?" HyungJoon pulled back a little to look up at him. "Because of me? No, don't you dare make that kind of decision cause of me. This is your _people_ Min... think of everything you could learn from them... a chance to be really accepted somewhere."

"You don't think I know that already?" JungMin knocked HyungJoon's head lightly. "But I'm already accepted somewhere...aren't I? Do you accept me?" It had been what put them at odds for so long, the insistent feeling that he couldn't be accepted, couldn't be a welcome part of HyungJoon's life. 

"Of course, I love you," HyungJoon nodded, smiling a little though he felt tears welling up in his eyes. "I just want you to do what's best for you Min... and even if that means you leaving and going with them and never coming back then that's okay, I wouldn't like it, but as long as you're happy." The last words were choked out, HyungJoon's lip trembling and his whole face crumpling up.

Looking down at him, JungMin sighed softly and hugged HyungJoon close. "I wouldn't be happy. And neither would you, so don't give me that selfless act." He ducked his head and brushed his lips over the human's trembling ones. "I'm not going anywhere." 

HyungJoon returned the kiss, his arms going around JungMin's neck and tightening their hold. Even if he didn't want to say it, he really didn't want JungMin going anywhere. He could admit that little bit of selfishness to himself. It was only a few steps backwards to their bed, HyungJoon not letting up on his grip of JungMin as he shuffled backward until the back of his knees hit the edge of the mattress, collapsing onto it and dragging JungMin down on top of him.

Supporting himself above HyungJoon, JungMin renewed the kiss and deepened it, not willing to stop. He would show HyungJoon he wasn't going to leave. Even if being with the Shinbi had been his goal for years, he had everything he wanted right here.

He pushed that feeling through the bond to HyungJoon as best as he could without being in his real form. _This is what I want. I want to be with you._

Moaning in response to not only the deepened kiss, but the feelings and thoughts he was getting from the bond, HyungJoon wrapped both legs around JungMin's waist. He never wanted to give this up either, and would cling to him forever if he could, just to keep JungMin with him.

************************64

Back on the bridge, HyunJoong was talking quietly with YunHo and KyuJong while they waited for the gecko's to call up for dinner. HyunJoong held KyuJong's free hand lightly, something YunHo was polite enough to pretend not to notice. SungMin and Xander had popped in several times before, but were nowhere to be found now.

JongWoon kept his nose buried in YoungSaeng's collar, breathing in and out slowly as he soaked in the comfort of being back with his boyfriend. "Your stomach, does it hurt?" he murmured after a moment. 

"Hm?" Distracted from his thoughts, YoungSaeng looked down at JongWoon, shaking his head. "No, it doesn't," he said softly, rubbing the man's back. "Why, were you wanting to give me a thorough exam to make sure I'm okay? I won't say no."

"It would definitely make me feel a little better," JongWoon said sheepishly, one hand lightly on YoungSaeng's belly. "I thought we were going to lose you," he whispered, willing back the tears before they could make an appearance. He'd never seen an injury that bad before, and the blood just kept on flowing. 

Cupping JongWoon's jaw with his free hand, YoungSaeng gave him a sad smile, sighing softly. "It was a close one, that's for sure... but even if the Shinbi hadn't arrived, I know you would have kept us alive," he said softly, kissing JongWoon's forehead. "You want to do that exam now, or wait until after dinner?"

Closing his eyes for a moment at the kiss, JongWoon opened them again to look at the younger man. "I-If you don't mind moving...could we do it now?" 

"Okay," YoungSaeng smiled, patting JongWoon's back to get him to move so he could stand up. "So, are we going to the infirmary, or this examination going to take place in our room," he asked, whispering into JongWoon's ear when he'd got the man to standing.

JongWoon turned his usual tomato red, stuttering a little as he followed YoungSaeng out of the bridge. "U-uh...I-I guess in our room?" he stammered. 

Suppressing a smile, YoungSaeng's hand found JongWoon's as they started down the stairs. "So this will be an informal exam then? Testing reflexes and such? I guess I can do that."

"Y-yeah...and just generally making sure everything's healed properly," JongWoon nodded, fingers curling around YoungSaeng's and swinging their joined hands back and forth slowly. "Kinda important."

"I am fine JongWoon, honest," YoungSaeng said, though he did smile at that. "What's going to happen when I'm not getting injured all the time? You going to lose your interest?" he teased.

"No," JongWoon pouted, flushing a little more. "I'll just...have a different reason for examinations than making sure you're not going to die." 

YoungSaeng chuckled, opening up their door when they reached it and pulled JongWoon in. "And what would those other reasons be may I ask?" he whispered, nipping at JongWoon's jaw when he had him pressed up against the door.

JongWoon drew in a shaky breath, eyelids fluttering. "W-wanting to be with you?" He placed his hands lightly on YoungSaeng's waist.

"I think that's something we can agree on," YoungSaeng murmured, his lips moving along JongWoon's neck. "I don't know what I'll do without you."

"I don't know what I'd do witho-ut _you_ ," JongWoon got out, words hitching halfway through as his head fell back against the door involuntarily. "I...still need to check your injury, you know." Unless YoungSaeng's goal was to distract him, in which case, it was working amazingly. 

"Oh, so that wasn't just a cover story?" YoungSaeng chuckled in amusement. He dropped another kiss to JongWoon's neck before pulling back and sitting down on the edge of the bed. His shirt came up and off, dropping it onto the floor before he laid down on the bed. "Alright, your patient is ready."

Staring after him, the human flushed again, swallowing a little thickly before approaching the bed. He pressed one knee lightly against the mattress beside YoungSaeng, eyes on the shifter's face for a moment before flicking down to his belly. He could see the thin scar that remained where the hole had been, fingers brushing over it lightly before he started checking for any bruises or sign of internal damage. "Tell me if something hurts?" 

"I told you, I'm fine," YoungSaeng said softly, looking up at JongWoon with a smile. "You know, I'd hope you were planning on giving JungMin the same examination, just to be fair."

"I-I think HyungJoon might have beaten me to it," JongWoon shook his head, continuing. "I just...I just want to make sure. Just for my peace of mind." He'd seen YoungSaeng nearly die after all, with a pole impaling him through his stomach. He'd never been so scared in his life. 

YoungSaeng's hands curled over top of JongWoon's, stopping him from what he was doing. "JongWoon... I'm fine, I really am. Right now, all I want is to kiss you, because when I was hanging on for my life in that cell, all I wanted was to kiss you."

Looking up at the younger man, JongWoon's eyes glassed over with tears. He moved up the bed until he was level with YoungSaeng's face, leaning down to kiss him softly. "We can kiss for as long as you want, whenever you want," he whispered, holding onto his hand. 

"Holding you to that," YoungSaeng whispered around JongWoon's lips, arm going around his waist and pulling him down a little. "You saved my life JongWoon, I'll never forget that," he said when he'd broken off after a moment for air.

JongWoon's lips quivered a little. "I guess we're even after the desert planet, huh?" He ran his fingers gently through YoungSaeng's hair. "I love you, Saeng." 

"I love you too," YoungSaeng smiled up at him. "How can we be even if you keep taking care of me like this? I think I'll always be in your debt JongWoon."

"Well, you keep me from stepping on too many tails and getting myself killed by insulting someone, so we're still even," JongWoon chuckled sheepishly. "Relationships aren't about being in 'debt'...we're equals." He kissed YoungSaeng again softly. 

"You've come a long way from stepping on tails," YoungSaeng replied, returning the kiss again and again. "I'm still getting used to this relationship thing."

"I think our relationship's great though," JongWoon chuckled, the hand that wasn't supporting his weight trailing down to cup YoungSaeng's jaw lightly, thumb stroking the soft skin. 

"I do too," YoungSaeng smiled, leaning into the hand, his smile sad. "And I think it's strong enough if we were to be separated again, don't you?"

"...Huh?" JongWoon blinked down at him, not understanding. "Why would we be separated though? We just got you back." 

"Just a hypothetical," YoungSaeng said, shaking his head a little. "Don't mean anything by it."

"Oh, okay," JongWoon nodded, relaxing a little and burying his nose against YoungSaeng's neck, kissing the soft skin. "I guess yeah, doesn't mean I want it to happen." 

"Me either," YoungSaeng murmured, his hand running up and down JongWoon's back. "I think though, we can save talk until after dinner though."

"So no more talking?" JongWoon smiled a little, continuing the light kisses. 

"No more talking," YoungSaeng grinned, rolling JongWoon over onto his back and cutting off any more replies with a deep kiss. Even though they would have to discuss the possibility of separating, he didn't want to trouble JongWoon with it just yet.

A while later, the conversation up on the bridge was cut off by the ship's com turning on. _"Food's ready,"_ KyuHyun called, the static cutting off.

HyunJoong stood up. "There's our call." 

"Oh good, I was beginning to think we weren't eating at all today," KyuJong chuckled, finishing up what he was working on and getting up as well. "It will be nice to have some of Zhou Mi's cooking again. Promise me we'll never let Xander and SungMin cook ever again?"

"Promise," HyunJoong chuckled. Xander's taste with food was a little...off, and SungMin meant well, but with stubby paws he couldn't really do much. He headed towards the hatch with YunHo. 

"I'm glad everyone's safe and back on the ship though," KyuJong said, walking beside HyunJoong. "But we're not going to be getting that vacation we'd planned for a while now, are we?"

"Doubt it," HyunJoong shook his head.

"At least you won't have to worry about being shot out of the sky as much," YunHo chuckled quietly, glancing back at them. 

"Still," KyuJong sighed heavily, his hand finding HyunJoong's. HyunJoong had informed him of what had taken place in the meeting, but they still hadn't decided on what course of action to take, or where they were going. "I was just hoping for a little bit of time to relax, that's all."

"That's something everyone wants," YunHo shook his head lightly. "Hopefully it won't be long in coming."

"We'll see if we can find some downtime every now and then though," HyunJoong murmured to KyuJong softly. 

"Okay," KyuJong said, smiling softly up at him. "I'm complaining too much, aren't I?"

"Not at all," HyunJoong chuckled. "I think we've earned a little complaining." As YunHo went into the mess hall ahead of them, he held KyuJong back for a moment to kiss him softly. 

KyuJong returned the kiss, his arms going around HyunJoong's neck. He was glad for the small moments like this, and would never take them for granted. "Everything changes from now on, doesn't it?"

"It does," HyunJoong nodded, lips quirked slightly as he looked down at the younger man. "But then again, when have things stopped changing the past five months." He kept his hands lightly at KyuJong's waist. 

"True... but it still feels like this is bigger," KyuJong said, leaning in for another kiss.

"Bigger than a war?" HyunJoong chuckled, leaning in as well to meet him halfway. Kissing him deeply, he broke away again after a moment, with a few lingering kisses. "Whatever happens, we'll get through it." 

"Right, we'll get through it," KyuJong smiled. Lacing his fingers with HyunJoong's, he led them into the mess hall where everyone was already sitting.

"We started without you," HyungJoon spoke around a mouthful. "Sorry."

"Don't do that, that's disgusting," JungMin wrinkled his nose and poked at a full cheek.

Amused, HyunJoong sat down in one of the two empty seats, looking around the table. Everyone was here, even Daniel who was still having trouble moving. It was the most relaxed he'd seen them in recent days, everyone talking and joking around. 

Zhou Mi was up fussing around, getting KyuJong and HyunJoong's plates filled up soon as they had sat down. It was definitely a nice atmosphere, the pilot enjoying spending time with not only his boyfriend, but everyone else.

"You're disgusting," HyungJoon wrinkled his nose back at JungMin, but his lips were quivering slightly, and he was leaning against the other's shoulder.

"No, that's disgusting," Xander pointed at GyuRi who was feeding Daniel. "Did they break his hands?"

"Arm, technically," Daniel got out before he was presented another mouthful. HyunJoong snorted in amusement at how Daniel seemed to have no problem humoring the pixie.

"As long as she's not trying to do that to me anymore," JungMin whispered to HyungJoon. 

"I think you liked it a little," HyungJoon replied, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. 'If you really didn't like it you'd have made sure she couldn't."

"I think you missed the part about her being _very_ persuasive," JungMin sniffed, turning his attention back to his food. 

"She's like half your size," HyungJoon snorted, nudging JungMin a little with his elbow. Even if JungMin didn't want to admit it, he knew he cared about the pixie more than he let on.

"So are we going to find out more what happened in that meeting," Xander asked, his head resting on the top of the table, one eye twitching. "Some of us didn't have bedmates in that meeting."

"Hey, we didn't find out anything either," JongWoon pouted, still a little pink as he worked at his food.

"We signed the ceasefire," JungMin shrugged, glancing to YunHo who nodded. "The factions are gonna discuss amongst themselves, and we're getting back together for another meeting in a month." 

"Where does that leave us then?" HyungJoon asked, looking at JungMin then at HyunJoong. "We're still not working under Valis right? No offense, YunHo."

"None taken," YunHo chuckled. "I wouldn't say no if you wanted to return to the Valis, but I think you have other responsibilities."

"To the Federation, and the Shinbi," HyunJoong nodded with a sigh. "We'll need to figure out what we're doing, and I don't doubt the Shinbi will be back to talk with you two," he looked at JungMin and YoungSaeng, the former nodding. 

"Once we talk with them again, I'm sure we'll be able to make some real decisions," YoungSaeng said, picking at his food. "Like where we're going from here."

"So we're just hanging out here for the time being? We're going to need to refuel, and get supplies," KyuJong said, frowning a little. "We've only got a couple days at most, and I think Xander's getting hungry... again."

"Why don't you at least head back to Valis space?" YunHo suggested. "There are several outposts by the border to refuel at."

"Probably the best idea," JungMin nodded. "They'll be able to find us no matter where we are anyways." 

YoungSaeng nodded in agreement as well. "Give us time to discuss things then."

"And we'll have a few days to just relax, enjoy each other's company," KyuJong said.

"Can I vote for no more practice?" HyungJoon said, looking to JungMin with pleading eyes.

"You're gonna get rusty," JungMin snorted, eyeing him with a smirk. "Were you practicing while we were MIA? I told you if you didn't practice I was gonna kick your ass." 

HyungJoon scowled at him. "I was a little preoccupied with worrying about you," he said, scooting his chair away.

"If he wasn't working, he was covering for me on the bridge," KyuJong said, attempting to save HyungJoon. "He really didn't have time to practice.. none of us did."

JungMin pouted a little at the chair moving away. "I was just teasing. Okay, I think we can have a break from practice for a while." 

"It's hard to tell the difference between teasing and not teasing when you _have_ followed up threats like that before," HyungJoon pointed out, though he did scoot back closer.

YoungSaeng sighed, shaking his head a little before he looked to YunHo. "So, I think we need to discuss what happens to RyeoWook now."

"That's what this is for," JungMin poked HyungJoon's arm, the short contact letting the human know he was sorry for the ill-timed tease.

YunHo nodded, looking towards his spy. "My arrangement with RyeoWook was until the threat of war with the Federation and Sylar was over. Since that's taken care of, so is his time in Valis. RyeoWook, I'll just need a final report sent to my ship before we part ways."

"Yes sir," RyeoWook nodded, trying to hide a smile and failing. 

"Well that's good to hear," KyuJong smiled. "I'm sure the captain doesn't need to say it, but you are welcome on board here, for however long you want." That seemed to please Zhou Mi, the gecko wrapping both arms tight around the spy's tiny waist.

Squeaking a little as he was almost pulled out of his chair, RyeoWook smiled gratefully at them. "Thank you." He chuckled as KyuHyun shook his head at Zhou Mi in amusement. 

KyuJong smiled in return, happy that RyeoWook would be safe now, and that he had the two geckos as well. "And what about you Daniel? Are you going to go back to the Federation if you're able?"

"Once I hear if I'm going to just be arrested again the second I go there," Daniel chuckled. "I have a few loose ends to tie up back home, since I was dragged away rather abruptly. I would like to come back out here though, if the border's going to be more open." 

"Well that is the hope," YoungSaeng nodded, looking at the pixie in Daniel's lap. "And you?"

"Hm... I'll let him decide where we end up, I'll be too busy with the wedding plans," GyuRi said, shrugging her shoulders.

JungMin barely restrained a snort, covering his mouth. That hadn't taken long.

"What about you both?" HyunJoong asked Xander and SungMin, amused.

"I like this ship, interesting things happen here," SungMin grinned. 

"You keep me fed," Xander said, ignoring YoungSaeng covering his eyes with a hand. "And someone needs to keep an eye on SungMin."

HyungJoon stopped chewing, looking between Xander and SungMin. "Wait... did I miss something? Are you two...?"

"Are we what?" SungMin blinked, looking at the engineer. "And I don't need anyone keeping an eye on me," he sniffed at Xander's comment, pouting lightly. 

"Sure you don't, and I think he's asking if we're together, which the answer would be a very hearty _no_ ," Xander said, shivering a little.

"What? No, no and no," SungMin shook his head hard, looking at his indignant expression. "What, can't people just be friends?"

"We didn't say you couldn't," JungMin chuckled. 

"Was just asking," HyungJoon shrugged. "I mean, you two wouldn't go together at all, but stranger things have happened." He glanced at RyeoWook and Zhou Mi, the latter resting his head on the other's shoulder with a wide smile.

Finishing his meal, JongWoon leaned back in his chair, hand finding YoungSaeng's under the table. "We sleeping after?" he murmured softly, still tired after everything. Three hours of sleep, seven hours ago wasn't enough. 

"After our talk," YoungSaeng nodded, squeezing JongWoon's hand lightly as he finished up. He could see others were finishing as well, KyuJong already looking passed out against HyunJoong. "You ready?"

"Yeah," JongWoon smiled lightly. He shifted in the chair, standing up. "We'll see you guys in the morning?" JungMin waved at them absently, leaning against HyungJoon. 

YoungSaeng led him from the room after they had taken their dishes into the kitchen. Out in the hall, his arm went around JongWoon's waist and they walked slowly, no real urgency anywhere. It was probably the only time YoungSaeng had felt this way, not in a rush to go or be anywhere. He kind of liked it.

In their room though, he shut the door and pulled JongWoon down to sit across from him on the bed. "You probably aren't going to like what I'm going to say, but just know that this decision took everything into consideration, okay?" He took a deep breath, holding both of JongWoon's hands in his own. "We told the Shinbi representatives that we would send someone to the Federation to negotiate on the terms that were set in the accord.. someone who would have sway in the government, and someone who I think would do the best job."

Blinking at YoungSaeng as he listened, JongWoon didn't understand at first, looking at the younger man in confusion. Someone that would have sway in the government?

Then he understood who YoungSaeng was talking about, and his eyes went wide with fear. "W-wait...Saeng, you're not talking about _me_ , right? I...That's a huge responsibility, I wouldn't be able to do something like that!"

He was a disgrace of an heir, and all he wanted to do was forget he came from that family. If he couldn't even get simple things right, how was he supposed to negotiate for the accord? 

"Why not? I think you've done a fantastic job out here acting as a negotiator," YoungSaeng said, brushing JongWoon's bangs out of his eyes. "You just need confidence when it comes to anything to do with your past, and your family. I couldn't think of anyone better to present this accord to the Federation. Even if your family doesn't acknowledge you, you being a part of that family still gives you a voice... a voice the rest of us don't have."

Shoulders shaking, JongWoon shut his eyes tightly, heart hammering in his chest. "W-what if I can't do it?" he whispered. "I'm not as great at this as you make me out to be, Saeng...I'm not strong like you." 

"I'm not nearly as strong as you think I am," YoungSaeng said softly, scooting closer. "I was so ready to give up and die back there on that station... but you... without even thinking you came and saved me, when you could have died so easily. You are the strongest, most determined human I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, and if you're half as stubborn in telling those government officials what's going on as you are with me, then you'll have them all in the palm of your hand."

Sniffling a little as he listened to YoungSaeng, JongWoon's eyes were watery as he half-opened them, looking up at the younger man. "You re-eally think so?" he whispered, voice cracking halfway through. He was terrified of going back. 

"I know so," YoungSaeng nodded, cupping JongWoon's cheek with his hand. "I have every confidence in you... especially when it means helping all of the people out here."

Shaking, JongWoon wrapped his arms around YoungSaeng's waist, hugging him close and burying his face in his shoulder. "...What about you? Are you...wh-what are you going to do when the Shinbi come back?" 

YoungSaeng sighed, closing his eyes and wrapping both arms around JongWoon. "I don't know," he replied, wanting to be truthful and give JongWoon false hope. "The Shinbi want all the children that were taken to be returned, but they said nothing of JungMin and myself. We don't know if they want us to go along as well. There is a possibility that JungMin and I will have to go with them."

Heart sinking in his chest, JongWoon felt the tears spill over his cheeks. "S-so...this might be goodbye?" he sniffled, holding on tighter. He didn't want to say goodbye. But he couldn't keep YoungSaeng from his own kind. 

"Let's not think about it," YoungSaeng whispered, kissing the side of JongWoon's head. "No matter what, they're not keeping us apart forever... I'll make sure of it."

JongWoon's eyes shut tightly, holding on to YoungSaeng tighter. "I believe you," he got out, voice cracking as he tried to hold on to that idea. But if he was going back to the Federation, and YoungSaeng going with the Shinbi...how would they ever find their way back together? 

"There's something... something we can do," YoungSaeng whispered, pulling back a little to look JongWoon in the eyes. "Something that would make sure we stay together, that they can't keep us apart, and even if we're separated we'll still feel each other's presence."

Opening glassy eyes to look back at YoungSaeng, JongWoon bit the inside of his cheek, holding onto the shifter's shoulders lightly. "What is that?" he sniffled. 

"When I touch you, like this," YoungSaeng whispered, cupping JongWoon's cheek, breathing softly at the emotions from the older man. "We feel each other, through a shared bond. What we have is something special, and it could be even more if made it a true bond, sharing a heart and soul."

Leaning a little into the touch, JongWoon met YoungSaeng's gaze, lightly holding the hand against his cheek. He was surprised at that, a few tears falling free from his eyelashes. "It...it's possible?" he whispered? "For us?" 

"We can try, but I think if this worked for us, then that will too," YoungSaeng said, shifting slowly into his true form. "What do you think?"

Looking at how beautiful YoungSaeng was in his real form, JongWoon's fingers lightly stroked against those resting on his cheek. After a moment he nodded a little, a wavering smile curling his lips. "I-I want to try," he murmured quietly. "It's...the same as before?" 

"It is, just relax," YoungSaeng said softly, leaning in to brush his lips over JongWoon's. "This will probably feel a little weird, just trust me," he whispered, taking JongWoon's hand in his own, their laced together fingers slowly melting together, JongWoon's skin taking on that translucent quality of YoungSaeng's skin. The hand on JongWoon's cheek had also disappeared, YoungSaeng leaning into press his lips firmly against JongWoon's until they were indistinguishable.

Shivering a little at the tingling feeling. JongWoon barely caught sight of their fingers melding together before YoungSaeng kissed him, the weird feeling spreading. Suddenly YoungSaeng's emotions were amplified, like they had been when YoungSaeng had healed his leg. He didn't make any effort to stop the shifter even if he was a little nervous; he fully trusted YoungSaeng, shifting a little closer. 

YoungSaeng wasn't entirely sure how this was supposed to work, having not only never done this before, but never even met two Shinbi who had been fully bonded. It was something that was instinctual though, and he drew JongWoon more and more into himself. Not just physically, but every part of JongWoon's essence was open before him, and the further he pressed, the more he felt and saw.

The tingling sensation had spread, JongWoon almost overwhelmed. The longer they continued, the _clearer_ YoungSaeng's emotions and thoughts became. They graduated from half-formed ideas and images to words, the language neither human nor Shinbi. He wasn't even sure how he was still _breathing_ , but he didn't have enough time to think about it as YoungSaeng's thoughts became as clear as his own, flashes of images racing behind his eyelids. Images so deeply engrained, he couldn't even tell who they came from.

 _He was being scolded again for something he should have done but hadn't, couldn't. Hands clasped tightly behind his back as he listened to his father rant in his ear, blinking back tears, the child sought for something else to focus on, anything at all. His gaze landed on the thick-glass window opposite him, stretching from floor to ceiling with a beautiful view of the aquatic life around the underwater colony. Watching small, colorful fish swim by, he forgot why he was in his father's office at all, imagining he could swim freely like they did._

YoungSaeng watched the scene as if it was himself, feeling the sting of being scolded, and the desire to be elsewhere. Even knowing it wasn't his own memory, it still felt real enough that for a moment, YoungSaeng doubted who was.

_It was the first time he had been able to change his form, the day he had looked forward to for years. It had happened on accident as it usually did, lying in the grass near the fields that kept their colony fed, he had watched the birds flying over head. He had imagined what it would be like to soar through the air, to feel the wind under his wings and the sun on his back. When he opened his eyes, he looked down at his hands that were starting to sprout feathers, and smiled._

For a moment, JongWoon thought he could feel the feathers, the tingling in his fingers matching with the memory as ghostly blades of grass tickled his back. The exhilaration at the idea that he could soon be flying stole his breath away.

 _Training was a way to get out of the mansion, and he put everything he had into it. That didn't mean he actually succeeded at what he was aiming to do. When he landed on his face for the fifth time in a row, he groaned and sat up, waiting for the laughter to subside as he rubbed his nose sadly. Picking himself up and dusting his clothing off, he ignored the taunting and started again, determined to get the stance right this time. The sound of his only friend cheering from the side made him feel better._

Wincing inwardly, YoungSaeng had more trouble separating himself from this memory, it being so similar to what he had experienced growing up. Those memories were not things he liked to think about.

_He had woken up to the sound of JungMin yelling, something tight around his neck and he was being hauled up out of sleep. Strange creatures were yelling at him in a foreign tongue and herding him out the door. JungMin struggled ahead of him, and there was no sign of JungMin's father in the house. It would be the last time he'd ever see the home in which he'd grown up._

Panic suddenly gripped JongWoon's throat, making it impossible to breathe as his heart pounded erratically. Even though he himself knew where this was leading, what was happening, the fact the boy in the memory didn't was overriding his own knowledge. He would have cried if he could, but it was all too overwhelming.

 _Looking up at the ship looming above him, he swallowed thickly before squaring his shoulders and walking to the airlock. A notice had said they were looking for a negotiator; it was one of the few things he knew he could do, and he needed to get off of this planet. As much as he loved the water, he needed to be away. If he couldn't be a functional part of his family, then he'd find somewhere he was actually needed. Wherever that was._

YoungSaeng felt saddened by knowing they had both left their homes, though under very different circumstances. He understood why JongWoon had left though, and was happy he had been able to make that choice for himself.

_The sands of the desert planet made his eyes itch, which did nothing for the fact that sand had got in between his skin and collar, the small grains rubbing his skin raw. There was nothing he could do for it, just to suffer through the pain until he was able to get in a shower once they were off the planet. Something strange was in the air, being sent on a mission into the unclaimed territories without a debriefing on what the mission was or who his partner would be. Sighing, he closed his eyes and leaned up against the wall, the hard metal bench he had been provided for as a bed wasn't much better than the floor. When he heard the beep of the door lock, he knew the handlers had come to take him, to put him back in that damned container and send him off to wherever it was they needed him._

JongWoon shivered at the emotion in that last memory...or rather, the lack of it. There was no hope, and he could feel fresh tears slipping down his cheeks finally. It ate at his heart.

_"Father, I—" He winced and had to hold the phone away from his ear as his father yelled at him for daring to call when he hadn't 'found a better use of his time than working on a low-class beaten ship'. "I just wanted to say, I don't think I'll be able to call again in a while, we—"_

_Even with the phone held away from his ear, he could hear the scathing reply of "Good, and don't try unless you have something actually worthwhile to tell me," before the line went dead. Swallowing thickly, he looked down at the phone for a moment, listening to the dial tone. "...Bye dad," he said softly, hanging the phone back up._

Not having felt anything close to a parental relationship, YoungSaeng wondered what it would have been like to grow up with a parent who cared. It seemed like JongWoon didn't know what that was like either. It was strange that they shared so many of the same situations, yet just on opposites sides of the spectrum.

 _Curled up against JungMin's chest, YoungSaeng was having trouble sleeping. It was so strange being in this room, being cared for by these humans. He was suspicious, as was JungMin. Was this a trick? Some kind of training exercise to test their loyalty to the Federation? Nothing made sense, but he wanted to hold on to that smallest of hopes that these humans meant what they said. Meant it when they said they were_ free _now. Fingers curling into JungMin's shirt, the tears brimmed at just the idea._

It's real, JongWoon wanted to say, tears wet on his cheeks. This is real, you are free, you don't have to worry about any of that anymore. Holding YoungSaeng close, despite the fact they were already so intertwined, he cried with the YoungSaeng in the memory, feeling what it meant to have freedom.

They both had such different situations, but they wanted the same thing; freedom. And he would fight for YoungSaeng's right to keep that freedom, fight to protect this newfound happiness he could feel in every inch of his soul. 

The reassurance he felt from JongWoon would have been enough to break YoungSaeng down once, but buoyed by his unending love and support, all YoungSaeng felt was the warmth of love. Something he didn't think he would ever feel, let alone _need_ so much.

They lay that way, curled tightly around each other and reliving their memories, sharing the things that made them who they were. It was the most intimate of things two people could share, and YoungSaeng knew he was right in his decision to do this. Time had lost all meaning, but when they surface, YoungSaeng was sure it had been a few hours. Smiling tiredly, he shifted back into his human form.

Watching YoungSaeng shift back, JongWoon was mildly surprised when the presence in his mind didn't fade at the same time. When he removed contact between them, to check, it did fade...though not completely. There was still a slight echo in the back of his head, and it made him smile before he wrapped both arms around YoungSaeng again, cuddling close. 

Closing his eyes, YoungSaeng rubbed his hand up and down JongWoon's back slowly, content with the feeling of not only JongWoon in his arms, but that small corner of his mind that held JongWoon's feelings and thoughts. It was the most comforting thing he had ever experienced. "Love you," he whispered, knowing that words were rather unimportant now, but it still felt wonderful to say it.

"Love you too," JongWoon whispered in return, smiling softly as he pressed his lips lightly against YoungSaeng's forehead, eyes closing as well. He could feel the love coming from YoungSaeng, and it was overwhelming and amazing at the same time. It was something humans had never felt before, and wouldn't feel on their own. And he wouldn't give it up for the world. 

************************65

The next few days as they traveled through Sylar space, they saw various signs of the affect the Shinbi were having already. Ships were traveling more and more as the news spread of the cease fire. Some were cargo transports like the _Proteus_ , others were family ships heading in all directions to make new lives.

At the border to Valis space, they docked at a Valis trading station where YunHo's ship was waiting to pick him up. They refueled, restocked, and just took a few days to relax while they waited for the Shinbi to get a hold of them again.

KyuJong stumbled into his and HyunJoong's room, slamming the door shut and looking at his boyfriend with very wide eyes. "I think I'm going to be sick," he groaned, putting a hand over his mouth.

 

Looking up from his desk, HyunJoong blinked repeatedly at the pilot, who was definitely looking a little green around the edges. "Why, what happened?" He pushed away from the desk and stood up.

"I was... completely forgot he was in there... I... needed something from storage, and Xander... I forgot he was eating," KyuJong said, giving HyunJoong a miserable look. "I never.. never... want to see that again."

"Oh." HyunJoong winced at that; even the mental image was gross. He pulled KyuJong into a hug. "Try thinking about something else before you actually are sick." 

"Easy for you to say," KyuJong grumbled, wrapping his arms around HyunJoong's waist. "What are you doing?" he asked, looking over HyunJoong's shoulder at his desk.

"YunHo asked me to document everything that's happened for future talks, in case we need to remember something," HyunJoong shrugged, perching his chin on KyuJong's own shoulder. "Think I might go cross-eyed soon though." 

"Maybe you should take a break then, and help me not think about Xander eating someone whole," KyuJong said, nuzzling into HyunJoong's neck.

"How would you suggest I do that?" HyunJoong ran his hand along the line of the younger man's spine lightly. 

"You're smart, I think you can figure it out," KyuJong chuckled, kissing HyunJoong's collar.

" _Captain, we're being hailed by a Shinbi ship_." That was Zhou Mi, calling over the coms.

KyuJong groaned in frustration, pulling away to lean up against the door, pouting at HyunJoong. "This makes me rethink having a boyfriend as captain."

"Sorry," HyunJoong chuckled quietly, cupping KyuJong's cheek. "We'll continue this later," he murmured, kissing the pilot deeply before leaning back. Pulling out his com, he flicked it on. "I'll be right there, call YoungSaeng and JungMin up as well if they aren't there already." 

" _They're on their way already, see you in a bit._ " Zhou Mi said, the com going quiet. KyuJong opened the door, letting HyunJoong go out first.

"Wonder what they're going to say this time," the pilot said, hands in his pockets.

"Guess there's only one way to find out," HyunJoong shrugged, walking along beside KyuJong down the corridor. "Hopefully something good. We might not even talk to them; it's probably just going to be YoungSaeng and JungMin." 

"You talk to them at all about what could happen?" KyuJong asked, glancing at HyunJoong. "They seem more anxious now than I've ever seen them since they came on board."

"Briefly, but I don't think they themselves know what's going to happen," HyunJoong shook his head. "They both admit there is a possibility...they might go back home." He knew he should be happy for the two, but imagining HyungJoon's and JongWoon's expressions, he found it hard to be.

"Before... it seemed like that's all they wanted, but didn't think it would happen," KyuJong said quietly with a sad smile. "Life is so complicated sometimes."

Nodding, HyunJoong sighed softly. "It's ultimately their decisions, guess we'll just have to wait and see. We probably won't have to wait much longer to find out anyways." 

"Probably not," KyuJong agreed, starting to climb the stairs up to the bridge. "Then we can decide what it is we'll be doing."

"Yeah," the Captain nodded, hand lightly on the railing. When they reached the bridge, he stepped over to his chair, seeing YoungSaeng and JungMin already there. JongWoon was practically attached to YoungSaeng's arm. "Put the call through?" 

Zhou Mi nodded, turning to communications and accepting the hail. The display turned on, one of the Shinbi looking to YoungSaeng and JungMin. " _We will have a meeting, prepare for our arrival. No other alien representatives required._ " The screen went black again, and YoungSaeng sighed, glancing at JungMin.

" _Why do they bother with hailing us if they're just going to do that,_ " he said dryly.

" _To see if we're still alive? I don't know,_ " JungMin shrugged, before looking at HyunJoong. "They'll be here soon, we're going to have to meet them alone." 

"I don't think they'll give us much time, so we should go," YoungSaeng said, looking to JongWoon with a smile. _Don't worry, I won't let them separate us_ , he said through the bond, cupping JongWoon's cheek lightly before pulling away to go towards the hatch.

Nodding a little as he met YoungSaeng's eyes, JongWoon watched him go, arms wrapped around himself as he 'listened' to the ghost of YoungSaeng's thoughts in his head.

Watching the exchange with a raised eyebrow, JungMin noticed how something seemed to pass between them without a word being spoken. He squeezed HyungJoon's hands lightly, giving him a small smile before following after YoungSaeng.

" _So...what's up? You and the failboat are even more mushy than usual, and that's saying something._ " 

" _He's mushy, it's sort of rubbed off on me_ " YoungSaeng shrugged, unable to help the smile. " _And I have ensured that no matter what, they're not keeping us apart._ "

" _What do you mean by that?_ " JungMin blinked at him, poking at him to get the older man to stop being so mysterious. What he felt when he did that startled him. " _Wait, you didn't actually..._ " 

YoungSaeng glanced at him, shrugging slightly. " _They can't keep apart two people who have bonded completely, it would kill us both. They know that, and they regard a full bond highly enough that it wouldn't be questioned._ "

JungMin blinked repeatedly at that. " _That's...actually a good idea. One problem though. A bond with a human's never been done before, as far as we know. What if they don't believe it's as deep as a bond with another Shinbi?_ " 

" _Then they can test the bond themselves, but it is real, and is deep_ ," YoungSaeng said. " _I walked through his memories, I can hear his thoughts and feel him even now. It is the single greatest thing I have ever experienced._ "

 _"Wow,"_ JungMin murmured, amazed. _"I'd always wondered if it was all we remembered it to be, but I guess so. It didn't hurt him?"_

" _No, it didn't hurt him at all, though he was a little scared at first, but I didn't blame him,_ " YoungSaeng shook his head. " _I wasn't even sure if it would work, their anatomy is so different from ours, but he and I are proof that it does. I do worry about what they'll say... a Shinbi with a human probably won't go over well_."

 _"Probably not, but you know what, if they try to tell us off for it, I'm telling them to shove it."_ JungMin turned into the mess hall, dropping into a chair with a sigh. _"I don't have a reason like that to avoid being taken away, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna let it happen."_

" _They should realize how valuable having us here is,_ " YoungSaeng said, sitting down next to him. " _Not only do we know multiple languages, but we are fairly recognized and respected. Going back to Shinbi space would not be beneficial for us like it would the others. We just need to convince them of that if it comes to it._ "

 _"Yeah, and if they don't listen still, we'll have to do it the hard way."_ JungMin wasn't going anywhere, no matter what they said or did.

He stopped talking when the two Shinbi from before appeared on the other side of the table, teleporting into the room. _"We have been considering your situation carefully,"_ the blue Shinbi said after making sure the door was closed, sitting down across from YoungSaeng. 

" _We took into consideration your concerns about returning_ ," the purple Shinbi continued, looking between them from his seat across from JungMin. " _We do not believe that you would have issues with reintegrating into our society._ "

" _There are... other factors though, and as much as we had hoped to return one day, things are different,_ " YoungSaeng said, glancing at JungMin briefly. " _We want to stay here, with this crew. We have formed relationships and friendships with those aboard, and we believe that we would have a greater influence here than returning to Shinbi space. You need translators and representatives who are familiar with the races out here. You need us._ "

" _While it is true for the moment we are without guides in this part of the galaxy, it will not always be this way,_ " Replied the blue Shinbi, a slight frown creasing his brow. " _We are very fast learners; some of our brightest are already working to understand this more common human language. And we would like to offer you some peace after such frightening years._ "

" _Want us to be at peace? Let us choose where we want to be,_ " JungMin said bluntly. " _Where we want to be is right here._ " YoungSaeng was the negotiator, not him. He was just going to let these people know exactly where he stood. 

" _Maybe one day we would return, to see our home again,_ " YoungSaeng said, touching JungMin's arm lightly. " _But we can do more good out here than if we were to go back. I have planned to return to Federation space with one of the humans, not only to provide support for him, but to talk with the Shinbi children about what is happening, and to bring them back to you._ "

" _The stolen children returning was not optional, why would you need to go to convince them of that_?" the purple Shinbi said, though YoungSaeng could see they were both considering what they had to say.

" _Because otherwise you would have a half dozen more like YoungWoon on your hands,_ " YoungSaeng said, smiling inwardly at the look that passed between the two Shinbi.

They had them now, JungMin continuing. " _It's a lot easier to hear it from someone who knows how to speak a language they understand. You must have seen how terrified YoungWoon was._ " Terrified, ready to bash their heads in, it was the exact same when it came to YoungWoon.

" _...You raise valid points. But if you are to return to Federation space, for the moment that still leaves us without translators or guides._ "

" _He's going, I'll stay out here,_ " JungMin bargained. " _If I can stay with this ship, I don't care where I am. I'll be your translator if you need one._

" _I will return to this ship once we have secured the children, and the human representative has discussed the accord with the Federation government,_ " YoungSaeng said. " _He doesn't want to stay within Federation space either, and I do not want to be separated from him._ "

" _Why_?" the purple Shinbi frowned at that. " _Why is this human important_?"

" _The human and I are in a relationship_ ," YoungSaeng said simply, watching the Shinbi's expression. They were both wary, and not pleased with what they heard. " _He and I are fully bonded. JungMin as well has formed a bond with one of the humans here._ "

" _Bonds, with humans?_ " The blue Shinbi, despite being apparently the gentler of the two, was definitely not pleased at that. " _Impossible...their anatomy is too different from ours, a basic silhouette is all we share. They do not have the physical or mental capacity for a bond of any kind, let alone a full bond._ "

" _They do, and if you don't believe us, then feel free to find your own human. You know what happens if life partners are separated for too long; they waste away,_ " JungMin said, leaning forward. 

YoungSaeng extended his hand, staring at the two Shinbi with a serious expression. " _Test for yourselves, feel the bond through me. I can sense where he is right now, what he's thinking, and the fact that he's trying to spy on us right at the moment._ "

The purple Shinbi looked hesitant before reaching out to brush his fingers over the back of YoungSaeng's hand. YoungSaeng could feel him probing, the Shinbi's fingers melting into his hand the further he probed until he found the portion of JongWoon in YoungSaeng's mind.

The blue Shinbi was watching the other intently, waiting for his response. JungMin watched them as well, lips curled slightly. Spying? Sounded like JongWoon, and if that was so, HyungJoon was probably involved too. He envied YoungSaeng a little...wondering what a full bond was like. He and HyungJoon must have come close, but would the human consent to trying for more? 

YoungSaeng waited tensely until the Shinbi withdrew his presence and his hand. He looked torn between thoughtful and confused, obviously not expecting it to be real. He looked at YoungSaeng for a moment before turning to converse with the other quietly so JungMin and YoungSaeng couldn't hear.

They seemed to come to a consensus a few moments later, turning back to them. " _Very well, if this is your choice, we will honor it. Of course, you will always be welcome in Shinbi space if you so wish it, the colony from which you were taken is still there, some are sentimental towards where they were raised._ "

Nodding slightly, JungMin glanced at YoungSaeng before returning his gaze to the other two Shinbi. " _And your ship?_ "

" _We will begin familiarizing ourselves with the faction-controlled spaces again,_ " The blue Shinbi replied. " _You'll be informed if you're required to meet us or not. When will the Federation representative leave to consult with the government there?_ " 

" _Soon, we weren't able to make any definite plans without first having this meeting, and we have to discuss this with the rest of the crew_ ," YoungSaeng said, relieved that they would be free to live their lives as they wanted to. " _Since some are staying here, and some are returning, we will need to secure another ship, which I'm sure Valis will be able to provide for._ "

" _Since you will not be able to contact us, we will assume you have left_ ," the purple Shinbi said. " _When you return with the children, contact the Valis again, and they should have a way to get a hold of us if we do not make contact first._ "

JungMin nodded. " _Understood._ "

" _Then we shall wait for your return,_ " the blue Shinbi nodded before standing. JungMin managed not to show his relief that the meeting seemed to be over. 

When the two disappeared, YoungSaeng turned to JungMin, smiling broadly. "I don't know about you," he said, shifting into his human form, "but I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest. I honestly didn't think they would go along with it, even with the bond."

Shifting back as well, JungMin nodded. "Thought we'd have to fight a little more than that, guess whatever he saw made the difference. We get to stay here though, that's all that matters." He sighed a little in relief. 

"Yeah," YoungSaeng smiled, leaning over and resting his head on JungMin's shoulder. "A year ago, going home would have been a dream come true, and we just walked away from it. Happily."

"Told you, silly humans drove us absolutely batty," JungMin snorted, wrapping one arm around YoungSaeng's shoulders. "Speaking of silly humans, is he still spying on us?" 

"No, he got scared when he felt that Shinbi poking around," YoungSaeng chuckled. "I wouldn't put it past him to try again though. Maybe we should go find those silly humans and let them know the good news."

"There's an idea. I'll just follow you, cause wherever twin number one is, twin number two is probably there too." JungMin squeezed YoungSaeng's shoulder before standing and stretching. 

"Of that I have no doubt," YoungSaeng laughed, getting to his feet. Eyeing JungMin up and down, he poked him lightly in the belly. "You gained some weight. I should tell HyungJoon to put you on a diet," he said, skipping out of the way towards the door.

"Yah!" JungMin yelped at that, swiping at him and missing before following the older man to the door. "I have not, and I can still beat him up in training so he can't say anything." 

"It's cute!" YoungSaeng laughed, holding open the door and waiting for JungMin. "I think being in a relationship agrees with you. You sure are nicer."

"I was nice before," JungMin sniffed haughtily, stepping out into the hallway. "And like I said before, you got a whole lot mushier." 

"I have... I think it's a side effect of the bond," YoungSaeng mused, falling in step beside JungMin. "And you were only nice to me before, so yes, you are nicer." His lips turned downwards and he looked up at JungMin with a pout. "You know this means we're going to be separated again... possibly for good."

"Why for good?" JungMin frowned, stopping. "You and JongWoon are coming back to the ship after you're done in Federation space, right?" 

"Probably, but it's possible he has to stay there for something," YoungSaeng said. "I'm just saying that it could be a while before we see each other again. It's not like before when we got sent on different missions and we knew we'd see each other again. Our lives have completely changed Min."

"That might be so, but we're not in cages anymore Saeng," JungMin said, one hand lightly on the older man's shoulder. "If we really want to meet up, we'll find a way. No one can tell us where to go if we don't want them to." 

Taking a deep breath, YoungSaeng nodded. JungMin was right, it was just hard to get out of the mindset that it was up to them to go where they wanted to. "At least I won't have to worry about you being away from me, and if you got killed somewhere without me."

"Same here," JungMin chuckled. He pulled YoungSaeng into a tight hug. "It's not the end of the road for us, so give me a smile will you?" 

YoungSaeng chuckled, unable to help the smile that crept up on his lips. Returning the tight hug, he felt the familiar warmth being wrapped up in JungMin's arms, the arms that comforted him through the years of abuse and torment and brought him through. JungMin was the one support he would always be able to rely on.

****************66

After a moment of that reassuring embrace, YoungSaeng pulled back and linked his arm with JungMin's before starting down the hall again. "Let's go find those pesky humans."

Meanwhile, JongWoon was still trying to work up the nerve to try 'listening in' on the conversation through YoungSaeng again. That had been _freaky_ , and he definitely didn't like the idea of someone other than YoungSaeng in his head. "Better be finished," he muttered, leaning against the wall and trying to concentrate. 

"You know that's kind of weird, right?" HyungJoon said, arms crossed and leaning up against the wall across from him. "I mean... you can actually hear what they're saying?"

"Sorta? YoungSaeng hears them and registers what they're saying, so I'm just kinda...following along with his train of thought." JongWoon blinked, looking up at HyungJoon. "Okay, it does sound a little weird, but I like it." 

"Huh... well that's cool.. you know you two would be more like twins now than we are," HyungJoon half chuckled, looking down at his feet. He wondered if JungMin would propose doing the same thing, or if he'd leave it to HyungJoon to bring it up.

"Not really, we still think differently on things," JongWoon chuckled a little, a silly smile on his lips. "We just understand how the other's thinking too." He tilted his head slightly at the expression on HyungJoon's face. "How's things going with you?" 

"Hm? Oh, fine, we're good," HyungJoon said, shrugging a little. "Just thinking about some stuff. I think it's really great for you, both of you."

"It is," JongWoon grinned widely, absently trying to concentrate on YoungSaeng again. "Thinking about what stuff?" 

"Just stuff, you know, relationship stuff. What are they saying?" HyungJoon asked, trying to divert the conversation.

"Uh, something about the kidnapped Shinbis now." JongWoon could see the images in YoungSaeng's mind and get a vague idea, but now he was too busy pouting at his friend. He knew when HyungJoon was keeping things from him. 

"Don't look at me like that," HyungJoon grumped, turning to lean his shoulder against the wall. "I'm just thinking that like JungMin and I are just trailing after you with stuff... I mean, why couldn't he think of doing a full bond to use against the Shinbi to keep him here?"

JongWoon blinked repeatedly at HyungJoon. "He could have, I suppose. It's more than just for keeping us together though. Why didn't _you_ suggest it? You knew about the full bond thing, right?" 

"Not the point," HyungJoon mumbled after a short pause. "I didn't think it would work and he obviously didn't think so either, or even want to take a risk, he never wants to take a risk when it comes to me so it's a little frustrating when you and Saeng do something _else_ that makes us run to catch up. I don't like feeling that we have to compete here, cause it _shouldn't_ be a competition."

"Why is it a competition then?" JongWoon was confused. "No one said it had to be a competition. Everyone goes at their own pace, you shouldn't have to run just cause Saeng and I are moving a little faster." He tilted his head to the side. "Did you _talk_ to JungMin about any of this? It's an awful lot of assumptions your making otherwise." 

"No, I didn't talk to JungMin about it," HyungJoon sighed, closing his eyes. This is why he hadn't wanted to say anything, because now he was feeling even more childish about the whole thing. "I just didn't want to start anything you know? Even with the bond we still do fight sometimes."

"If it's something bothering you, you should talk to him about it," JongWoon said quietly, watching the younger man. "Especially with the partial bond; if you're miffed, he'll know you're annoyed and not know why." 

"Why do I have to be the one to bring up everything though? That's my point," HyungJoon said, exasperated. "Just forget it, I'll figure it out."

JongWoon pursed his lips in a little of a pout. "I'm just trying to help..." he sighed, leaning back against the wall. "If you don't want to start anything, maybe he doesn't too?" 

"So we're just supposed to walk on egg shells all the time?" HyungJoon rolled his eyes. "We'll work it out JongWoon, you just focus on your relationship."

"If you're sure," the older man's shoulders slumped slightly. He'd felt horrible upon finding out about the massive fight JungMin and HyungJoon had just before they were taken away, and he didn't want them to get back to that point. But he knew how stubborn HyungJoon could be when it came to talking about things, sitting down dejectedly in a nearby chair and trying to locate YoungSaeng again. 

JongWoon didn't have to look far, the shifter opening the door and leaning in to look at them both. "You know I can tell if you're trying to spy on me like that," he said with an amused smile.

Head lifting, the negotiator gave a sheepish grin. "What else am I supposed to do? _Everyone_ will know I'm spying if I try listening at the door." He hopped up and went straight to YoungSaeng, seeing JungMin poke his head around the older man's shoulder to see where HyungJoon was. 

"Or you could just wait until I came to tell you the good news," YoungSaeng chuckled, an arm going around JongWoon's waist. He caught the look on HyungJoon's face, sighing inwardly a little at sensing something else was wrong. "Why don't we go talk privately, then go tell the captain, okay?" he said, pulling JongWoon from the room.

"Okay," JongWoon nodded, glancing back over his shoulder before following YoungSaeng. "Good news? So it went well? I couldn't focus on you after that other Shinbi decided to mess around." 

"Very good news," YoungSaeng nodding, his smile growing wider. "I'm just wondering if we'll be stopping at your home world or not, or if we're just going to the core systems and coming back out."

"...Uh?" JongWoon's eyes went wide. "You mean, you're coming with me? Seriously?" He couldn't keep the giddiness out of his voice. They wouldn't be half a galaxy apart? 

"I'm going with you," YoungSaeng nodded, stopping in the hall just before the stairs, pulling JongWoon into his arms. "They weren't very pleased with the idea, but they agreed to it."

Grinning widely, JongWoon wrapped his arms around YoungSaeng and hugged him tightly. "I didn't think they'd even consider the idea," he whispered, feeling such massive relief that he wouldn't be alone and that YoungSaeng was going to be the one with him. "Thank you, Saeng." 

"We kind of made them consider it," YoungSaeng chuckled, kissing the side of his head. "You don't have to thank me, I would have done anything to be with you JongWoon. Anything."

Burying his nose against YoungSaeng's shoulder, JongWoon breathed in deeply, eyes closed and a silly smile still on his lips. "I'm still glad you didn't have to go to any drastic measures." He ran his hand slowly along YoungSaeng's back. "I love you so much, Saeng." 

"I love you too," YoungSaeng replied, smiling contently. "Do I want to ask what was going on with HyungJoon? I swear he's just as dramatic as JungMin sometimes."

"He is, and less likely to admit it," JongWoon deflated. "He got it into his head that it's a competition between us and them, and now he's annoyed that we made a full bond first and that JungMin didn't suggest it first...or something. So now he's all annoyed, and doesn't want to talk about it, so JungMin's going to sense that. He doesn't even want to listen to me, just keeps brushing it off." 

"A competition?" YoungSaeng blinked at that, not sure where HyungJoon would have got that from. "I'm not sure how JungMin's going to react to that, I don't think he thinks it's a competition. I had hoped they were passed all this after what happened, but some things truly never change." Cupping JongWoon's cheek with a hand, he smiled softly. "If they don't want to discuss it with us, then there's not much we can do. Let them figure it out."

"I'm still worried though," JongWoon looked at YoungSaeng sadly. "It took KyuJong stepping in last time for them to figure it out, and it looks like they're still not figuring it out. They love each other, but how many fights can they get into before it's too much?" 

"They're both very stubborn, but I don't think this is nearly as bad as fights they've had in the past. At least I hope," YoungSaeng said, sighing a little. "Let's go tell the others the good news, and then wait and see what happens okay?"

"Okay," JongWoon nodded, taking YoungSaeng's hand as they started to walk.

Back at the room they'd just left, JungMin stepped inside, oblivious to the conversation that had just happened. He was slightly confused by the expression on HyungJoon's face though, mistaking it for concern over the meeting. "Well, guess what? I'm staying right here," he declared with a grin as he stepped up to HyungJoon. 

HyungJoon looked up at him, arms still crossed as he took that in. He was happy of course, very happy, but he knew he had to say what was on his mind before he let it fester. "How come we didn't try doing the full bond thing?"

Stopping, JungMin blinked in confusion, the grin fading a little. Why was HyungJoon asking about this now? And why did he look that way? "I...didn't think you wanted it, and a full bond isn't a light decision to make you know. I didn't even know if it's possible. What's up?" 

"Why wouldn't I want it? I was okay with the other thing, this half bond thing we have," HyungJoon said, looking at JungMin with a hurt expression. "Why do you always think I don't want to do something without asking me? I would have wanted to."

"It...Joon, it's only been a couple days since the ceasefire," JungMin said, sighing. He'd made a mistake again apparently, without even knowing it. "We're still getting used to the other bond... _I'm_ still getting used to it. I told you before, a full bond isn't something to take lightly. It's for life. If JongWoon and YoungSaeng were to be separated, they'd probably go insane and kill themselves. I wanted to get used to our relationship first, make sure it's what we both want to do." 

"Wait... back up..." HyungJoon pushed away from the wall, looking at JungMin in confusion. "What do you mean if they're separated they'll go insane? Does JongWoon know this?"

"How do I know if he knows or not? But it's safe to say with the full bond, and YoungSaeng knowing the risks, that he does too." JungMin's shoulders were stiff as he watched HyungJoon, the smile gone from his face, still wary after the scolding. 

Sighing, HyungJoon rubbed at his eyes. "Look, I don't want to make a big deal out of this, I just... don't discount doing something just because you think I don't to do it. I'm glad you're staying, I really _really_ am. We really need to work on this communication thing more."

"I just finished telling you there were more reasons then just not being sure if you want to do it," JungMin looked away, not sure what to say and not really believing him. Was it that big of a deal to HyungJoon that it was the first thing to come out of his mouth after a meeting that could have had them both separated permanently? "What's the rush for?" 

"There's no rush... it's just JongWoon was just talking about how great it was and... maybe I was a little jealous," HyungJoon said, shrugging a little. Reaching out, he took JungMin's hand in his, trying to reassure JungMin through the bond. "I'm sorry, I should have waited to say anything, and probably shouldn't have accused you like that. I need to stop comparing us to them, cause we're never going to be like them. They're so mushy it makes me kind of queasy."

Looking down at their hands, JungMin slowly curled his fingers around HyungJoon's after a moment, letting the contact and bond soothe the confused hurt. "...Do you _want_ to be like them?" he asked after a moment, still trying to figure out just what HyungJoon wanted from him. He just wanted to make HyungJoon happy, but it was hard when he didn't know what he was supposed to do. 

Shuffling a little closer, HyungJoon put an arm around JungMin's neck, trying to meet his eyes. "I want us to have a relationship where we can communicate and not fight because we're not sure what the other is thinking. I don't mind the little fights every now and then... cause I kind of enjoy the makeup sex.. but not the knock down fights where we're walking away mad all the time."

Looking into HyungJoon's eyes, JungMin swallowed a little, nodding. "I'm trying," he said quietly, wishing for HyungJoon to see how much that was too. "I don't want those fights either. I...I'm sorry if I keep making assumptions about things." He stomped on his pride to apologize for something he knew he was at fault for. 

"And I'm sorry that I keep.... yelling at you," HyungJoon said, squeezing JungMin's hand. "I'm trying too, and if we keep trying together, then maybe we can get this all worked out... together. I love you, and I think we're already making some progress here. This didn't end in one of us leaving and slamming a door, that counts for something right?"

JungMin's lips quivered slightly. "...Yeah, I guess it does." He pushed the tension out of his shoulders, trying to relax again. "Maybe we should just...sit down and talk, or something. Saeng's probably already gone to tell the others." 

"Talk.. yeah.. that sounds good," HyungJoon nodded, leaning up to brush his lips over JungMin's. "Are we okay?"

Kissing him back lightly, JungMin tried a small smile. "Yeah, we're okay. Come on, let's find somewhere else to be." He pulled HyungJoon towards the door. 

Stumbling a little when he was pulled, HyungJoon looked up at JungMin, wondering if everything really was okay. He knew that fight had been his fault this time, and he was going to really try harder to not let silly things get to him. "So... what about YoungSaeng? Is he staying too?"

"Not with _us_ , but yeah. He got permission to go with JongWoon; the Shinbi know better than to mess with a full bond. They'll need to talk to YunHo about maybe getting another ship." JungMin walked slowly down the hallway next to HyungJoon, heading back towards their rooms. 

"Really? That's... that's great, I'm glad that everything seems to be working out," HyungJoon said with a sigh of relief. "For a while there... I really thought we were doomed."

"You think we'd actually let them tell us where we're going to go?" JungMin snorted lightly. "I told you, I have no plans of going anywhere, and I'll be damned if they're going to boss me around. Saeng too." 

"Well... yeah, but I mean... I don't know what I mean," HyungJoon said, shaking his head. "I'm just glad it's all working out and I can stop worrying about all of us dying or what enemy we're going to make next. I guess that leaves us with the question of what we're going to do now?"

"Yeah," JungMin nodded slightly. Reaching their room, he pulled the door open for them. "It's probably gonna take a while for things to settle down. I'm apparently translator for the Shinbi until they pick up on the language themselves, so they're gonna pop in from time to time." 

"What about the captain? and Kyu? and everybody else?" HyungJoon asked, sitting down on the bed. "I mean we only just got everyone here, are HyunJoong and KyuJong going back with them?"

"I have no idea, that's what we're going to have to talk about," JungMin said, sitting down beside him. "I only know what I'm doing, and that's staying with you. What about you, what were you planning? Going back to the Federation?" 

"I... hadn't really thought that far ahead," HyungJoon said, frowning a little and looking down at his hands. "I don't think I'd ever really be comfortable back in the Federation again after everything that's happened. I'd want to see my mom and brother again, at some point, but I don't want to stay there."

Nodding slowly, JungMin watched him. "You want to...settle down somewhere though? That's what you said you wanted." 

"Maybe someday, if.. you wanted to," HyungJoon said, looking up at him. "I think you deserve a little bit of normal type of living after everything you've been through, but I'm sure you'd hate it."

"Why's that?" JungMin tilted his head slightly to the side, leaning back on his hands. 

"Cause it's kind of boring," HyungJoon shrugged. "You're not fighting people, or on the run.. you just sit in one place, and I don't know... I just don't see you as being all domestic."

"It's definitely something I've never done before," JungMin snorted, before shrugging and flopping onto his back on the bed. "I guess we'll just have to see. If that's what you want...I'm willing to give it a try at least." 

Laying down on his side next to him, head propped up by his hand, HyungJoon watched him for a moment. "What do you want though? I'm happy being wherever you are and I think you deserve to do whatever it is you want to do."

"I don't really know," JungMin frowned, looking up at the ceiling. "I know it's been several months by now, but I still haven't really stopped and thought about what it is I want to do now that I'm away from the Federation. Never really had any interests or hobbies. Just went where I was told and killed people, and I've had enough of that for ten lifetimes." 

"There's no rush," HyungJoon said, scooting a little closer. "If you want to take a few months, a few years to figure it out, then that's fine. I've always kind of just been a floater like this, never sticking to one place for too long if I didn't want to. I'm fine with whatever."

"Then I guess we'll just float," JungMin murmured, tilting his head to look at HyungJoon beside him. "I only wanted one thing, and I have it." 

HyungJoon flushed, poking JungMin in the ribs. "Now who's being mushy," he said, leaning down to kiss JungMin softly.

"Yah," JungMin protested, the sound swallowed by the kiss. Returning the kiss, he hooked one arm around HyungJoon's neck and nearly dragged the younger man down on top of him. "It's never happening again, so enjoy it while it lasts," he huffed indignantly once the kiss was broken, pouting at HyungJoon. 

"I am," HyungJoon grinned, getting comfortable as he straddled JungMin's waist. "I kind of like it." Settling his hands on JungMin's chest, he ducked his head a little to nip along JungMin's jaw.

Groaning quietly, JungMin tilted his head back, fingers slipping under HyungJoon's shirt to splay along his back. "You just finished saying you don't like mushy." 

"I said YoungSaeng and JongWoon's mushiness was making me queasy, not that I didn't like it," HyungJoon corrected, continuing to mouth along JungMin's jaw. "And it beats us yelling at each other."

"We're not yelling now," JungMin mumbled, not wanting to distract HyungJoon from what he was doing, his own fingers tracing shapes along the human's back. 

"Not yet," HyungJoon chuckled, scraping his teeth over JungMin's neck.

"Why would we—" JungMin's question ended in a low groan, arching up against the younger man. "Tease," he got out, pushing his hands up the front of HyungJoon's shirt in retaliation. 

Not even bothering to respond, HyungJoon shifted up to capture JungMin's lips in a deep kiss, fingers fumbling at clothing. Despite the problems they had, these moments were more than worth it to HyungJoon, and he would never give up being with the older man if he could help it.

****************************67

The following day, HyunJoong called everyone together into the mess hall for a meeting on what was going to happen next. He'd already spoken with YunHo prior, and had news for JongWoon and YoungSaeng either way.

Heading into the mess hall with KyuJong, he blinked to see they were there first apart from Zhou Mi, who was always in the mess hall anyways. "The others should be here soon. Where's KyuHyun and RyeoWook, Mi?" 

"Hm? Oh, I think in our room, they'll be along," Zhou Mi said, chopping up some vegetables and stirring a pot of stew with a spoon wrapped up in his tail.

"Why are we always the early ones?" KyuJong chuckled, taking a seat at the table.

"Well, the Captain can't be late," HyunJoong smiled, sitting down next to him and wrapping one arm loosely around KyuJong's waist. "The others are probably still sleeping." They were all enjoying just relaxing. 

"The Captain would be late if he had his way," KyuJong chuckled, resting his head on HyunJoong's shoulder. "I'd like to know how you got up on time before I came along."

" _Really_ loud alarm clocks," HyunJoong said solemnly. "Though JaeJoong used to have fun just rolling me out of bed." He was slowly getting more comfortable talking about his ex, though it would always be a subject he wouldn't enjoy. 

"I wouldn't do that, I have better ways of waking you up," KyuJong said, looking up at him with a smile. "Though if you get really bad, I'll just dump water on you."

"Thanks for the warning," HyunJoong chuckled, ducking his head to kiss KyuJong's lips lightly. "I prefer your other methods." 

"Me too," KyuJong grinned, returning the kiss.

"Why are you two always making out when we come into a room?" HyungJoon said, shaking his head as he stepped into the room with JungMin.

"You two aren't much better," KyuJong said, glancing at them out of the corner of his, giving HyunJoong another kiss before pulling back.

"No, we're lucky if making out is all they're doing if we walk in on them," HyunJoong laughed, relenting as well though he kept his arm around KyuJong's waist.

"Not our fault you don't knock," JungMin sniffed, dropping into a chair. 

"Why do we have to knock entering the bridge?" KyuJong asked, chuckling a little at how HyungJoon slumped down into a seat, arms crossed.

"Can we not talk about this?" the engineer grumbled, glaring at everyone around the table.

"Maybe you should stop complaining when I kiss my boyfriend then," KyuJong stuck his tongue out at him.

"Who are we tormenting?" KyuHyun asked as he stepped inside, RyeoWook right beside him. They both made a beeline for the kitchen to check on Zhou Mi.

"HyungJoon," JungMin smirked; _he_ had no problem with the conversation, and was more than a little amused his boyfriend did. 

HyungJoon sulked, seeing as JungMin was getting so much enjoyment out of his embarrassment. Arms crossed petulantly, he just stared down at the table until YoungSaeng and JongWoon came in. "They're being mean to me," he whined to his friend, bottom lip sticking out.

"How is that different from any other day?" YoungSaeng's brow quirked upwards, pulling JongWoon towards the table.

"I'm not being mean," JungMin sniffed.

"You're just not being helpful," HyunJoong offered, lips quirked upwards in amusement.

"Still not being mean."

JongWoon sat down next to YoungSaeng, blinking in confusion at them all. "Huh?" 

HyungJoon grumbled under his breath, leaning against JungMin and poking him in the arm to be nice.

"So we're still waiting on..?" YoungSaeng looked around. "The flesh eater, fuzzball, and the happy couple. What an odd menagerie we've got going on on this ship."

"I'm still not sure how Daniel and GyuRi happened," HyunJoong chuckled in amusement.

"Neither am I, but if she's happy then I'm not complaining," JungMin shrugged. "He'll take care of her, right?"

"Daniel's a good guy, if he wasn't interested then he'd have made it known by now." 

"JungMin's just happy he won't have to look over his shoulder everywhere he goes now," YoungSaeng said, finding JongWoon's hand under the table. "You're lucky she was on our side, could you imagine how affective of a spy she would be if she ever stopped thinking about herself?"

"It's scary to think about," JungMin snorted. "She's _everywhere_."

"Speak of the devil," HyunJoong chuckled as Daniel walked in, carrying GyuRi in his one good arm. The other arm was still in a sling.

"What did we miss?" 

"HyungJoon getting picked on and how affective GyuRi would be as a spy," YoungSaeng said, smiling at the two. "You know if Xander and SungMin are on their way?"

"Why would I ever want to be a spy?" GyuRi wrinkled her nose at that, her arms around Daniel's neck. "Xander's not coming, he's still in a food coma."

"SungMin should be here soon, we passed him in the hallway," Daniel said, sitting down with GyuRi resting in his lap so she could see over the table.

"Present," the anthro called, padding into the room and climbing up onto a free chair. KyuHyun and RyeoWook went to sit down as well.

"So we're all set then?" HyunJoong looked around the table, at the strange crew he'd somehow managed to obtain. They were an odd bunch, but he wouldn't change it for the world. "Well, we have some decisions to make. The meeting with the Shinbi yesterday went well," he nodded to YoungSaeng and JungMin.

"Yes, it went very well," YoungSaeng nodded, straightening a little in his seat. "Here's what's happening. JongWoon and myself are returning to Federation space. He will be negotiating the accord that we signed with the Shinbi and the factions, while I will be getting the Shinbi children ready to return home. JungMin will be staying here to act as translator for the Shinbi until they learn some of the languages. The decision now is... what the rest of you will be doing."

"I'm staying with JungMin," HyungJoon said immediately, looking up a his boyfriend with a smile.

YoungSaeng gave HyungJoon and JungMin a small smile before looking around. "Captain? What about you and KyuJong?"

HyunJoong looked at KyuJong beside him. They'd talked about this before. "We want to stay out here, in faction space. YunHo's spoken with us about finding a simple cargo job out here, and travel under Valis protection."

Smiling back at HyungJoon, JungMin looked at them both. "Okay, so we'll probably be traveling with you then."

"I...was thinking about going back to the Federation for the moment," RyeoWook said quietly, looking at JongWoon. "I might be only from a new-blood noble family, but I might be able to help with the negotiations a little." JongWoon perked up at that.

"Where he goes, Zhou Mi and I go," KyuHyun shrugged; they'd apparently talked about this before. 

"I think you and Zhou Mi could be helpful in easing humans into dealing with other races," YoungSaeng said, nodding a little. "And I'm sure JongWoon will be happy having you come along RyeoWook."

"I am," JongWoon grinned widely. His friend smiled back at him.

"And you and Xander are planning to go where?" HyunJoong asked SungMin.

"We're staying here with you," SungMin replied. "It's interesting here, and a flesh eater probably shouldn't be one of the first races to introduce to the Federation."

"Probably not," Daniel chuckled. When HyunJoong turned his attention to his long-time friend, the older man quirked a smile. "You already know I'm planning on going back home, at least for the moment." 

"Which means the pixie will be living among humans," YoungSaeng said, glancing at GyuRi. "You think you'll be able to handle that?"

"I'll be just fine," GyuRi sniffed, her nose in the air. "I've lived aboard here, humans aren't so bad."

"I guess that's it then?" HyungJoon said, looking around sadly.

"We'll just need a ship," YoungSaeng nodded. "It won't be for forever though, we'll be back out here before you can really miss us."

"I have a bit of news to share," HyunJoong smiled, leaning forward. "I've spoken with YunHo, and he can have a ship meet us at the Federation border. They were in the middle of taking care of all those battleships that were left just lying around. So you'll have your ship." 

"That is good news," YoungSaeng smiled, nodding a little. "And we'll all get to relax and travel together back to the border. How long of a trip is it?"

"Well.. at top speed, about two weeks," KyuJong said, chewing on his lip. "But that's not counting stops for fuel, so it could be closer to three weeks, a month."

"So we have time to enjoy each other's company a while longer," HyunJoong smiled lightly. "We're stocking up on supplies today, and tomorrow we can head out. Sound good?"

JongWoon nodded, leaning lightly against YoungSaeng. He had a month to figure out what to say to the Federation at least. "I can't believe it's over," he said quietly. 

"Me either," YoungSaeng smiled, kissing the side of JongWoon's head. "Now we get to look forward to a new life."

"We should celebrate," KyuJong said, his arm around HyunJoong's waist and head on his shoulder. "Drinks and games tonight? Should do it before we leave the station."

"Sounds like fun," JungMin chuckled. "What are we playing?" It was safe to say none of them were interested in shoving people into closets anymore.

"We can look through the games we have?" JongWoon looked at HyungJoon. 

"Yeah, I'm sure there's something we can play," HyungJoon nodded. "Long as there's no kissing involved or anything weird, okay?"

"Yes, yes, no kissing, or anything weird," YoungSaeng chuckled, rubbing his hand up and down JongWoon's back.

"Unless it's with respective boyfriends, right?" JungMin perked up.

"You can do that in your own room, _after_ the game," HyunJoong shook his head in amusement. 

Flushing again, HyungJoon got to his feet. "Let's go look at the games JongWoon," he said, tugging on JongWoon's sleeve.

"How's dinner coming Zhou Mi? Need any help?" KyuJong got up and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Uh, okay," JongWoon blinked at the younger man. He kissed YoungSaeng on the cheek before getting up to follow his best friend.

"Funny, he has no problem talking about worse in our room, but put him out here and even kissing is bad to talk about," JungMin pouted sadly at YoungSaeng. 

"He's just embarrassed," YoungSaeng chuckled, watching the two leave the room quickly. "Though how we ended up with such reserved humans I don't think I'll ever understand."

"Neither will I," JungMin snorted, shaking his head. He listened to the others talk, stretching out along the table and closing his eyes. "I don't mind though." 

"Me either, it's kind of refreshing," YoungSaeng smiled, resting his chin in his hands. "Looks like we've got another month of each other. We should spar again one of these days. See just how soft you've got."

" _Me_? You haven't been doing _any_ training in the past month, I'm gonna wipe the floor with you," JungMin smirked, cracking one eye open to look at the older man. 

"You haven't been doing any training either, and no, what you and HyungJoon do in the bedroom doesn't count," YoungSaeng said lightly, looking at him with a wry smile. "You've never been able to beat me Min, don't think that's going to change."

"Speak for yourself, and it's always stalemates," JungMin nudged him under the table. "I'll get you next time, you better be ready." 

"Yeah, yeah, so you think," YoungSaeng rolled his eyes, nudging him back playfully. "We did good though, didn't we?" he asked after a moment of watching the others talk. "With how everything turned out? I'm not sure it could have gone any better for us."

"No, it couldn't have," JungMin smiled lightly, cheek pressed against the table before he closed his eyes. "You know, none of this would have happened if they hadn't opened the containers we were in. Such a small thing." 

"I will thank JongWoon for that for the rest of my life," YoungSaeng said with a smile. "Hopefully his father will be proud of him now for doing something so good."

"Hopefully," JungMin nodded, not opening his eyes. "At least he has you, even if it doesn't go well." 

YoungSaeng smiled at that, closing his eyes again. Hopefully that'd be enough if it came down to it. He knew how important it would be to JongWoon for his father to acknowledge him finally, and YoungSaeng wanted him to have that.

Dinner was eaten after HyungJoon and JongWoon returned, followed by the drinks and a few rounds of a game that YoungSaeng wasn't sure of the rules or how to play. Not that it mattered after a certain point when the game was abandoned in favor of more drinks or passing out a the table. 

In all it was probably the most fun YoungSaeng had ever had, and even Xander showed up after a while, though he was more than a little out of it (which worked out well since everyone else was too drunk to notice). 

Later, when they had stumbled back to their room, JongWoon pressed up against him and sleeping soundly, YoungSaeng lay there in a half drunk state. He wasn't sure how he had got so lucky to have JongWoon, or how any of them had survived the ordeal of the past few months, but he had never felt as content as he was at that moment right before he slipped into sleep.

*****************************

They set off back towards Federation space the following morning, the crew taking up their normal routine again. In many ways it was a relief to not have to worry about anything worse than the occasional pirate. But everything they did was tinged with some sadness; in a month's time they'd be separating, for who knew how long.

They'd all grown close over the months, grown to depend on one another and in several cases, learned to love. HyunJoong had broken out of the shadow of his past relationship with KyuJong's help (and more than a little meddling from the shifters). YoungSaeng and JongWoon had always had a relationship much deeper than physical, taking the time to get to know each other, and it had ultimately brought them as close as any race could ever be. Even JungMin and HyungJoon, constantly arguing, fighting and pissing each other off, found some sort of middle ground in a volatile relationship, and were slowing getting used to talking problems out properly.

Stopping three different times so far for supplies and fuel, they were only five days from the border. Another sparring match had just happened, ending in yet another stalemate with both contenders exhausted and in their respective animal forms.

When they decided it was time to call it quits for the night, JungMin pushed himself up off the floor and padded towards the stairs where HyungJoon and JongWoon were coming down to meet them. The shifter was still in his jaguar form, breathing a little heavily from the exertion.

Going right up to HyungJoon, the first thing the Shinbi did was headbutt the younger man in the stomach with enough force to knock him over. 

HyungJoon yelped, arms flailing madly as he tumbled over onto the metal grating, landing with an undignified 'oof'. To make matters worse, the cat had flopped over onto HyungJoon's legs and wouldn't let him get up. "Yah, what's the big idea?" he whined, trying to wiggle his way out from underneath. "And no laughing from you!" he pointed towards YoungSaeng, who still in wolf form had padded over to stop next to JongWoon, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

"He's laughing," JongWoon grinned, dropping to his knees next to YoungSaeng and scratching lightly behind his ear.

The black spotted jaguar gave a wide, exaggerated yawn before resting his large head on HyungJoon's chest, closing his eyes as if to go to sleep.

"I think it's time to get some sleep," HyunJoong chuckled from the catwalk, watching with amusement. 

The wolf nipped playfully at JongWoon's hand before getting up and trotting over to the stairs, glancing over his shoulder to make sure the other was following.

"You're heavy," HyungJoon whined, tugging on one of JungMin's ears. "I can't breathe with you on top of me like this, you trying to kill me?"

"If he was going to kill you, he'd probably do it in a way that involved less whining," KyuJong called down.

Licking at the fingers that pulled on his ear, JungMin gave a loud sigh before his form shifted again, shrinking. A few seconds later, the small squirrel was curled up on HyungJoon's chest.

"I think you're doing the walking for both of you," JongWoon chuckled, waving good night before following YoungSaeng. 

"Typical," HyungJoon sighed, cradling the little squirrel in his arms as he got to his feet. "I think I can find a nice shoebox for you to sleep in or something, see if Zhou Mi has any nuts you can eat," he said, heading towards the stairs.

The squirrel chattered grumbly in his arms, tiny claws hooked into HyungJoon's shirt and purposely catching a little of his skin in retaliation.

"Night Joon, Min," HyunJoong chuckled, leaving with KyuJong. 

HyungJoon hissed, trying to pull the squirrel away from his chest. "You better be careful before I drop you, then who's going to carry your lazy butt to bed?"

Releasing HyungJoon's skin, but not relinquishing his grip on his shirt, JungMin gave HyungJoon his best image of an innocent, cute rodent. 

"That's what I thought," HyungJoon snorted, cuddling the squirrel a little closer as he walked towards their room once he got up the stairs. Closing the door to their room when he reached it, he gently deposited the squirrel on the bed before kicking off his shoes. "You aren't sleeping like that though right? I'll probably squish you."

The squirrel chirped a little, before JungMin concentrated, bringing himself back to his real form. "How about this?" he asked, kicking off his own shoes and dropping them out of the way. "And I'm not heavy." 

"Are too," HyungJoon countered, pulling his shirt off to get ready for bed, his pants going next. "You could have suffocated me with."

"I was on your legs and stomach, not in any way stopping you from breathing," JungMin sniffed, getting rid of his shirt and working on his pants. 

"Still heavy," HyungJoon shrugged, flopping down on the bed and closing his eyes. "You probably bruised my legs at least. What was the big idea anyway? Trying to cripple me?"

"You looked like a comfy bed and I was tired." JungMin rolled over and draped himself back over the younger man happily. 

"You were twice my size," HyungJoon grumbled, not complaining about the much smaller shifter lying on top of him. Arms going around JungMin's waist, he tangled their legs together and pulled him closer, smiling at the rush of feelings from the bond. "Have I said lately that I'm glad you're getting more comfortable in your real form?"

"I can't recall." JungMin tilted his head upwards to look at the human. "You are? Why?" 

"Cause besides the fact that it's really neat, I think it's good that you're... being yourself," HyungJoon said, tracing his fingers over JungMin's skin. "I like you being confident."

Thinking about that, the shifter's lips quirked slightly, fingers running along HyungJoon's collarbone. "Well, that's probably cause you make it easy to be in this form." 

HyungJoon blinked at that. "Why? I don't understand what you mean."

"You let me be in this form, and encourage it. Joon, before I woke up on this ship, I was beaten for being in this form. Do you really have no idea how much it means that you want me to be myself?" JungMin's lips were quirked slightly. 

"...Oh... I.. I didn't realize," HyungJoon said sheepishly, looking down at his fingers on JungMin's shoulder. "I just... hated seeing you treated like an animal," he said quietly. "You're not an animal, you're an individual and every individual should be exactly who they want to be. That's what I've always thought."

"And that's why I'm with you," JungMin chuckled. "Though I had a hard time believing at first." He looked up at HyungJoon, tapping his fingers lightly against the human's soft skin. "The idea of a full bond...does it really not frighten you? Even knowing what the consequences would be if we were separated for too long." 

HyungJoon looked down at him, studying the silver eyes and the way the light bounced around in JungMin's form. "No... it really doesn't scare me. I wouldn't want to be that far from you for any amount of time anyway Min, bond or no bond."

"And the fact that it's for life?" JungMin asked quietly, meeting HyungJoon's gaze. "There's no way to reverse a full bond, not that anyone's found out." 

"For life," HyungJoon nodded, smiling softly at him. "You think I would have put up with all this for something I wasn't absolutely sure of? I'm sure Min."

"...I think, I'm sure too," JungMin said, hand lightly against HyungJoon's chest. It had been nearly a month since their last conversation about full bonds, and it hadn't been brought up since. JungMin had used that time to do some serious thinking. "I would like to have a full bond with you, if you still want it." 

"I do," HyungJoon agreed, bringing his hand up to cup JungMin's cheek. "As long as you're sure, then let's do it."

"Okay," JungMin nodded with a small smile, his hand already starting to melt into HyungJoon's chest, turning his skin glass-like. "It might feel a little weird...never done this before." 

"Don't talk me out of it," HyungJoon chuckled breathlessly, gasping a little and looking down at his chest. "So weird..." he murmured, JungMin's emotions and feelings amplifying a hundred fold. It was like before, but more intense, and soon they were sinking into themselves, HyungJoon closing his eyes.

_Readjusting the pack on his shoulder, he considered the ship docked a little ways down. It was a good looking ship, nothing fancy, and the word had gotten out that a new captain was looking for crew members. Having been fired just the day before, HyungJoon was convinced it was destiny, and he would convince this captain of that as well. With a bounce in his step, he headed towards the gangplank, smiling at a nervous looking fellow who was heading in the same direction, clapping him on the shoulder. "Hi, my name's HyungJoon, we should be friends!"_

JungMin had to smile at the enthusiasm he felt through the human's memories, the strong optimism. It was something that he'd always admired about HyungJoon, but never said it, the younger man's spirit uplifting to him. He knew the JongWoon he saw in HyungJoon's memories would agree, even if they'd only just met.

His own memories were a far cry from such a peaceful moment.

_Cold, numb fingers curled around the thin bars of the tiny cage he was trapped in, too small for it's occupant. But he'd given up the attempt to find a more comfortable position when the door across the hall opened into the dark storage room. Instantly the soft cries and sniffles from the other captured children went silent._

_Pushing himself as far back in the cage as he could (not that it was very far), his bid to remain unnoticed was in vain as heavy boots went up to his tiny cage in the back, opening it and dragging the thin child out, pushing him. "Walk," was the simple command; they had to keep it simple, their grunting language still hard for the children to grasp even when they weren't scared out of their wits._

_Stumbling, the ten-year-old looked around for his brother and cried out when a hard boot planted into his back, slamming him onto the ground. He'd taken too long. "I said_ walk _!" Shaking hands curling into fists, he doggedly got back to his feet, biting back tears._

_The first promise he'd made to himself was to never let a human see him cry._

HyungJoon felt his heart drop into his stomach, the bitter emotions coming from the child was far worse than anything he could have imagined. All he wanted to do was scoop the boy up and hold him in his arms, to tell him that it would be okay.

_The airlock closed, leaving only the two crew members and the captain on board, the latter hadn't even come down to make sure they all got off board okay. His arm around JongWoon's shoulder, he tried to stamp down on the anger he felt towards JaeJoong. How could one man be so cruel towards someone he was supposed to love?_

_"We'll be okay, we don't need them, right?" he said, looking to JongWoon with a small smile. Someone needed to make sure their spirits stayed up for the time being._

The sting of betrayal hit JungMin hard, frowning inwardly. JaeJoong's betrayal and mockery had hurt more than just HyunJoong, and the three of them were now alone. He couldn't help but admire HyungJoon for continuing to be optimistic, trying to keep a smile on the others' faces even if he was angry himself.

_He was fourteen the first time he was handed a gun and told to kill someone._

_Staring at the human he'd been told to shoot, the shifter tried to understand why. He'd done something bad, according to the humans, or what he could understand of the explanation anyways. It was clear he wasn't meant to fully understand why, and to just do it. But he couldn't._

_"No," the teen said, the one human word he didn't even have to consider before saying._

_"What?" the man beside him said calmly, the man who trained him._

_"No," JungMin said again, firmer this time, and added in the motion of dropping the gun into the dirt. He wasn't going to shoot someone._

_The trainer picked up the gun, looking at the child beside him. And then, before the child could fully understand the rest of what he'd said, the trainer turned and shot the convict between the eyes. Staring with shock, JungMin winced as his hair was grabbed, forcing him to look at the trainer. "Do. Not. Disobey. An order." The trainer enunciated slowly and clearly, almost spitting in his face._

_Then he was beaten so thoroughly he would never think of disobeying an order again._

HyungJoon could feel every hit during that beating, wanting to cry out with him, to protect him from the cruelty he'd faced. It made him sick his own kind could be so cruel to a child. Yet he felt a little proud of how far JungMin had come from that gangly teen who had lived through such hell and could still smile and laugh. 

_Laying in bed, JongWoon curled up beside him, HyungJoon stared up at the bulkhead, trying to make sense of everything that had happened. Having just left the Federation behind, he was scared for the first time in his life. Scared of what they would face and how wholly unprepared they all were._

_Every time he felt the panic raising up in him though, he though of JungMin, and how confident the assassin looked despite what they were facing. It was weird, and HyungJoon didn't fully understand how thinking of JungMin, the one person on board who liked to torment him, could make him feel better._

_It worked though, and when he heard the little sniffles from JongWoon, he rolled over onto his side, arms going around the older man's bare waist. "Hey, it's going to be fine," he whispered, kissing his forehead._

JungMin was definitely surprised to see himself pop up in HyungJoon's thoughts, seemingly out of nowhere. Why would it make HyungJoon feel better to think of him? It seemed HyungJoon didn't know either, but even so, the Shinbi couldn't help a small warmth growing in his chest. And not just because he was the one to make HyungJoon feel better, but because the younger man was still being strong.

_YoungSaeng had been right when he said JungMin knew what he wanted from HyungJoon, but just didn't want to admit it to himself yet. How could he? He was still waiting for everything to fall apart. The idea that they were free hadn't fully sank in yet, and he watched the humans around him suspiciously. It terrified him that, unconsciously, he was beginning to trust these people._

_But not as much as it frightened him that the teasing and light bullying on HyungJoon had become something much fonder._

_He craved HyungJoon's attention, something he'd never cared for in the past. Okay, maybe bullying him wasn't the best way to get attention, but his social skills had taken a major hit with everything that had happened. And when he discovered he would much prefer HyungJoon look at him with a smile rather than a scowl, he didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say, how to act, or even if HyungJoon felt the same. Why would a human like him? Why would a human love him?_

_For the first time in years, JungMin was scared._

Smiling inwardly, HyungJoon felt his heart swell a little, knowing that JungMin had been just as clueless as he was in the beginning. For reasons they still didn't really understand, they found themselves together after so long of dancing around each other, and the constant squabbles between them. Somehow, it worked for them, and he really wouldn't change that.

_He had to keep reminding himself that it was only another day. Only another day until he would get JungMin back, back home where he would be safe. They would leave this awful expanse of space and all this faction nonsense behind them._

_Just a couple more days and he could tell JungMin just how much he loved him, and how scared he had been. He didn't want to think about the possibility of JungMin not being alive. He_ had _to be alive, because HyungJoon wasn't sure what he was supposed to do if he wasn't._

The idea of 'home' was foreign to JungMin; he hadn't known of a home since he was little, and hadn't expected to ever know of one again. But he realized that this ship _was_ home...because he was cared for here, and HyungJoon was here. Feeling the love for him buried deep in the memory nearly brought tears to his eyes. It was something he had thought he would never feel...not even from HyungJoon.

_"This just isn't going to work and we're wasting our time trying to make it work."_

_Hearing the door close, JungMin opened his eyes again to find himself alone in the room. Tears slowly ran down his cheeks as he lied down again, staring at the hollow in the bed where HyungJoon had just been. "Then why was I the only one trying to make it better?" he whispered, tears falling faster as HyungJoon's words echoed around his head._

_He'd just answered the other man's question, and answered truthfully. It was hard not to feel like he wasn't wanted, no matter what he did. Even with how hard he'd been trying to make their relationship work, to be less quick to anger and give HyungJoon the benefit of the doubt. No matter what he did, it backfired on him. If they argued, he was dramatic. If they didn't argue, he was a doormat. If he teased HyungJoon playfully, he was stuck-up. If he didn't tease him, he was not himself._

_He just wanted to see HyungJoon happy with him, to feel that sense of love that YoungSaeng kept talking about. He watched the other relationships on the ship, trying to figure out what it was they were doing to be so happy and content, and couldn't understand why he and HyungJoon were having so much trouble._

_Why did it always feel like he was the only one trying? Did HyungJoon really love him as much as he said?_

_JungMin wasn't sure. And it crushed him utterly._

_Curling up into a tighter ball on the bed, he cried like he hadn't cried in years, sobbing into the pillow and wondering what he'd done wrong to lose HyungJoon's love._

Seeing again how he had treated JungMin, HyungJoon wanted to curl right up again with him, to apologize for every stupid fight they'd had because it really was his fault. There had been no need to play those silly games, to fuss over what he thought JungMin really wanted from him. 

All JungMin ever wanted was someone to care for him, love him, and accept him for exactly who he was. HyungJoon was at that point now, had been for a long time, he just did a crappy job of showing it. Curling his arms tight around JungMin, he smiled and passed on that contentment through their connection. Telling JungMin he loved him, and would never let him feel so alone again.

Hearing and feeling what HyungJoon was telling him, JungMin's own arms wrapped tightly around the human beneath him, soaking up the emotions coming from the human. It was better than he could have imagined, tears rolling down glass cheeks to fall onto HyungJoon's skin, equally glassy with how they melted into each other.

He wasn't sure how long they laid like that, JungMin whispering soft 'I love you's into HyungJoon's mind and taking great joy when they were returned. Everything about each other was laid bare for the other to see, from memories to inner thoughts. There was no hiding, no misunderstanding. Just genuine love, and when JungMin had finally shifted back into his human form, tears still stained his cheeks as he rested his head against HyungJoon's shoulder. 

It was weird, HyungJoon would admit, to have JungMin in his head like this, knowing what he was thinking and feeling constantly. The feeling lessened when he shifted back to human form, but it was still there enough for HyungJoon to sense him. It wasn't a bad weird though, it was welcome, and HyungJoon just smiled, so happy to have reached this level in their relationship.

"That.. was... amazing," he whispered after a long stretch of silence. "This whole thing, it's amazing Min."

JungMin closed his eyes, nose buried against HyungJoon's warm skin. "It is," he murmured softly, breathing in deeply. "Few of our people decide to form a bond like this...but those that do, they don't ever regret it." 

"Seems like they could benefit from it," HyungJoon replied, tracing his fingers up and down JungMin's back lightly. "Maybe they wouldn't be so stuck up all the time. No offense."

"Hey, we don't dilly-dally with pointless conversation," JungMin chuckled softly, humming at the fingers against his back. "Though they are a little more sharp-tongued than I remember. Oh well." 

"Maybe they're just nicer to kids," HyungJoon said, going through some of JungMin's memories again. "This is so cool... I can see what you looked like as a little awkward teen."

"Yah," JungMin pouted a little, poking HyungJoon's side. It was weird that HyungJoon was going through his memories, especially memories of that time. None of them were happy.

But looking through HyungJoon's own memories soothed him a little, taking comfort from them. "Your brother looks like a mini you." 

"People always think we're like twins when we're together," HyungJoon chuckled. "...He probably wouldn't like you at all."

"Huh? Why?" JungMin pouted more at that. 

"Because KiBum doesn't think anyone's good enough for me," HyungJoon said with a soft sigh. "I pretty much raised him when dad left, so he doesn't really like anyone I date."

"Ah," JungMin hummed in understanding. "I'd like to meet him though. He sounds like a cool kid." He could see in HyungJoon's memories what it had been like when their dad left. 

"He is... I kind of miss him... sometimes," HyungJoon said, looking down at JungMin. "I thought for the longest time he was the only person in the galaxy who would understand me."

Cracking his eyes open to look up at him, JungMin's lips quirked softly. "Well, you're not a wanted fugitive anymore, we can always go visit him. At least let him know you're still alive and kicking." 

"Well... we don't know about the wanted part, we don't really know how things are going to go when they go back into Federation space, do we?" HyungJoon sighed, pulling JungMin up a little closer to kiss his nose. "He's going to be so jealous though."

"Why's that?" JungMin asked, wrinkling his nose playfully before kissing HyungJoon back, lips curled into a smile that refused to leave. 

"That I got to go on some big adventure without him," HyungJoon said, unable to help smiling back at him. "He's always wanted to get off the colony, but he got stuck doing some work there. He's doing good stuff, but I know he's itching to get out."

"Well, if he doesn't mind the pirates, you could always show him around out here. You're practically a deep-space expert now," JungMin chuckled, trailing his fingers along HyungJoon's skin absently. 

"I had the best guide," HyungJoon said, nuzzling against him. "So, what do you think.. time for sleep?"

"Sleep does sound good," JungMin yawned lightly, arms wrapping more securely around HyungJoon. "Love you, Joon," he murmured softly. 

"Love you too, Min," HyungJoon said, resting their forehead's together. "Don't ever forget that." Closing his eyes, he slipped into sleep easily, comforted by JungMin's warmth, and his love.

"I won't," JungMin whispered to the sleeping man, smile still on his lips as he closed his eyes again to join HyungJoon in sleep. HyungJoon wouldn't let him forget.

They both had what they wanted, finally. 

**************************68

"I don't see what the harm is," YoungSaeng shrugged, looking from gecko to gecko. "You need to get this settled before we go to Federation space."

"But he's going to _kill_ us," Zhou Mi whined, clinging tightly to KyuHyun.

"What exactly did you two do to have HeeChul of all people after you?" Xander asked, spinning around in circles slowly in his chair.

"Uh....we cheated him out of a lot of money at one point," KyuHyun patted Zhou Mi's shoulder. RyeoWook was on his other side, looking confused but worried. "We were kinda desperate at the time, and everyone knows he's loaded. Didn't think he'd catch the dent in his money pile."

"Well, that would piss him off," JungMin snorted. "But you're still not getting out of it, you don't want to be watching your backs for him for the rest of your lives." 

"And you don't want to be endangering RyeoWook with this right?" YoungSaeng asked. At that, Zhou Mi's eyes widened and he shook his head vigorously. "Alright then, we'll get this settled. So what can we offer HeeChul that he'll leave you two alone?"

"Other than a human?" KyuJong chuckled, giving HyunJoong a glance out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes, let's avoid offering humans," HyunJoong said wryly. "What does HeeChul like, beside money?"

"Anything that makes him feel important," JungMin smirked, swinging his legs back and forth slowly. "He likes playing King of the Castle."

"What about one of those ships the Valis is gonna dispose of?" JongWoon perked up. "YunHo could get us another one, right?" 

"I'm sure he could," YoungSaeng nodded, crossing his arms as he thought. "That might not be enough. If he wants to be important, then what would be more important than sitting in on the faction talks? He pretty much runs this section of neutral space between Federation and faction territory."

"Faction talks?" JungMin hummed a little at that. "He'd like that...he practically considers himself a faction leader in his own right. With that as incentive, we'd be able to get you both off the hook easy." 

"We'll just have to make sure we don't forget about him," YoungSaeng chuckled. "How long until we reach the trading post?"

"It's a day out of our way, but we should be there tomorrow afternoon," KyuJong said, getting up and stretching his arms out. "I'll get us pointed that way." Giving HyunJoong's shoulder a squeeze he headed out of the mess hall.

"What if he doesn't go for that? What if he just insists on keeping us?" Zhou Mi said, looking at JungMin and YoungSaeng. "You won't let him keep us right? I've heard what he does to people that steal from him."

"We won't let him keep you," JungMin grinned. "We'll be going to meet him with you, so relax. He tried to keep the Captain, but that didn't work out well for him."

"He probably still hasn't forgiven you both for that either, so be careful," HyunJoong chuckled after watching KyuJong leave. 

"We'll be fine," YoungSaeng smiled, glancing at JungMin. "Despite what people seem to think, and what HeeChul's reputation is, he is all bark, and no bite. And if he does try anything, I know exactly how to calm him down."

"Besides tying him up in a corner?" JungMin chuckled, resting back in his chair and closing his eyes. "Okay, so we got that all figured out. And after that...it's on to the border?" 

"Yes, on to the border," YoungSaeng nodded, putting an arm around JongWoon's waist.

"How long are you guys going to be in Fed space?" HyungJoon asked. "A few weeks? Month? Months?"

"No idea, but with the amount of time it'll take to convince the government...and then formalities and and such...I'd say a month, if not more," JongWoon shook his head sadly. "It'll be a while." 

"Oh..." HyungJoon pouted a little, sulking in his chair. "It's going to be weird not having you on board. All of you."

"We'll miss it, that goes without saying," YoungSaeng nodded. "But it won't be forever, as long as we have a place here, we'll be back."

"You'll always have a place here," HyunJoong smiled fondly, looking between them. "All of you." KyuHyun's lips quirked into a smile at that, tail wrapping around Zhou Mi's.

"We'll be back then," JongWoon nodded, leaning against YoungSaeng. "Want me to pass a message on to KiBum, Joon?" 

"Nah, I'll get a hold of him later, he can worry about me for a while," HyungJoon said, chuckling a little. "Besides, he'd make you guys take him with you and I don't think I'm ready for him out here yet."

"Wait until it's a little more stable, yeah," JongWoon chuckled. "He'd like it out here though. It's...less stifling." He was happy being away from the Federation.

"Now I really want to meet him," JungMin looked at HyungJoon. 

HyungJoon wrinkled his nose at JungMin at that. "Why? You'll just get us confused like everyone else, and he's a brat."

"You think you could handle two HyungJoons?" YoungSaeng laughed, looking at JungMin with a smile.

"I wouldn't get you confused," JungMin grinned at HyungJoon. "Saeng could shift into you right now and I would be able to tell who's who." He looked at YoungSaeng. "They look the same, but I think it's safe to say that's the end of the similarities." He knew from HyungJoon's memories that KiBum didn't act like his brother. 

YoungSaeng tilted his head to the side, eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?" he asked, looking between them. The flush on HyungJoon's cheeks gave it away though and he smiled. "Ah, I see. When did this happen?"

"A few days ago," JungMin grinned widely.

"Did what happen?" JongWoon looked at YoungSaeng in confusion then, reading into his thoughts, his eyes widened. "Oh. Wow," he looked at them in amazement. 

Zhou Mi looked around at the four, absolute confusion reading on his face. "What are you talking about? What happened? Something about his brother?"

"Let's just say I don't think they'll be having that many screaming matches anymore," YoungSaeng said, his lips quirked a little.

"Yeah well, shows what you know," HyungJoon huffed, crossing his arms. "We argued again just before we got here."

"It must have not been a very explosive argument, or we would have all heard it," HyunJoong chuckled, just as confused as the others.

"We're not that bad," JungMin pouted, sulking.

"Yes you are," KyuHyun snorted, and ducked behind RyeoWook when JungMin glared at him.

"You're both very loud," YoungSaeng said, smiling broadly at the two. "In the fighting, and the making up as well."

"At least we won't have to hear that anymore," Zhou Mi shuddered a little. "When we come back, we're going to a quieter hallway."

"As if you're not loud yourselves," JungMin snorting, eyeing them. "All _three_ of you." RyeoWook had turned bright red.

"I didn't need to hear that!" JongWoon buried his face in YoungSaeng's shoulder 

Patting JongWoon's shoulder, YoungSaeng laughed. "Guess it's a good thing we did move out of that hall then hm? Because I'm sure you didn't want to find out the other way."

"Very glad we moved," JongWoon nodded hard, not looking up.

"So what are we doing now?" JungMin asked, looking around at them but mostly at HyungJoon. "If we still got a while to go before reaching HeeChul."

Chewing on his lip, HyungJoon looked up at JungMin. He wanted to spend time with JongWoon since they were only getting a few more days together. He tilted his head to the side, wondering if that would be okay with JungMin. He thought the two shifters would want to spend time together too.

Listening to HyungJoon's thoughts, JungMin's lips curled into a smile and he nodded slightly. It was fine with him, and HyungJoon was right, he did want to spend some time with YoungSaeng. Standing up, he stretched. "Hey Saeng, let's go find something to do." 

Arms around JongWoon's waist, YoungSaeng looked up at JungMin, blinking a little. He had thought the two were going to scurry back to their room at the first opportunity. Smiling a little, he pressed a kiss to JongWoon's forehead, seeing as HyungJoon was giving his friend a lopsided grin. "You two have fun," he murmured in the other's ear before getting up. "Alright, you have anything in mind? All we usually do is beat each other up."

"We don't have to beat each other up," JungMin snorted, starting towards the door. "Though that's fun too. Come on, let's just walk or something." He waved at HyungJoon before stepping out of the room, waiting for YoungSaeng. 

Shutting the door behind them, YoungSaeng started to walk down the corridor. "So what shall we do? We've never really 'hung out' as the humans say."

"Not really, not their version of hanging out anyways," JungMin chuckled, hands in his pockets. "And I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly...interested in our old version of hanging out anymore." 

"What, sparring?" YoungSaeng looked over at him with a smile. "Me either. It's just too much of a reminder right now."

"I meant more having sex every hour, but that too," JungMin chuckled. "You gonna be okay going back to the Federation?" 

"Oh... I had forgotten about that," YoungSaeng laughed, but he shook his head. "No, I don't think I'll be okay. Especially with what I have to do. I probably wouldn't have volunteered to go at all if JongWoon wasn't going."

"The others aren't going to take well to this whole idea," JungMin shook his head as well. "You might have to deck them a few times. But at least you'll be back here after." 

"Yeah... are you going to be okay without me, Min?" YoungSaeng stopped in the hall, looking up at JungMin in concern.

"Yeah, I'll survive," JungMin nodded. "Not to say I won't want to put someone's head through the wall when I get to translating, but I'll be fine." 

"Do try to keep that temper in check," YoungSaeng smiled, patting JungMin's arm before continuing on. "You don't want to break down the whole talks because of your temper."

"I know, I'll be good," JungMin pouted. "Same goes for you, and don't even pretend you can't be as bad as me if you're in the mood. Or worse. Has JongWoon seen you on a temper tantrum yet?" 

YoungSaeng returned the pout, his nose in the air. "I don't know what you're talking about, I do not throw temper tantrums."

"Yes you do, very extravagant ones if I remember," JungMin smirked, following beside him. "Kinda puts me to shame." 

"Do not," YoungSaeng huffed, glaring at him. "And it would be to your benefit if you just go ahead and keep that to yourself."

"I won't need to, JongWoon will find out eventually," JungMin chirped happily, bouncing along beside the older man. "If he hasn't already gone through those particular memories and found what happened when one of the others accidentally chopped up your hair." 

"That was _not_ a temper tantrum," YoungSaeng bristled, swatting at JungMin's arm. "That was justified anger, and don't even tell me you had nothing to do with that either."

"That was so a temper tantrum," JungMin danced out of the way. "Including the sulking and pouting after." 

"My hair was cut off, horseface," YoungSaeng scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm sure you would have had the same reaction considering how much you preen in front of a mirror when you think no one's looking."

"I do not preen, I just like having color in me. You people with colors in your skin have all the luck." JungMin pouted at YoungSaeng. 

"You're _still_ hung up on that," YoungSaeng shook his head. "I thought with how much HyungJoon was puffing up your ego you'd be over that by now."

"I still wish I was a little more colorful," JungMin sniffed. "At least it doesn't bother him. And I have a very healthy ego, thank you very much." 

"Having color isn't that interesting," YoungSaeng rolled his eyes. "Yes, you have a healthy ego.. healthy as a horse," he grinned, skipping out of the way.

"Yah! Take that back!" JungMin swiped out and missed. "I am not a horse, you otter!" 

"Are too a horse, _horseface_ ," YoungSaeng stuck his tongue out at him. "And I'd rather be an otter than a horse!" YoungSaeng took off, disappearing around a corner.

"Get back here you water rat!" JungMin ran after him, nearly bowling over SungMin at the corner. 

HyungJoon could hear the shouts back and forth from the shifters as he and JongWoon walked. "Sounds like they're having fun," he chuckled. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Don't know, anything," JongWoon shrugged, though he was laughing at their boyfriends as well. "We can just talk if you want. Since we're not going to be hanging out again for a while." 

HyungJoon pouted at that, looking at JongWoon. "I'm gonna miss you so much JongWoon... who's going to get into mischief with me?"

"JungMin?" JongWoon smiled sadly, wrapping one arm loosely around HyungJoon's shoulders. "We'll be back before you know it, won't even know we were gone." 

"JungMin's not really the type to have that kind of fun," HyungJoon said, his arm going around JongWoon's waist. "I kind of wish I was going with you, but JungMin would miss me too much."

"Yeah, especially with the bond," JongWoon chuckled softly. "You both decided to do it? And it worked out?" 

"Yeah, we decided to do it together... and it worked amazingly," HyungJoon couldn't help the grin. "The things they went through.. I'm amazed they're still able to laugh."

"Yeah, it's all sorts of inspiring," JongWoon smiled sadly. "We really didn't know anything about what it was like, did we? But...I want to protect him from ever having to go through that again." 

"Me too," HyungJoon nodded. "We made the right decision in not turning them back over to the Federation, and you did a good thing in letting your curiosity get the better of you and opening up that container. Where would we be if you hadn't of done that?"

"Probably back in Federation space delivering cargo, completely oblivious to what's going on out here," JongWoon frowned lightly, before chuckling. "First time I'm glad I didn't listen to the Captain." 

"Me too, and at least I didn't have to lock you in your room for it," HyungJoon said, putting his arm around JongWoon's shoulder. "So what do you want to do, watch a movie? We haven't done that in ages."

"I'd like that," JongWoon chuckled. "Just...hang out. I'm really going to miss you too, Joon. I've never known a better friend." 

"I'm gonna miss you too," HyungJoon said, giving him a smile as he steered them towards his and JungMin's room. "And I'm the best friend you're ever going to have, and don't you forget that."

"I won't," JongWoon laughed, leaning lightly against him. "You better not forget it either." 

"Not possible," HyungJoon said determinedly. "You and I went through way too much together, and I'm really glad that we were able to stay friends through some of it."

"We'll always be friends," JongWoon grinned as they stepped into HyungJoon's and JungMin's room. "That's never going to change. If we could get through this, we can get through anything!" 

"Right!" HyungJoon nodded, closing the door. "We really can get through anything. We've proven it. To ourselves, and to everyone else."

 

****************************

They arrived at the dingy little outpost the following morning, HyunJoong watching the surrounding ships as KyuJong had to nosedive for a spot again. "You're getting even better at this," he chuckled, unbuckling himself when it was safe.

"He is?" JongWoon would have ended up on the floor, again, if it weren't for YoungSaeng.

"It would probably help if you at least tried to stay in your seat," YoungSaeng said, patting JongWoon's shoulder. "I'm surprised you didn't give yourself brain damage before."

"He's got a hard head," HyungJoon laughed. For once he hadn't been hovering behind KyuJong's chair, preferring to sit with JungMin. "Who's going? We weren't allowed off the ship last time."

"I think the same rule applies now," YoungSaeng said, unbuckling his belt and getting to his feet. "Geckos, RyeoWook, and... Xander I think should be enough for this trip," YoungSaeng said, looking to JungMin. "Thoughts?"

"Sounds good to me," JungMin got up as well. "Should RyeoWook even be going along? HeeChul still wants his human."

"Well he's not getting him," KyuHyun sniffed haughtily, tail slashing at the air behind him before he turned to leave the bridge and meet with Zhou Mi and RyeoWook.

"RyeoWook will be fine," HyunJoong chuckled. 

"He has Valis connections, it will give us credibility if we're going to convince HeeChul that he's going to be a part of the faction talks," YoungSaeng said. "Hopefully this won't take long, and just in case... be ready to go pretty quickly."

"Will do," KyuJong nodded. "Be careful."

"Come on Min, let's go say hi to HeeChul," YoungSaeng followed the gecko and RyeoWook from the bridge, pulling out his com device to call Xander.

"Joy," JungMin snorted. Giving HyungJoon a light kiss followed by a teasing pinch, he bounced out of his seat and quickly followed YoungSaeng out of the bridge. "He's not gonna be happy to see us. Even less happy to see you after that stunt last time," he grinned, sticking beside YoungSaeng. 

"He'll forgive me, he always does," YoungSaeng gave him a cheeky smile. "Though I probably should have warned JongWoon about that."

"Warn JongWoon? What, did you give the failboat a heart attack with all the mental images?" JungMin snorted, eyeing YoungSaeng in amusement. 

"If I did, he didn't say anything, though I'm not sure if he's gone through those particular memories," YoungSaeng sighed, pouting a little. "And I mean warn him that it would be possible for HeeChul wanting me to smooth things over for what I did in the way I usually do."

"Ah," JungMin frowned. "Would you do it? Dangling a faction seat over his head should be enough to keep greedy guts occupied." 

"No, I wouldn't do it, and I really do hope that will be enough for him," YoungSaeng said as they started down the stairs. "What if it's not though Min?"

"Then we kick his ass and leave," JungMin shrugged. "If you don't want to do it, you don't have to do it. It's his own fault if he wants to pass up such an opportunity cause he's not getting laid." 

YoungSaeng laughed, nudging JungMin with his shoulder. "I think kicking his ass would defeat the purpose of doing this, but thanks. I don't think JongWoon would be very happy with me if I did, cause he would know pretty quick."

"He would, and hey, HeeChul needs to be told 'no' every once in a while, he gets too stuck-up otherwise." JungMin nudged YoungSaeng back. "The geckos can't say we didn't try either way." 

"Right," YoungSaeng agreed. They made it to the airlock, the others waiting for them. Xander was sniffing at RyeoWook's hair, though Zhou Mi was tugging on the flesheater's arm to get him away. "We ready to go?"

"All ready," KyuHyun nodded, glancing behind him when RyeoWook shuffled there to get away from Xander. JungMin stepped past them to push the airlock open, stepping out into the dimly-lit docking bay. It was exactly like last time, if not a few more people than usual milling around. Everyone was talking, probably about the recent ceasefire and the emergence of the Shinbi. Stepping further out, he saw few people were paying them attention. He nodded over his should to YoungSaeng before continuing on, RyeoWook sticking beside KyuHyun and Zhou Mi as they walked. 

YoungSaeng kept to the back with Xander, making sure not only that the flesheater didn't wander off on his own, but also so he could watch out for any of HeeChul's men. He saw a couple, but even they looked to be distracted with whatever gossip was circulating around the promenade.

Knowing HeeChul would likely be back at the gambling house, they headed there first, YoungSaeng hiding a smile when he saw the same guard outside the door. He let them in without any fuss, and YoungSaeng quickly glanced around. "You see him Min?" he asked quietly over the taller man's shoulder while they hovered in the doorway.

JungMin skimmed the room quickly, then nodded towards the back. "The usual spot, at least he looks in a decent mood." He stepped farther into the room, heading towards HeeChul's table.

The alien glanced up as they approached, slitted eyes landing on them. HeeChul smirked and snapped his fingers; instantly their small group was surrounded. "Well well, I was wondering when you'd show your faces. I have a few bones to pick with you both." 

"And we with you, though not sure who it is you're referring to," YoungSaeng said, not giving the goons surrounding them a look. "There's no need for the muscle HeeChul, we just want to talk, and you'll be interested in what we have to say."

"Oh? I remember last time you wanted to talk, Saengie...you still owe me payment for that information," HeeChul's lips were curled dangerously as he leaned forward. "Though I might forgive you, considering you brought me my little thieves." JungMin saw RyeoWook's hands find KyuHyun's and Zhou Mi's beside him. 

"Funnily enough, they are why we're here," YoungSaeng replied, shooing someone from a chair and taking a seat, absolutely relaxed. "I'm sorry HeeChul, but you can't have them. I want you to forgive them for the money they've stolen, and in return we'll give you something worth far more."

"So demanding, as always." HeeChul leaned back, examining his nails. "You waltz in here, ask for my information, then not only do you not pay my fee, but you humiliate me at the same time. These little blue rats have made off with more money than your ship's worth. And you want me to let all of you go when you so willingly come back here? I'm not sure even a human is going to cut it this time. And as far as human offerings go, the one human in your company is a little too twig-like for my tastes." 

"HeeChul, you're not stupid, I know you're not stupid," YoungSaeng said, smiling softly. "And you know very well that I am not stupid. You think I would have come here if I didn't believe that we had something that would make you very happy? No, the human isn't for you either, he's a very important contact with Valis that we aren't ready to give up just yet."

Leaning forward, his rested his arms on the table and looked at HeeChul. "You know what's happened out there, with Sylar and the Federation. You know the factions are now cooperating with each other. What we're offering, is two things. One being a nice shiny new Federation ship to cover my debt to you for the information, and two being a seat at the faction talks as reimbursement for the money the geckos stole."

JungMin could tell they had HeeChul's attention then; the alien stopped focusing on his nails and leaned forward again, slitted eyes narrowed at YoungSaeng. "...A seat at the faction, huh? How do I know you can deliver, Saengie? That's a big promise to be mouthing off." 

"Well, like I said, RyeoWook is pretty high up in Valis, and we are on very personal terms with YunHo, the Valis boss," YoungSaeng said, making circular patterns on the table in front of him. "I'm sure you're also aware that the Shinbi have become involved in this, and well... we are Shinbi."

HeeChul examined YoungSaeng for a moment, analyzing his expression, before motioning with one hand towards the large purple alien standing beside him. The room was cleared out within seconds, leaving just their group, HeeChul, and a few guards who continued to watch them.

"I forgot how much of a minx you are, YoungSaeng," HeeChul smirked, tapping his manicured nails against his chin. "So...let me recap. I give the blue rats a clean slate and let you all walk out of here, and in return, I get a new ship and a seat at the faction talks. Battleship?" 

"Fighter, that may be the only thing that has survived," YoungSaeng said. "There weren't that many battleships in Sylar territory, but we can talk to YunHo and see what he has salvaged. Don't be greedy HeeChul."

"Hey, it's negotiating," HeeChul sniffed, eyeing the other man with a smirk. "All right, it's a deal. If there's a battleship, I want it. And you know what will happen if that seat at the talks doesn't happen, Saengie yah. There's nowhere in this galaxy you can hide from me." 

YoungSaeng inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment. "Of course, I'm a man of my word HeeChul, always have been. You'll get your seat, and your ship. So we have a deal? You don't come after the geckos, their debt is erased?"

"Their debt is cleared, erased from my mind. Hm...yours on the other hand..." HeeChul pursed his lips in thought. "The fighter, or battleship, would cover for the cost of that information nicely. There is still the matter of you humiliating me in front of all my men. You know me well enough to know I don't take kindly to slights, Saengie." 

YoungSaeng sighed inwardly. Of course HeeChul would press his luck and try to get more out of him. "No, and I apologize for that, but I have nothing left to give you unless you want a flesh eater," he said, glancing at Xander who wrinkled his nose at that. "He's a little crazy though."

"No thanks, I have no interest in flesh eaters for more than keeping my men on their toes, something I can do nicely by myself." HeeChul waved the suggestion away. "Aw...that's a pity. Sure you don't have any way you could... _sweeten_ the deal?" 

Lips pursed, YoungSaeng glanced at JungMin. He had really hoped it wouldn't come to this, that HeeChul would just accept the deal. "I'm afraid that's no longer an option HeeChul. I'm happily off the market now."

"You, off the market?" HeeChul seemed more amused than put out by that. "Well well, I didn't think it was possible. Now I'm curious who the unlucky guy is." 

"Human," YoungSaeng smiled, relieved that the matter hadn't been pressed too far. "And for someone who was so interested a moment ago in sweetening the deal, you have no room to talk about him being unlucky."

"Yes, I suppose I should be jealous, but when I said 'unlucky' I was talking more about the sharp-edged personality rather than the body it's in," HeeChul snickered, leaning back. "He must be quite the catch. All right, I'll let you off the hook for now, but if you ever get bored with humans, you know where to find me Saengie~." 

"Don't hold your breath," YoungSaeng smiled, getting to his feet. "I'd love to stay and chat HeeChul, but we're on a schedule. Always a pleasure, I'm sure we'll see each other again."

"I expect regular visits," HeeChul smirked, waving one hand lightly in their direction. The guards around the group backed off. "Keep that pretty head on your shoulders until then." 

"I plan to," YoungSaeng bowed slightly. "And just so you know HeeChul, with this new accord, I'm sure you'll get your human soon enough."

A sly smile curled the alien's lips. "I'll be looking forward to it."

JungMin nudged the others lightly to move them back towards the door, the group leaving the room. That had gone better than they'd expected. The recent events seemed to have put HeeChul in a good mood. 

********************69

Following the others out, YoungSaeng snagged Xander by the back of his collar and dragged him away from where he'd been sniffing at some of the money on the gambling tables. "No Xander, I can't bail you out too," he murmured under his breath, shoving him out the door after the geckos.

Zhou Mi had picked RyeoWook up and was dancing around, twirling the tiny human around. "Well someone's happy," YoungSaeng chuckled.

JungMin snorted at how RyeoWook yelped and held on for dear life, KyuHyun just laughing at them both and making no effort to help.

"So that's taken care of," JungMin chuckled, following them down the hallway back towards the ship. "I'm surprised HeeChul backed off that easily." 

"I think he saw the value in staying on good terms with us," YoungSaeng said, watching in amusement as Zhou Mi carried RyeoWook on his back, trotting well ahead of them down the hall. "We're far more connected than him now."

"Yeah, he's not stupid," JungMin shook his head at the geckos. "Did we have any other loose ends to tie up? While we're here?" 

"No, I think they were getting fueled up while we were out playing, but I think that was it," YoungSaeng said, looking up at JungMin. "On to the border I guess."

"Yeah," JungMin nodded, sighing softly as he looped one arm around YoungSaeng's shoulders. "It's gonna be so boring around without you." 

"Oh, I'm sure HyungJoon will keep you on your toes, and you'll be so busy with dealing with faction leaders acting like children that you probably won't even miss me," YoungSaeng chuckled, leaning into him a little.

"Yes I will, who else is gonna stop me from bashing all their heads in?" JungMin snorted, smiling down at the older man. 

"I think you've been doing very well on keeping your temper lately," YoungSaeng mused, climbing up the stairs to the promenade. "Is HyungJoon having a calming influence?"

"How? I get so used to arguing with him that I'm calmer with everyone else?" JungMin asked in amusement, but there was a soft curl to his lips. 

"Possibly, but you don't argue with him nearly as often, or as dramatically," YoungSaeng said, poking him in the side. "You're like a domesticated kitty now."

"I am not," JungMin sniffed. "You can't domesticate a jaguar. If anyone's domesticated, it's you, with all your mushiness. You can't even be having sex all that often." 

YoungSaeng scowled up at JungMin, mock offended. "Is that what you think of me? That I'm sex crazed? My relationship with JongWoon is about far more than that, and it's all his mushiness rubbing off on me."

"You can't deny you like sex as often as you can get it though. Listen to you, YoungSaeng talking about more than sex in a relationship," JungMin grinned, dancing out of range. "He's completely converted you!" 

"Yah, no one's converted me of anything, horseface," YoungSaeng swatted after him. "I happen to enjoy having a relationship, and I only liked getting sex as much as I could because it was something to do!"

"You're so defensive~, it's adorable," JungMin chortled, happily bouncing on ahead to keep out of range. 

"I take it back, I'm not going to miss you at all!" YoungSaeng shouted after him, arms crossed over his chest as he stomped his way through the promenade.

JungMin blew a loud raspberry back at him.

Back on the ship, JongWoon had suddenly doubled over laughing for apparently no reason, feeling the wave of irritation from YoungSaeng as well as the echo of his conversation with JungMin. 

JongWoon wasn't the only one laughing, though HyungJoon was doing a better job of hiding it, his hand covering his mouth. "What are they _doing_?" he managed to get out with a snicker.

"Uh....arguing? I think?" JongWoon tried to sit down on the nearest chair, missed, and landed on the floor. 

That did him in, the engineer not able to hold it in any longer and cracked up, falling out of his chair as well. "They're like... children," he wheezed, nearly crying in laughter.

"They're like brothers," JongWoon giggled at HyungJoon too now. "Brothers always annoying each othe—ow, did that hurt?" he started laughing all over again; JungMin had made the mistake of getting back in hitting range. 

"No, not as much as he's protesting it is," HyungJoon chuckled, sitting up. "I don't think my brother and I fought as much as those two do."

"I had a much more formal relationship with my little brother, so we didn't really fight either," JongWoon grinned, eyes unfocused as he listened in to what was happening to their boyfriends. "It's nice to see them goofing off though. It's like...they're taking the time they missed before to be kids , huh?" 

"Yeah, it does," HyungJoon nodded, glancing at JongWoon. "Does that mean we're the mature ones in our relationships?"

"That's kinda scary," JongWoon laughed, grinning at his best friend. 

"Let's just keep that to ourselves though," HyungJoon winced. "Good thing they're not paying a lot of attention to us right now."

"Yeah, they're doing a good job of distracting each other," JongWoon chuckled. "Aside from moments like this though, the bond's pretty cool...it makes me feel a lot better, knowing where he is and what's happening." Though it made the moments they had to be apart, like now, all the worse. He couldn't wait for YoungSaeng to be back on the ship, tracking the shifter's progress towards the docking bay anxiously. 

"It is cool... and I was kind of worried I wouldn't have like any privacy or anything," HyungJoon said, getting to his feet and holding his hands out to help JongWoon up. The group was getting close to the airlock and he wanted to go greet them in the cargo bay. "It's not that bad though, I kind of like having him in my head."

"Same," JongWoon took HyungJoon's hands happily, hopping up to his feet. "It's...reassuring. And we do have our privacy, or at least I do, YoungSaeng doesn't pry much." 

"Lucky," HyungJoon snorted, heading towards the door. "JungMin and I don't have a whole lot of privacy... wait, does that mean _you_ pry?"

"No!" JongWoon protested, turning pink as he followed after HyungJoon, swatting at his arm. "At least, not on purpose, sometimes I see things without meaning to..." 

"Oh? Like what?" HyungJoon perked up, ignoring the swat. "Come on, he's so mysterious all the time, what are some of YoungSaeng's secrets."

"Not telling anything," JongWoon pouted as he walked out past HyungJoon. "Go ask JungMin, you'll be able to see anything he thinks of anyways." 

"You're no fun," HyungJoon pouted, following after him. He would definitely make sure to ask JungMin. When they had reached the hatch to the cargo bay, the airlock was opening and the geckos were scrambling through, dragging RyeoWook with. "I guess it went okay, since we're not making a run for it?" he called down to the shifters when they came through.

Looking up, YoungSaeng smiled at JongWoon. "It went splendidly," he said, crouching and jumping into the air. The black crow winged it's way up to the catwalk, landing on the railing and clacking its beak at JongWoon.

Yelping lightly when he had to duck back to avoid being whacked by a black wing, JongWoon blinked at YoungSaeng before grinning widely, laughing. "What, like this?" He did what the shifter had asked him to do, holding his arm out away from his body.

Heading towards the stairs, JungMin snorted at them, still rubbing his head after being thwacked multiple times. "Show-off." 

The bird's feather's fluffed up and he flapped his wings irritably at JungMin before hopping over to stand on JongWoon's arm. _Do I need to ask if you were listening?_ he asked through the bond, nipping a little at his shirt.

"I'm really glad we don't feel that much pain through the bond," HyungJoon said, shaking his head a little at JungMin.

"J...Just a little," JongWoon turned bright red at YoungSaeng's question. "Well, trying to. Then you both got really noisy and we didn't have much of a choice but to listen." JungMin took the stairs three at a time to land on the cat walk next to them.

"They were laughing at you," Daniel called as he walked by the hatch. JungMin grabbed HyungJoon in a playful headlock. 

HyungJoon shrieked, flailing his arms. "Let me go you big bully! What was I supposed to do, not laugh? It was funny!"

 _You and I should talk in private_ , YoungSaeng cocked his head, one beady eye looking up at JongWoon.

"Uh...okay," JongWoon blinked, nodding. He wasn't in trouble, was he? "We'll see you two later," he waved at HyungJoon and JungMin, the latter not relinquishing his grip, before heading towards the hatch. He was careful not to bring YoungSaeng too close to the walls, keeping his arm close to his chest. "So HeeChul gave the geckos a clean slate?" 

_Yes, he won't be going after the geckos, or us for that matter_. YoungSaeng hopped up onto JongWoon's shoulder, careful not to hit him in the head with his wings. _When we left, he was actually in a good mood._

"Always a good thing," the negotiator chuckled, glancing at YoungSaeng beside him. The crow's feathers tickled his cheek. "Your feathers are soft, it's a pity there's not much room to fly here." 

_Not for a bird my size, maybe a sparrow, but sparrows are stupid birds._ His feathers ruffled a little and he pecked at the side of JongWoon's head affectionately.

Squawking, JongWoon ducked a little, careful not to dislodge the bird from his shoulder. "A sparrow would be a little easier to fit on my shoulder," he laughed, smiling widely. He enjoyed seeing YoungSaeng in different forms, and thought he looked adorable as a bird. 

_Maybe another time._ YoungSaeng was laughing inwardly, clearly amused at the idea of shifting into a sparrow.

Chuckling, JongWoon turned into their room, closing the door behind him. He went to sit down on the bed, not jostling YoungSaeng. "Is it really hard to learn so many different shapes?" 

Hopping down off JongWoon's shoulder onto the bed, YoungSaeng shifted into his human form, settling comfortably on the bed. "No, it's not hard, we have cell memory so once we learn the form we don't forget it. Just some forms are more complicated than others."

"Cool," JongWoon grinned, shuffling on the bed to face YoungSaeng properly. "Well...what did you want to talk about?" No point trying to avoid it. 

"Well, something I should have talked about to you before we went to go see HeeChul," YoungSaeng said, leaning back against the wall. "You've been through some of my memories, but what do you know of my past relationship with HeeChul?"

Blinking repeatedly, JongWoon rested back on his hands. "Uh...not much? I mean, you guys went to him for information sometimes, right?" 

"Yes, he was a very valuable contact," YoungSaeng nodded, bringing his knees up to his chest. "And often times we had to pay for our information with something other than money."

"Other than money?" JongWoon looked at him confused. "With weapons? Or was he asking for a human even then?" 

"No..." YoungSaeng sighed, looking down at his hands, tapping at his kneecaps. "....I was his payment."

"...You?" JongWoon remained confused for a moment, before he realized through the bond what YoungSaeng was thinking of, and what he meant. The human's eyes widened in shock. "...Did he...want that payment again?" he asked quietly, a twisting feeling in his stomach. 

YoungSaeng nodded, looking up at JongWoon. "He did, but nothing happened. I made it clear that that wasn't happening. I should have spoken to you about it before, but I guess I didn't really think that he would expect that kind of thing again."

Nodding slowly in understanding, JongWoon scooted a little closer on the bed. "I'm glad nothing happened," he smiled a little. "Not that I think you would have done anything, but that I'm glad he...didn't insist." 

"If he had, we probably would have had to run again," YoungSaeng said, holding a hand out towards him. "But he was in a good mood, and was more amused by the fact that I was in a relationship than anything."

"It's that big of a shocker?" JongWoon chuckled, happily taking YoungSaeng's hand and crawling up to join him at the head of the bed, wrapping his arm around YoungSaeng's waist. 

"I guess so... even JungMin has poked fun at me for it," YoungSaeng said, his lips quirked slightly. "My past... it doesn't bother you, does it? I mean, I've been with many people, in various forms."

Tilting his head slightly to one side, the human burrowed against his boyfriend. "Well...if I think about it too hard, or look at those memories, it bothers me a little, but it's in the past. So it doesn't effect now, right?" 

"Right," YoungSaeng nodded, kissing the side of JongWoon's head. "It's in the past, and I don't like to think about it much, so you shouldn't either. From now on, fresh start."

"I like that idea," JongWoon brightened, tilting his head to kiss him back. "Well, completely fresh start after this mess with the Federation is sorted out." 

"Sounds good to me," YoungSaeng smiled into the kiss, wrapping both arms around JongWoon's waist. "Maybe we can give ourselves a little head start."

"Right," JongWoon chuckled, arms settling around YoungSaeng's neck. "I love you Saeng, I'm so happy I can share my life with you." 

"I love you too," YoungSaeng murmured, pulling JongWoon a little closer. "Even if you are turning me mushy." He leaned in, pressing his lips to JongWoon's in a firm kiss.

About to protest, JongWoon was cut off by the kiss, tightening his grip a little as he returned the kiss, tilting his head to the side and leaning into YoungSaeng. Mushy or not, he meant every word. 

*********************70

"How much farther?" HyungJoon was hovering anxiously behind KyuJong's chair again, the engineer bouncing a little on the balls of his feet.

"Ten minutes, if that," KyuJong sighed, leering over his shoulder but not saying anything about HyungJoon bothering him. Everyone was anxious with approaching the border since half were staying, and half were leaving. They had all grown so close over the past few months, and the idea of any of them not being on _Proteus_ was hard to think about. "All your stuff is packed and ready to go right? I don't want to be sitting around waiting for someone to be trying to find their toothbrush."

"We're ready," JongWoon nodded from where he was sitting in the back of the bridge, holding onto YoungSaeng's hand. "So is Daniel and GyuRi."

"We're done too, not much to pack," KyuHyun snorted, standing at navigation and keeping an eye for approaching ships. "So, is this ship YunHo's getting us gonna meet us at the border?"

"That was the plan, they might be there already," HyunJoong nodded. 

"Remember to tell YunHo about our deal with HeeChul, because I do not want him coming after us because you have the memory of a goldfish," YoungSaeng said, glancing at JungMin. "He's probably not going to give us much time to do so."

"Hey, I will tell him!" JungMin huffed.

"We'll make sure he doesn't forget," SungMin piped up from his spot sitting on the table. Even the anthro was depressed about half the crew leaving, ears drooped. 

"I trust you will," YoungSaeng smiled, reaching over and patting JungMin's arm. "I'm just covering all our bases."

"I've got... two ships coming up on sensors," KyuJong said, sighing a little. "Huh... I think I like YunHo a little more now." He glanced at HyunJoong, smiling a little. "One of them is _Pandora_."

"Oh, really?" HyunJoong's lips curled, going to stand behind KyuJong, looking over his shoulder. "Wonder if he knew it was your ship," he chuckled, squeezing KyuJong's shoulders lightly before sliding into his seat.

"And the other ship?" JongWoon asked, head tilted. "YunHo?" 

"Don't know, I'll try hailing them," KyuJong said, leaning over to communications and attempted to make contact.

"I doubt it, he's got a lot of things to take care of right now," YoungSaeng said, slowly getting to his feet. "How soon until we dock?"

"Just a few minutes, by the time you get to the cargo bay I'm sure we'll be docked," KyuJong said, glancing up at HyunJoong. "I want to see her."

Looking back at his boyfriend, HyunJoong smiled and nodded. "Let's go say hello then," he replied, looking over his shoulder as the others started to filter out of the room, heading towards the cargo bay. "Let's get docked, then we'll join them?" 

Smiling happily, KyuJong turned back to the controls and started the docking procedure. The other ship answered the hail, and as YoungSaeng had thought, YunHo wasn't on board. When they had finished docking, the captain of the other ship bid them good luck and departed for Valis space, leaving the crew of the Proteus to say their goodbyes.

Turning around, KyuJong got to his feet and nearly bounced over to the door. "Come on, let's go, let's go."

"We're going, we're going," HyunJoong laughed, amused and glad to see KyuJong so excited. Standing, he followed KyuJong to the door and out into the hallway. "At least you know your ship is in good hands now, huh? And you'll definitely see her again." 

"Yeah... and I know they'll take good care of her," KyuJong breathed happily, taking HyunJoong's hand and swinging it as they walked. "You know, this could be the startings of your very own fleet."

"What use would I have with a fleet though," HyunJoong chuckled, looking down at KyuJong as they walked. "Once they're back here, and we're all together again...you know, that ship could be yours again." 

"And what would I need with her?" KyuJong asked, squeezing HyunJoong's hand. "My home is here Hyun, with you. _Pandora_ is my past, this is my future."

Smiling softly, HyunJoong ducked his head to kiss his boyfriend lightly. "Just wanted to make sure. At least this way, we can keep an eye on her and make sure she's taken care of." 

"Yup, and don't discount the idea of having a fleet, if you ever want to get into the transport business again you could make some good money," KyuJong replied, returning the kiss.

When they reached the cargo bay, everyone was waiting outside the airlock, YoungSaeng having waited for the captain and pilot before letting anyone go through to the other ship.

"I thought it would be better if KyuJong went on first," the shifter said, his arm around JongWoon's waist.

"Hopefully JaeJoong didn't mess it up too much," HyungJoon said, leaning against JungMin.

"Guess we're about to find out," JungMin nodded, arm draped around HyungJoon as he watched KyuJong and HyunJoong approach the closed airlock.

Stopping at the airlock, HyunJoong unlocked it before turning to KyuJong with a small smile, stepping back. "Well, after you, Kyu." 

"Seems like a lifetime ago since I last saw her," KyuJong said, taking a deep breath before he leaned over and opened the airlock. The doors opened slowly with a hiss, and with a small smile, he stepped over onto the _Pandora_.

It was like stepping back in time, nothing had changed as far as he could tell. The airlock emptied out into a corridor that led to the waiting area for the passengers. Looking behind him, he motioned HyunJoong to come with him, holding out his hand. "Come with me?"

Nodding, HyunJoong's lips remained curved into a smile as he stepped forward to take KyuJong's hand, letting the younger man bring him onto the ship he'd grown up in. Not many people could understand what it felt like, but HyunJoong had spent his whole life in space just as KyuJong had, and knew how important this was for his boyfriend. "Right beside you." 

Lacing his fingers with his boyfriends, KyuJong pulled him down the corridor, taking a turn and disappearing from view from the others still on the _Proteus_. YoungSaeng chuckled softly, picking up JongWoon's bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "Well I guess he's excited. Let's go see our new ship?"

"Yeah," JongWoon nodded, both excited and sad at the same time. "Does this mean you're our Captain now?" He bounced to the airlock.

"Saeng, Captain?" JungMin grinned widely at that. 

"No, I'm not an officer," YoungSaeng shook his head, following JongWoon to the airlock. "If we're going by rank, JongWoon would be the highest ranking on board. So I think he's Captain."

"You might want to rethink that idea," HyungJoon chuckled, shaking his head a little. "Don't let him pilot at least or you'll crash into some moon somewhere."

JongWoon pouted at HyungJoon, but silently agreed with his friend. "I think KyuHyun would be able to pilot, no? He's navigator at least. And you don't want me to be Captain either."

"I can pilot," KyuHyun nodded, watching them go from where he was with RyeoWook and Zhou Mi. "Guess we can claim a room now," he pulled the other two towards the hatch. 

"Let's go do the same, or we might not get a good one," YoungSaeng murmured to JongWoon, kissing his cheek. "And I _do_ want you to be Captain, I think you would be the best at it. Have confidence."

"Let's go see where the captain and KyuJong got to," HyungJoon said, tugging on JungMin's arm into the hatch after Daniel and GyuRi went in just behind the geckos.

"Yup, let's go," JungMin followed when his arm was pulled. "The Captain was also saying he wanted us to take a look at the engine, huh? To make sure the ship's in good condition."

"You think way too much of me," JongWoon flushed, taking YoungSaeng's hand and slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Let's find a room first, and worry about who's gonna be Captain after." 

"As you wish," YoungSaeng chuckled, following JongWoon into the ship. The ships layout was easy enough to figure out, the corridor branching out going to the bow and aft respectively. When they turned to go to the bow, they could see the others opening doors and peeking in or going up one of the stairways to the upper decks. KyuJong and HyunJoong were at the far end of the corridor, the pilot calling down to them. 

"Quarters are on the upper decks," the pilot said, pointing upward. He turned to HyunJoong, absolutely giddy. "Which do you want to see first, my room, or the bridge?"

HyunJoong couldn't help but laugh at the expression on KyuJong's face, still holding his boyfriend's hand. "Hmm...why not see your room first?" KyuJong's enthusiasm was catching. 

"Okay," KyuJong grinned, turning and pulling HyunJoong further down the hallway. "My quarters was with my parents room in the crew section of the ship. The passenger quarters were supposed to be nicer, but I think I had the best room onboard." Taking a small flight of stairs down to a sublevel under the main deck, they took a couple of turns before stopping in front of a hatch. "Doesn't seem like they used these rooms at all," he said, slowly opening up the door and looking in. 

He could have cried right there, everything was just as he remembered. His small bed, the built in dresser and shelf along the wall. But what made the room so important to KyuJong was the large turret style window. "Oh... Hyun," he breathed softly, stepping into the room.

HyunJoong's smile widened as he followed KyuJong inside, looking around. He could easily picture a younger KyuJong in here, staring out the window into space. "What a view," he chuckled, following KyuJong's gaze around the room. "It's amazing..." 

KyuJong had already climbed into the window and sat down, looking out. "If I wasn't on the bridge, I was here," he said, hugging his knees. "It was like I was floating out in the middle of space. Even after my parents died, I chose to stay in this room instead of there's, even though it's much bigger."

"I can see why." HyunJoong stepped over to the window, looking out from behind KyuJong. After a moment he sat down on the ledge beside him. "You miss it, don't you." 

Leaning against him, KyuJong frowned slightly, resting his head on HyunJoong's shoulder. "I do," he admitted quietly. "But I think I just miss my parents, not the ship. This will always feel a little bit like home, but my home is with you now."

Wrapping his arm loosely around KyuJong's waist, HyunJoong looked out at the stars. "No matter where you are, you'll still be able to see this," he murmured into KyuJong's ear, motioning to outside the window. "So you'll always be home, in a way." 

KyuJong tilted his head to look up at HyunJoong, smiling softly at him. "Yeah... you're right," he said quietly. "Thank you, you know just how to ground me."

"I'm not really doing anything," HyunJoong chuckled, kissing his lips softly. "I'm glad you got this chance to be here again." 

"Me too," KyuJong nodded, closing his eyes and taking a breath. "Okay, we should go, you had stuff you wanted to check on and I want to look at the bridge."

"Okay," HyunJoong nodded, kissing KyuJong's forehead before slowly disentangling himself from his boyfriend, standing. "Maybe I should have a window like this built on the _Proteus_ , it's a good idea." 

Getting to his feet, KyuJong chuckled, looking out the window again before turning to the door. "Well, I wouldn't say no to that. Maybe one of the bigger quarters too?"

"If you want," HyunJoong smiled, wrapping one arm loosely around KyuJong's waist. "My quarters isn't good enough?" He chuckled. 

"It's fine, I just thought with you being the captain and all you'd have the nicest room on the ship," KyuJong said, leaning into him a little as they left the room. He took one more glance over his shoulder as they left, heading towards the bridge.

"It's an old cargo ship, none of the rooms are particularly nice, you have to cut her some slack," HyunJoong laughed, looking around as they walked. "Guess another ship makeover's in order." 

"You don't have to change her at all Hyun, I think she's perfect just the way she is," KyuJong said, stopping when they reached the stairs and looking up at him. "Even if my ship is nicer."

"Yah," HyunJoong chuckled, tweaking KyuJong's nose. "We'll see how she looks when she's the same age as my grandmother ship." 

"I don't think either of us will live that long," KyuJong said, leaning in to give him a peck on the lips. "Come on, we've got the whole ship to see still." Wiggling out of HyunJoong's arms, KyuJong went up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

"Yes yes, wait up," HyunJoong laughed, following after him. "She looks in great shape though, everything considering." 

"She's in a great shape, I was worried she'd be rusting in some junkyard somewhere," KyuJong said when HyunJoong joined him on the landing. "I don't think JaeJoong did anything too bad to her, not that I can tell. I'm sure HyungJoon's checking the engines out just to be sure."

"I told him and JungMin to, whenever he stops gawking at the machines," HyunJoong nodded, continuing along the corridor with KyuJong. "We should probably take a look at the logs as well to be sure." 

"Just how long were you planning on taking for this inspection?" KyuJong asked, his lips quirked.

"As long as we need to be sure," HyunJoong chuckled, shaking his head. "I'm not sending half my crew off without being sure," he kissed KyuJong's temple. 

"And not just because you don't want to let them go, right?" KyuJong teased, poking HyunJoong in the side.

"Well, I might have ulterior motives there," the Captain pursed his lips a little sadly, nudging KyuJong back. "I know I'll have to let them go eventually though." 

"I know, but at least it won't be for forever, right? They'll be back, even if it takes a while," KyuJong said, a little distracted as he looked around.

"They will be," HyunJoong nodded, smiling at KyuJong's distraction and returning his gaze to their surroundings. "We must be close to the bridge now?" 

"Yup, just a little further," KyuJong nodded, picking up his pace and pulling HyunJoong down to the hatch at the end. Opening it up, he peeked inside, smiling widely. "This is where I learned to fly," he said, opening the hatch wider and moving in, sitting down slowly in the pilot's chair.

HyunJoong looked around the bridge, much newer than the one on the _Proteus_. The large windows stretched out from floor to ceiling in front of them gave a perfect view of the stars.

Chuckling to himself, knowing where KyuJong got his love for stargazing from, HyunJoong just watched his boyfriend for a long moment, lips curled into a soft smile. 

Hands settling on the controls, KyuJong bit back tears that were starting to form. It was surreal being back on board, so many memories overwhelming him. "When I was little, I had my whole life planned out," he said quietly, fingers brushing over the displays and consoles. "I'd grow up, fly, get married, have kids, and die on this ship. Live my whole life right here in this chair. Things just never work out the way you think they will."

"No, they don't," HyunJoong said quietly, stepping slowly over to the chair. He brushed one hand lightly over the back of the pilot's chair, watching KyuJong's fingers graze over the ship's controls. "Do you regret it?" 

KyuJong didn't respond right away, his fingers tightening on the steering column before he looked up at HyunJoong with a smile. "No, I don't regret any of it. I couldn't be happier with how my life has gone."

Smiling in return, HyunJoong bent down to kiss him softly before straightening. "I think your parents would be very proud of you," he murmured, squeezing KyuJong's shoulder. 

"I know, as long as I'm still alive, and still flying, they'd be proud of me," KyuJong nodded, smiling softly at him. "I'm not sure if they would have liked you though, especially at first."

"I can live with that," HyunJoong laughed quietly. They hadn't exactly seen eye-to-eye at first. "As long as you like me, that's enough for me." He stepped back and started walking around the bridge leisurely, looking at everything. 

KyuJong glanced back at him, watching him look around for a moment. Even if they hadn't gotten along at first, KyuJong wouldn't have given up being with HyunJoong, not even if his parents wouldn't have liked him. Turning back around, KyuJong checked over the controls, making sure it was working correctly.

The crew spent a few hours going over the mechanics of the ship, HyungJoon had fallen in love with the engine, latching onto it until JungMin had to pull him off. KyuJong was surprised at how well maintained the ship was, but he couldn't have been more pleased.

"I wouldn't trust any of them with the engine," HyungJoon said, sulking a little when they met back up on the bridge. "That engine is like a piece of art."

"I never got what you saw in engines being more than just a way to keep the ship moving," JongWoon chuckled, staying beside YoungSaeng. They'd came back onto the bridge shortly before HyungJoon and JungMin. "But the ship's very nice, Kyu."

"Definitely in much better shape than we were expecting," JungMin nodded. 

"She doesn't disappoint, that's for sure," KyuJong said, patting the console. "You got your rooms all picked out?"

"We did, I think we'll be very comfortable here," YoungSaeng nodded, running his hand up and down JongWoon's back lightly.

"We got a big room," JongWoon grinned widely, leaning against YoungSaeng.

Daniel walked into the room with GyuRi, lips quirked upwards. "I remember working on this model before, it's a very good ship. I guess we'll be leaving soon?"

"Whenever the geckos and RyeoWook show up, I think," HyunJoong nodded, saddened that it was time to say goodbye, for whoever knew how long.

"I'm just glad this ship will be in good hands," KyuJong said, getting slowly up out of the chair.

"We'll take good care of her, right Captain?" YoungSaeng mused, looking down at JongWoon and kissing the side of his head.

"I hope he's not going to be taking care of the engine too," HyungJoon said, looking at them with wide eyes.

JongWoon 'eeped' lightly, looking at YoungSaeng with wide eyes. "I still don't think I should be Captain. You'd do a much better job then I would!"

"You're fine for the job JongWoon," HyunJoong chuckled. "And Daniel can look after the engine, right?"

"Most definitely," Daniel chuckled. "And we have KyuHyun as pilot, not to mention GyuRi as nurse," he lightly played with a lock of the pixie's hair. "We'll be fine." 

"You're taking our cook though," KyuJong sighed, standing next to HyunJoong. "I really don't want to go back to cooking."

"Just don't let Xander cook again," HyungJoon shuddered. "Or SungMin. Between the fur and the weird black lumps, I lost my appetite that week."

"JungMin could try his hand at cooking," YoungSaeng suggested. "He needs something to keep him out of trouble."

"I can boil water, but that's about it," JungMin snorted. "And I am out of trouble! I haven't been in trouble, have I?" he pouted at HyungJoon. 

"Just with me, I don't think that counts," HyungJoon shrugged. "I guess we'll need to pick up a cook somewhere then or we might starve."

"I should have taught someone how to cook then," Zhou Mi said, stepping onto the bridge, his hand in RyeoWook's and pulling him along.

"We'll manage, we always have," HyunJoong chuckled, watching the geckos and RyeoWook come in.

JongWoon nodded, looking around the room before drawing in a breath and looking up at YoungSaeng, swallowing. "Well...I guess this is it?" 

"Guess so," YoungSaeng nodded, sighing a little. "We'll make sure to keep in contact Captain, as best we can. We'll probably have our messages sent out to YunHo since we won't know where you'll be."

"Likewise," HyunJoong nodded. "Be careful, all of you. We'll be listening for when you come back."

Lower lip quivering slightly, JongWoon separated himself from YoungSaeng to throw his arms around HyungJoon in a tight hug. 

HyungJoon put both arms around JongWoon's waist, burying his nose in the man's neck. He didn't even try keeping the tears back. This was his best friend and he wasn't going to be there to watch over him. "I'm going to miss you so much," he sniffled.

"I'll miss you too," JongWoon whispered, voice cracking as he clutched at the back of HyungJoon's shirt, squeezing his eyes tightly shut. "We'll be back, okay? For sure. Sh-should I kidnap your brother to bring back with us?" 

"No, he'd come willingly," HyungJoon shook his head, clinging even tighter. "Just let him know I'm okay, and I'll see him soon."

"I will," JongWoon sniffled, holding onto him for a long moment before slowly pulling back.

"You be safe, huh?" JungMin went up to YoungSaeng, lips curled into a sad smile. 

"Always am," YoungSaeng nodded, arms going around JungMin's waist and leaning into him. "You don't do anything stupid, horseface."

"I'm not the one going back into Federation territory, _you_ don't do anything stupid otter," JungMin snorted, hugging him back tightly. "Make sure everyone stays in one piece." 

"We'll be fine," YoungSaeng chuckled, pulling back a little to look up at him with a smile before leaning up and kissing JungMin's cheek. "Love you Min."

JungMin smiled widely, running his fingers through YoungSaeng's hair and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "Love you too Saengie, we'll see you again soon." He stepped away after a moment, lips curled slightly. 

While they had been saying their goodbyes, the others had been doing the same, and it took another few minutes for the two shifters to make their rounds. Finally, YoungSaeng turned to HyunJoong, the shifter sighing a little, smiling up at him. "Well Captain, it's been quite an adventure," he said, reaching out to take the man's hand. 

"It's not over yet," HyunJoong smiled in return, clasping YoungSaeng's hand and clapping his shoulder lightly. "It's been an honor having you on board, YoungSaeng 

"Thank you for having me, and us," YoungSaeng said. He frowned a little at the shoulder pat, pulling on HyunJoong's hand to pull him into a tight hug. They were beyond a friendly shoulder pat in his eyes.

Blinking, HyunJoong chuckled and returned the hug, arms wrapping around the younger man. "This is still your home, if you want it to be. There will always be a place on the _Proteus_ for you...all of you." 

"Thank you," YoungSaeng said softly. "That means a lot to us, you have no idea how much." Pulling back, he smiled again as he stepped out of the hug and stood next to JongWoon again. "We'll see you in a few months, I hope."

"I expect weekly messages," HyungJoon pouted at JongWoon, attached to JungMin again.

"Daily if we can manage it," JongWoon smiled at his best friend, wiping at the tears on his cheeks.

"Let's get going then," HyunJoong smiled at them all, squeezing KyuJong's hand lightly. 

"We'll see you guys," HyungJoon said, shuffling a little towards the door, lightly tugging on his arm. 

"Take care of my ship," KyuJong said, pointing at each of them in turn as they headed to the hatch.

"We will," YoungSaeng nodded, rubbing JongWoon's shoulder.

"I'll be back on the bridge in a few minutes so we can get clear of each other," KyuJong said, waving when they left the bridge.

The group walked down the halls back towards the stairs, JungMin's arm loosely around HyungJoon's shoulders, feeling his boyfriend's sadness.

 _We'll see them again,_ he murmured through the bond. 

"I know," HyungJoon replied quietly, sighing a little and trying not to look back. "I just thought we'd be flying together forever."

"A few months isn't the end of the world," JungMin pinched HyungJoon's side lightly, smiling at him. "You can still fly with him." 

HyungJoon squeaked, swatting at JungMin's hand and pouting at him. "I know, but still, you're going to miss Saeng too."

"Of course I am, but we're going to see them again, so I'll try not to be too sad," JungMin chuckled, pulling HyungJoon closer. 

"I'll be sad for both of us," HyungJoon said, grumbling a little. The walk back to the airlock was somber, and when the airlock door closed, KyuJong smiled sadly at the others as he headed towards the stairs.

HyunJoong followed him, hands in his pockets. It would take a bit for it to sink in that half the crew was leaving...but already the ship felt too empty. Watching them go, JungMin wrapped his arms around HyungJoon and perched his chin on the younger man's shoulder. "Come on, do you want to watch them go?" 

"...Yeah, I'd like that," HyungJoon nodded, sniffling a little and wiping at his eyes. "We can go watch from the mess hall," he said, looking over his shoulder at JungMin.

"Yeah, let's go then," JungMin smiled at him, ducking his head to kiss HyungJoon before pulling him towards the stairs.

Stepping onto the bridge, HyunJoong took up his seat, sighing softly as he looked at the other ship beside them. "Our next destination is entered in navigation, we ready to go Kyu?" he asked quietly, looking at his boyfriend. 

"Seems like it," KyuJong nodded, settling into his chair and tapping at the controls. "Releasing the docking clamps now... and getting clear of the _Pandora_ ," he said, a light smile on his lips at that. Scooting over to communication, he hailed the other ship one last time. "You're all set _Pandora_ , good luck."

" _Thank you, we'll see you all very soon_." YoungSaeng replied through the coms. With a soundless sigh, KyuJong watched as the other ship slowly moved away towards Federation space.

Watching them leave, HyunJoong didn't make any move to leave until the other ship was just a speck in the distance. Finally he sighed softly and turned to KyuJong. "Time for us to be on our way as well." 

KyuJong nodded, turning to navigation and setting the autopilot to take them back towards Valis space as they had planned. He pouted a little, scooting his chair over to HyunJoong and leaned his cheek on his boyfriend's shoulder. "I miss them already."

"So do I," HyunJoong sighed, wrapping his arm around KyuJong's waist. "It's going to be too quiet around here. I was getting used to having a full ship again." 

"Considering our penchant for picking up strays, I somehow doubt we'll be so empty for long," KyuJong said, resting his hand on HyunJoong's chest. "Won't be the same though, not even a little bit."

"No, it won't be," HyunJoong shook his head, looking down at his boyfriend. "But they'll be back. Even if it takes a while, they'll be back." 

"Yeah," KyuJong nodded, tilting his head and looking up at HyunJoong. "And what they're doing... will make the time apart worth it, for all of us."

"It will," HyunJoong nodded, kissing him softly. "So, is deep space how you imagined it to be, back when we were Federation civilians?" 

"Not even close," KyuJong shook his head, sliding out of his chair to crawl into HyunJoong's lap. "I thought it was just space full of pirates and aliens that would kill you as soon as look at you," he said, kissing HyunJoong again before laying his head on his boyfriend's chest. "Even if that is partially true, it's so much more too."

HyunJoong secured his arms around KyuJong, resting his cheek against the younger man's hair. "It is. There's so much happening out here, so much to do and see, I don't think we've even scraped the surface. It would be nice to be able to see more." 

"Yeah," KyuJong smiled, watching the stars through through the window. "And we get to see as much as we want, right?"

"Right," HyunJoong chuckled. "No one's going to stop us. Would you like doing that? Traveling around the galaxy?" 

"I would," KyuJong nodded. "I guess that's our small reward for everything we've been through. For now anyway. I still want that vacation somewhere."

"We'll have that vacation one day," HyunJoong kissed the top of KyuJong's head. "Promise. YunHo owes us that much." 

"I'm holding you to that promise," KyuJong said, nuzzling against HyunJoong, smiling softly. "You want to call Xander and SungMin up here to watch the bridge, maybe go over those makeover plans for our room?"

"We could do that," HyunJoong chuckled, stroking his thumb over KyuJong's cheek. "Are we going to get much actual planning done?" 

"We'll see, you can be very distracting," KyuJong mused, kissing HyunJoong's thumb before tilting his head up a little. "Did you ever think this would happen all those months ago? When you knocked on my door, looking for a little company?"

HyunJoong's lips curled as he looked down at KyuJong. "No, I never imagined it would end up like this. But I don't regret a second of the past months." 

"Me either," KyuJong smiled, shifting up a little to brush his lips over HyunJoong's. "I love you, so much," he whispered, silently thanking JungMin and YoungSaeng again for everything they had done for the crew.

Who knew that seven months ago, two very strange, quiet men found in their cargo shipment would change not only their own lives, but the course of the galaxy as a whole. They owed everything they had to the two aliens, and so much more.

"Love you too," HyunJoong murmured in return, kissing KyuJong back and closing his eyes. He had everything he'd ever wanted; his ship, his crew, and his boyfriend to share the stars with. From now on their lives were their own, and no one could control or limit their choices. They had the whole galaxy at their fingertips, and their whole lives to enjoy.

From JongWoon and YoungSaeng, finding themselves in such similar situations from opposite sides of the spectrum, and forming an important bond as they faced who they truly were together. They supported each other, no matter their past, and fell more in love with every day.

HyungJoon and JungMin, struggling for understanding so long it seemed impossible to fit together, only to finally find that love against all odds. There were no more secrets; they had learned how to communicate and while they did still argue on occasion, it seemed to just bring them even closer than before.

All the ragtag members of HyunJoong's new crew, a group he wouldn't give up for the world. The geckos, an underestimated species who were constantly treated like dirt until they found spots as equals on the _Proteus_. Xander, who terrified half the crew on his own but was loyal (if not more than a little quirky). SungMin, the miniature fuzzball who none of them would dare tick off despite the fact he looked about as dangerous as a talking teddy bear. GyuRi, the self-proclaimed 'princess' and dead-set on annoying half the ship, but had more than made up for it with her quick 'disposal' of JaeJoong. RyeoWook, a human spy and a ghost from JongWoon's past who had became a vital key in both the ceasefire and in the geckos' hearts.

His ship, the _Proteus_. His first ship, literally scrapped together from old cargo ship parts and about to fall apart at every turn. And yet it had held them through asteroid fields, enemy fire, and everything imaginable. The old girl would have to be put to rest eventually, but she still had a few more years of life in her, and HyunJoong wouldn't leave her to rust in a junkyard after everything she'd done for them.

Finally, there was KyuJong. His second half, and KyuJong would tease 'his better half'. The man who'd stuck by him even when he was broken by an old love, and put him back together again. He'd had his reservations about falling in love again, but he didn't regret how deeply he'd fallen for KyuJong. No matter what happened in the future, they could face it if they were together. And HyunJoong was never going to let the younger man go again.

They had the rest of their lives to explore the stars together. 

 

***************************epilogue

 

The airlock opened with a hiss, revealing the station corridor on the other side. An arm around his boyfriend's shoulder, YoungSaeng followed JongWoon off the ship and towards the promenade. The geckos scrambled out of the airlock behind them, chattering excitedly. YoungSaeng wondered not for the first time how RyeoWook could understand them when they got that excited, and they all had something to be excited about.

Following the twisting corridors around, they reached the stations outer docking ring where they had a small transport shuttle to take to their destination. Everyone settled inside the shuttle, the doors shut and slowly took off. "They couldn't have picked an easier place to get to," YoungSaeng sighed, pulling JongWoon down into his lap.

Yelping as he was dragged down, JongWoon leaned back against YoungSaeng, smiling widely. "Since when have we ever done anything the easy way," he laughed, half-turning in YoungSaeng's lap to hook one arm around his boyfriend's neck, kissing his cheek.

"Are the others already there?" RyeoWook asked from across the shuttle when he finally got a word over KyuHyun and Zhou Mi, peeking around Zhou Mi's shoulder at the other two.

"Yeah, well, they should have arrived this morning," JongWoon nodded, looking over at his friend. He could barely sit still, grinning widely and jittery. 

"Unless they completely made her over, I think I saw the _Proteus_ docked at the station," YoungSaeng said, running his hand up and down JongWoon's back. "It'll be good to see them again, and they're going to like our surprise," he said, smiling at JongWoon.

"They don't know?" Zhou Mi asked, glancing between them. "I thought you would have told them beforehand."

"We wanted to surprise them," YoungSaeng said, shrugging a little. "You think they'll be happy?"

"I hope so," JongWoon nodded enthusiastically. "I mean, even just the fact that we're here at all would make them happy, that's just the icing on the cake."

"It's been seven months, they better be happy to see us," KyuHyun snorted.

They'd lost JongWoon though, the human half-leaning out of YoungSaeng's lap and in danger of falling out of it to see outside the window. "Woah..." 

YoungSaeng glanced out the window, securing his grip on JongWoon's waist. One of the suns was setting on the horizon, the sky a brilliant mix of purple and red reflecting on the water planet's surface. "I told you you'd like this planet," he said softly, kissing his boyfriend's cheek.

"I can see why they chose this planet," Zhou Mi said, his tail curled around KyuHyun's. "Or rather, why GyuRi chose it."

"Did Daniel have any sort of say in this?" RyeoWook laughed.

"Doubt it," JongWoon replied, barely paying attention to the conversation as he looked across the planet. "Are we going underwater, then? Or is there an island somewhere?" Having grown up on a water planet himself, he could barely wait to land.

"Would KyuJong be fine underwater?" KyuHyun asked, glancing back at them. "He can't stand caves, underwater probably isn't all that different, no?" 

"There's a sort of resort set up, it's a floating station," YoungSaeng said, chuckling a little at JongWoon. "I don't think GyuRi would have wanted to go underwater either, most flying aliens don't like being underwater. So I'm sure KyuJong will be fine."

"We can still go in the water afterwards, right?" JongWoon asked wistfully. "It's not acidic?"

"Hyung, focus," RyeoWook chuckled. "We're just about there, daydream later." 

"It's not acidic, and they have shuttles we can take," YoungSaeng said, not minding how excited JongWoon was. "Ah, there it is," he shifted a little and pointed to the station they were approaching. It was like a small city had been dropped into the middle of the ocean. It being a resort station, there were tall hotels and viewing platforms, pools, trees and anything else vacationers could want.

"Nice place," Even KyuHyun was impressed, watching their approach to a docking platform at the city's edge.

The shuttle slowed as it approached the platform, engine humming as they landed. JongWoon climbed out of YoungSaeng's lap a little too early and landed on his rear when the shuttle gave one last jolt.

"Our nobility," KyuHyun snorted, getting up and pulling Zhou Mi and RyeoWook to the airlock. 

YoungSaeng sighed, shaking his head a little as he stood up, holding his hands out to help JongWoon back up to his feet. "I thought we'd worked on that. You don't want to get injured just minutes from seeing them again, do you?"

"Sorry, no I don't," JongWoon grinned sheepishly and taking YoungSaeng's hands to pull himself back to his feet. "Let's go, let's go!" He could barely contain his excitement, wanting to see the others again. "Think they're waiting outside? Or in the lobby?" He went to the airlock with the others as it was opened with a hiss. 

"Maybe, but unless they've been camped out here all day I doubt-" YoungSaeng started, only to be cut off when the door opened and something large flew into the shuttle, tackling JongWoon to the ground.

"JongWoon!" HyungJoon had his arms around JongWoon's waist, clinging tightly to him despite the fact that they had just fallen to the floor again. "I missed you, so much, so so so much."

Yelping loudly as his back hit the floor for the second time in twenty seconds, JongWoon blinked back stars before wrapping his arms tightly around the younger man. "HyungJoon! I missed you too, you're doing okay right? You've been safe?" he babbled, burying his face in HyungJoon's hair and refusing to let him up.

"Yah, otter!" JungMin jumped onto the shuttle, grinning widely as he pulled YoungSaeng into a tight hug. "You're still in one piece!"

The others waited outside the shuttle's doors for a chance to greet their missing crewmates, HyunJoong grinning widely beside KyuJong. SungMin had already playfully 'attacked' KyuHyun and the gecko retreated behind Zhou Mi and RyeoWook. 

YoungSaeng squeaked when he was enveloped in a hug, but his arms went around JungMin's neck, nearly jumping onto him in happiness. "Of course I'm in one piece, horseface," he said, squeezing JungMin's neck tightly.

"Let them off the shuttle at least," KyuJong chuckled softly, watching Zhou Mi chide SungMin for attacking KyuHyun, but the gecko looked happy to see them as well.

HyungJoon shifted a bit to look down at JongWoon, grinning. "Of course I've been safe, you weren't around for me to get into any trouble," he said, managing to get JongWoon to let go as he got up. "Come on, you guys are late, it's starting soon."

"Huh, we're running late?" JongWoon blinked owlishly, standing up once he was free. He didn't let HyungJoon get far, wrapping both arms around his best friend and keeping him close. "I thought we were early."

"No, we've got just enough time to get change into proper clothes and get there," HyunJoong chuckled, watching them. "The rest of us are waiting to say hi too, you know."

"Too bad, wait your turn," JungMin picked YoungSaeng up and spun him around. 

YoungSaeng shrieked when he was lifted up, holding on tightly to JungMin. "Put me down, horseface!" he laughed.

"You would have been early, but GyuRi got impatient," KyuJong said, glancing at HyunJoong with a shy smile. "I know the feeling."

"Know the feeling?" JongWoon blinked, looking around JungMin and YoungSaeng to the Captain and pilot.

HyunJoong just smiled, squeezing KyuJong's hand. "Well, are you all coming out of there or not?"

"Oh fine," JungMin huffed, not putting YoungSaeng down until he'd jumped out of the shuttle, depositing the shifter right in front of KyuJong and HyunJoong. Instantly YoungSaeng was pulled into another relieved hug.

Grinning widely, JongWoon pulled HyungJoon out as well, the shuttle airlock closing behind them. 

YoungSaeng couldn't help but laugh when he was pulled into another hug, returning it just as tightly. He smiled at KyuJong over the captain's shoulder. "Good to see you Captain," he said, pulling back after a moment to look up at him. "We can catch up afterwards, right? We need to get changed."

"I'll show you guys the rooms, they're fantastic!" HyungJoon said, taking JongWoon's hand and pulling him away from the airlock and down a corridor.

"I think your boyfriend's been kidnapped," HyunJoong chuckled, releasing YoungSaeng with a wide smile. "We have a lot to get caught up on."

"Let's get going then!" JungMin must have caught HyungJoon's enthusiasm, snatching YoungSaeng away and following after their boyfriends. The geckos and RyeoWook followed with SungMin and Xander, the whole group excited. 

There weren't that many people around, the resort still recovering from the war. The corridor emptied out into a large lobby. They took an elevator up to the third floor where they had several suites set aside for them. HyungJoon took JongWoon on a tour, showing his friend his and YoungSaeng's room, making sure he knew where everything was. Luckily, their bags had already arrived ahead of them.

"We'll be waiting downstairs in the lobby," KyuJong said, shooing everyone from YoungSaeng and JongWoon's room. "Geckos and RyeoWook, your room is down the hall. HyungJoon, let him go, you too JungMin."

"Fine," JungMin gave a long-suffering sigh. "Haven't seen you for months, and already have to leave." He messed up YoungSaeng's hair before separating HyungJoon from JongWoon, pulling him from the room. "We'll see you guys in the lobby!"

Watching the door close behind them, JongWoon grinned widely as he turned to YoungSaeng. "I think they were happy to see us." 

"I think so too," YoungSaeng chuckled, patting his hair back down. "Let's hurry up and get ready then, or GyuRi might kill us for making everyone late," he said, stealing a quick kiss before going to their bags and pulling out his clothes. "Maybe they won't be so clingy once we tell them our news."

"You kidding? It's going to be worse," JongWoon laughed, going to grab his clothes as well. "And I never thought all these formal things would come in handy," he shook his head, eyeing the suit he'd brought with him from home. It had needed to be refitted a little, but it worked. He'd also made sure the others had nice outfits too. 

"Well they came in very handy, and you look fantastic in them," YoungSaeng said, pulling his shirt off after laying out his clothes. "You might not need them as much now though, I bet you're happy about that."

"Yes, I've had enough meetings and debates for the rest of my life," JongWoon pouted, stripping quickly. _He_ knew how long it took to get into these stupid suits, and GyuRi would not be happy if they walked in late. "After this, I'm changing into a hoodie and jeans."

"Whatever you're comfortable with," YoungSaeng chuckled, buttoning up his shirt and pulling on his pants. "I think you look good either way. With your new job though, I don't think you're getting out of having meetings again." Sitting down on the bed, he pulled on his nice shoes, knowing if he showed up with his usual boots on GyuRi would kill him. Having spent the last few months in and out of meetings JongWoon, he had to have a nice wardrobe as well.

"Don't burst my bubble," JongWoon pouted more, straightening his cuffs and collar. "At least we get a break, right? So you don't have to worry about punching out thick-skulled politicians for a while." 

"We do get a break, and you're going from dealing with thick-skulled politicians to thick-skulled faction leaders," YoungSaeng reminded him, standing back up when he was finished dressed. "I'm not sure which is worse, though you probably don't have to worry about a bullet between the eyes in a senate meeting."

"That's why you're going with me for the meetings, right?" JongWoon grinned, smoothing down his suit and pulling on his nice shoes before going to YoungSaeng, fixing the shifter's collar for him. "You look great in suits too, by the way." 

"I look like a fool," YoungSaeng said, smirking wryly at his boyfriend. "And not nearly as handsome as you." Leaning forward, he pecked JongWoon on the lips before taking his hand and leading him towards the door. "Of course I'm going to meetings with you, and if I can manage it, JungMin and Xander and SungMin as well. You'll have a whole team of bodyguards."

"I don't need that many bodyguards," JongWoon protested, following YoungSaeng. "I'm not stepping on tails anymore. And you do not look like a fool. You look suave." 

"No, you're not stepping on tails, but you're human, and after the whole disaster with the Federation I'm not sure how friendly anyone is with humans right now," YoungSaeng said, his hand on JongWoon's back. "Save the flattery for later, otherwise we really won't make it in time."

"Oh fine," JongWoon pouted, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind them. "You're still getting the non-verbal flattery though, I can't exactly shut my mind off," he grinned back at YoungSaeng. 

YoungSaeng laughed, tweaking JongWoon's nose. "I would hope you'll focus on what we're here for, and not me," he said, starting down the hall. "But if it makes you feel better, I don't think I'll be able to keep my mind off you either. We are on vacation after all."

"A long-overdue vacation," JongWoon laughed, wrinkling his nose at the tweak. "We can actually relax!" They stopped outside the elevator, JongWoon once again distracted by the view of the ocean and the purple sky.

"You sure GyuRi picked this place herself, and you didn't have a hand in it somehow?" he chuckled, looking back at his boyfriend. 

"Well..." YoungSaeng smiled, glancing at him. "She asked me if I knew of any places, and I suggested this one among others. She wanted to go to her home world... but I think she still has a bounty on her head." The elevator door opened and they stepped inside. Before the door could close though, Zhou Mi was running down the hallway towards them, yelling to hold the elevator for them.

Pressing a button to stop the door from closing, JongWoon squished to the side so the two geckos and RyeoWook could step into the elevator. "I've never seen either of you dressed up fancy before," JongWoon chuckled, looking between the geckos. It had been hard trying to tailor a suit to fit their tails, especially since neither of them were keen on staying still for measurements. 

"It's weird," Zhou Mi said, squirming a little at the tightness of the shirt. "Why is this sort of thing so important anyway? We don't have this kind of thing."

"You'll wrinkle Mi, don't squirm," YoungSaeng chuckled softly. "It's weird for me too, but it's important to GyuRi, and that's all that matters."

"Guess her culture is closer to human culture?" JongWoon chuckled, glancing at RyeoWook. "This is pretty normal for us."

"Doesn't mean we like dressing up though," the tiny former spy smiled wryly, fixing Zhou Mi's shirt properly.

The elevator opened onto the lobby, the others waiting for them. JungMin looked just as uncomfortable in the suit as Zhou Mi and KyuHyun. "We all ready to go then?" 

"Looks like it," KyuJong nodded, pointing towards one of the doors. "We go through there I think."

"Let's go then," YoungSaeng smiled, taking JongWoon's hand and leading him towards where KyuJong had pointed. Through the doors was a hall, with signs pointing the way down to another set of doorways that led outside to a patio overlooking the ocean. Rows of chairs were set up facing the railing. "Oh..." YoungSaeng blinked a little. They weren't the only ones who had been invited it seemed. Looking over his shoulder at HyunJoong, he tilted his head. "Did you know YunHo was coming?"

"Hm?" HyunJoong looked around and spotted the bronze-skinned man talking with other aliens to one side. "No, I didn't know," HyunJoong chuckled. "Didn't even know he was free." It was good to see the Valis leader though, the past months had been far too hectic. They all needed a bit of down time.

"Looks like we're just in time," JungMin grinned as a man in white ushered the guests to their seats. "Come on, we got spots at the front," he pulled HyungJoon after him. 

HyungJoon yelped, nearly stumbling when he was pulled, YoungSaeng and JongWoon following behind. Settling down, YoungSaeng looked around, not recognizing some of the other guests. He turned to lean over to HyunJoong. "Did Daniel have family coming as well?"

"His father and sister I think," HyunJoong nodded. "And a few close friends."

"I remember his sister, she and GyuRi went shopping almost every week," JongWoon chuckled.

"Is Daniel broke yet?" JungMin snorted, settling down in a chair and picking at his cuffs. SungMin climbed up into the chair beside Xander; they'd had no choice but to find a kid's suit for the tiny anthro, he floated in everything else.

"Quiet, I think we're starting," RyeoWook whispered, hearing music. 

Turning a little in his seat, YoungSaeng smiled softly, leaning against JongWoon's back a little as he watched Daniel walk down the aisle between the chairs to stand at the railing of the patio. After a short pause, GyuRi hovered into view, giant bouquet of flowers in her hands as she took a moment to make sure everyone was looking at her before slowly flying towards Daniel.

Everyone's attention was on the pixie as she made her way to the railing. Even JungMin had to admit she looked gorgeous. Grinning widely, he watched Daniel offer one hand with a smile, his arm finally out of that sling from the torture he'd endured months ago. There was no sign of it now, other than a thin white scar that ran along his jaw. 

GyuRi handed off her bouquet off before taking Daniel's hand, the pixie's smile was demure, but YoungSaeng was sure she was screaming in excitement under that calm expression. She'd been planning this wedding for as long as YoungSaeng knew her, all it had needed was a change in grooms. 

The ceremony was simple, the two making their vows to each other in front of everyone that was important to them. YoungSaeng heard a couple sniffles, and was surprised to find even KyuJong was dabbing at his eyes a little. When the vows were completed, GyuRi launched herself into Daniel's arms, her tiny arms going around his neck and kissing him firmly.

Everyone started cheering for them, Daniel holding her up as he kissed her back. JungMin clapped and whistled along with them, grinning from ear to ear. He'd had his doubts about GyuRi's new choice in groom at first, but Daniel knew how to take care of her. He treated her like a princess, while somehow managing to keep her head from getting too inflated.

GyuRi was like a sister to JungMin, and seeing her this happy was well worth the years of being nagged on wedding plans.

YoungSaeng clapped as well, watching with a smile. GyuRi looked as pleased as a kitten, breaking off the kiss to look at the crowd with a wide grin. This was probably going to be the best day of her life since she was the absolute center of attention. She motioned to get her bouquet back, holding it one hand before lobbing it at the crowd.

Shrieking, HyungJoon ducked out of the way as the bouquet sailed towards his head, only to land in KyuJong's lap.

Laughing loudly, HyunJoong grinned at his boyfriend as everyone started cheering again, kissing KyuJong on the cheek.

"She's going to be so spoiled," JungMin chuckled, watching Daniel carry his new bride down the few steps to their friends. GyuRi had finally gotten her wedding. 

"I think she's okay with that," HyungJoon said. The pixie was absolutely glowing, and it wasn't just because she was the center of attention, HyungJoon could tell by the way she kept looking at Daniel that it was more than that. GyuRi really was very happy with Daniel. HyungJoon leaned a little against JungMin, smiling softly at him. "Not having any second thoughts are you, about you and GyuRi? You would have looked good together."

"No we wouldn't have," JungMin snorted, wrapping his arm around HyungJoon. "We'd be arguing worse than you and me. And I'm very happy with where I am now, thank you very much." 

"Me too," HyungJoon said, leaning up to kiss JungMin's cheek. With the ceremony having ended, people were starting to move around and mingle.

"What do you think, time to tell everyone the good news?" YoungSaeng murmured to JongWoon, an arm around his waist.

JongWoon tilted his head to look at YoungSaeng with a small smile. "Let's let GyuRi have her moment for a while longer," he chuckled. "We're not in any rush, right?"

"Does that mean we can get out of the monkey suits?" KyuHyun was already picking at his outfit again. RyeoWook patted his shoulder sympathetically. 

"It's not over yet," KyuJong chuckled, the bouquet cradled in his lap. "You can wait another hour KyuHyun."

"What are we doing now?" Zhou Mi asked, his feet tapping impatiently.

"Now is the reception," YoungSaeng said, watching some of the guests work their way back into the resort. "Which means food."

"Food?" KyuHyun perked up at that, standing up.

"Let's go see the not-so-blushing bride," JungMin grinned, taking HyungJoon's hand and pulling him up as well. 

The group followed the other guests and the happy couple back inside where a large array of food was already lain out. The geckos made a beeline for the food first, KyuJong chuckling softly at seeing GyuRi coming towards them.

"Oppa!" the pixie squealed, latching on to JungMin's neck. "Wasn't it beautiful Oppa?"

JungMin laughed, hugging her back lightly. "Yes, you were an angel. Congratulations, GyuRi. And you," he looked over her wings at Daniel, the human smiling behind her. "You take care of her, or a broken arm will be the least of your worries."

"Yes sir," Daniel chuckled, smile widening as HyunJoong came up to congratulate him, pulling him into a hug. 

Gyuri made her rounds, giving everyone a tight hug when JungMin let her go. Even Xander got a quick hug. "I'm so glad you could all make it, I was so worried you wouldn't be able to get away," she said, retreating to Daniel's arms when she had finished the rounds, looking to YoungSaeng and JongWoon.

"We wouldn't have missed it for anything," YoungSaeng said, smiling softly at her. "You're very important to all of us GyuRi, and Daniel."

"You kidding, nothing could have kept us away from here," JongWoon grinned at her. "So, when's the honeymoon?"

"We leave tomorrow, right?" Daniel smiled at GyuRi. "The shuttle's all booked."

"So we better keep you both busy the rest of the day, if you're disappearing on us tomorrow," JungMin chuckled. 

"I think we can do that," YoungSaeng nodded, laughing lightly at the pout that formed on GyuRi's lips. "And yes, you'll have him all to yourself tonight, we won't take up _that_ much of your night."

"I should hope not, I want to enjoy my vacation," KyuJong said, leaning up against HyunJoong.

"How long are we here for anyway?" HyungJoon asked, eyeing the food table with interest.

"However long we want? I want to see the ocean!" JongWoon kissed YoungSaeng's cheek before separating himself from his boyfriend, grabbing HyungJoon's hand. "Come on, let's go get some food before the geckos eat it all!" 

"Oh, okay," HyungJoon blinked, stumbling along after JongWoon, waving to JungMin.

"However long?" KyuJong asked, looking to YoungSaeng. "What does that mean? I thought you would have to get back right away."

"Maybe, maybe not," YoungSaeng shrugged, smiling coyly. "Let's go find a table to sit?"

"Let's do that," HyunJoong nodded, hand lightly between KyuJong's shoulder blades as he looked at YoungSaeng inquiringly. "Maybe, maybe not? You were able to get some time off?"

"If you all did get time off, that's fantastic, everyone needs some down time," JungMin said, hands behind his head. Daniel carried GyuRi off to greet other guests. 

"We can talk about it later I think," YoungSaeng nodded, moving towards a table for them to all sit at. "There's plenty of time."

"Alright," HyunJoong chuckled, going to the table as well and sitting down, pulling KyuJong down into his lap. "You all have been well though? It's been a long time since we've seen you, you look good." 

"I feel good, it's been a very interesting few months," YoungSaeng nodded, taking a seat and leaning back in his chair. "I'm not sure which was worse, dealing with the others, or the politicians. At least I could hit the others, not so much with the politicians."

"Unfortunately," JungMin snorted, dropping into a chair beside YoungSaeng and watching HyungJoon and JongWoon at the food table. "Talking with the others must have gone well though? I heard through the Shinbi that they were making progress in bringing them back home." 

"It wasn't pleasant at first, by any means," YoungSaeng said, sighing a little. "It took a good week or so before they actually believed me about what was going on. Some of them were just like YoungWoon and not wanting to go, others were curious. I had to reteach them the language basics, and the Shinbi will take over in their reeducation there. The good news is, is that they're already on their way to Shinbi space."

"That's good, we'll have to see what happens then," JungMin nodded. "See if they're able to rejoin the society over there. Some of them might not be able to, you know. YoungWoon for one, he's a lot more comfortable out here." 

"I know, but he was also the worst," YoungSaeng said, frowning slightly. "He wasn't given much time to accept the idea of going back home, but since I was able to work with the others, I think they'll be okay."

"We'll let the Shinbi worry about that for now," JungMin shrugged, glancing back at them. "And the Federation hasn't come out with their armies yet, so JongWoon must have done his job?"

"I'd think with the Shinbi around they'd be hesitant to throw their weight around anyways," HyunJoong chuckled. 

"JongWoon did his job very well," YoungSaeng smiled, glancing towards the food tables where JongWoon and HyungJoon were still picking things out to eat. "The government wasn't very pleased when they found out what the military had been doing without their knowledge. There's some reconstruction of the rankings going on at the moment."

"How could the government not have known?" KyuJong asked, one arm around HyunJoong's neck.

"The military always liked to play by their own rules, so it doesn't surprise me they were doing things that weren't exactly government backed," YoungSaeng chuckled. "But you will all be happy to know that there isn't any bounty on any of your heads, and nothing on your records about what happened."

"Joon will be happy," JungMin grinned. "He's been talking about visiting his brother."

"I wouldn't mind visiting home either," HyunJoong chuckled. "Though it'll still be a little different than before." He watched YoungSaeng's expression. "What about opening the borders to other races? You, GyuRi and the geckos seemed to get in and out fine, was there any problems?" 

"It's in the works," YoungSaeng nodded, tracing his fingers over the table. "The geckos were with RyeoWook, and he has enough family presence that the geckos weren't accept exactly, but it'll get there. GyuRi... well, you know how GyuRi is. If you don't like her, she'll make you like her, and I think she's got all of Daniel's men wrapped around her tiny little fingers."

"No surprise there," JungMin snorted. "What about you? Fitting in okay?"

JongWoon returned with HyungJoon in tow, dropping happily into the seat beside YoungSaeng. "Over half the table's seafood!" 

YoungSaeng had to laugh at that, patting JongWoon's shoulder. "Of course it is, it's probably all local too," he said, his attention turning back to JungMin. "Better than I thought I would have. It's amazing the difference in attitudes from former commanders when they no longer have that collar controller in their hands."

"Of course," JungMin rolled his eyes. He honestly didn't know how YoungSaeng was able to go back there and stand around those people who used to control them.

While his hatred for the entire human race had faded somewhat, he would always have a deep mistrust and anger towards them. There were the exceptions of course...HyungJoon, KyuJong, HyunJoong, JongWoon, RyeoWook...but he would never be able to put everything that had happened behind him completely.

"What are we talking about?" JongWoon blinked at YoungSaeng, offering him some of his findings. 

YoungSaeng politely declined the seafood, wrinkling his nose at it a little. He'd never acquired a taste for seafood. "We're talking about how well things went in Fed space, and how you performed marvelously."

"I would love to see you in action one day," HyungJoon said, already digging into his plate. "I bet you're awesome standing up to all those stupid politicians, huh?"

"He sure was," YoungSaeng smiled, kissing JongWoon's cheek.

JongWoon turned bright red. "N-not really. I had Saeng to stop me from tripping over my own feet," he chuckled, eating slowly. The time spent back home had helped him be more confident though, especially when it came to standing up to his father. "My little brother adores Saeng, he kept following him around asking to see different forms."

"That doesn't sound familiar at all," HyunJoong chuckled. 

"It was... kind of cute," YoungSaeng chuckled. "Though not as cute as when JongWoon does it."  
He glared over at Xander when the flesh eater made a retching noise. "Quiet you, you missed our mushiness."

"No, there's enough of that with those two," Xander said, pointing at KyuJong and HyunJoong.

"We're not that mushy," HyunJoong blinked at him, before looking at KyuJong. "Are we?"

"Yes you are," JungMin chirped, stealing a bite off of HyungJoon's plate. "You'd think HyunJoong's lap is the new pilot chair." 

KyuJong just shrugged, not bothered by that at all. "Not my fault if you have a problem with that, his lap is comfortable."

"A little too comfortable, considering how many times I've wanted to bleach my eyes after walking onto the bridge," HyungJoon said, shoulders up and his head down. "And we don't do that anymore so don't you even say anything!" he protested, cutting off whatever KyuJong was about to say.

"We can start up again, if you want to get back at them," JungMin grinned mischievously at HyungJoon.

"Maybe we should just stay on the _Pandora_ ," JongWoon gave YoungSaeng a pained look, not wanting to walk in on either couple. 

"Maybe you're right," YoungSaeng shook his head. "Which is kind of too bad, I missed our room."

KyuJong looked between YoungSaeng and JongWoon, his forehead furrowed in confusion. "Stay on _Pandora_? Wait.. does that mean...? You're staying?" he asked, smiling a little hopefully.

YoungSaeng looked to JongWoon, his lips pursed in thought. "What do you think, time to tell them?"

"Oh, oops," JongWoon blinked owlishly, realizing what had slipped from his mouth. "Well, I guess we should," he chuckled sheepishly, looking back at the others with a small smile. "We're finished arguing with politicians, whatever's left to settle, they can do it themselves." 

HyungJoon perked up, his mouth half open mid chew. "Mwhaf?" he sputtered, nearly choking.

"Really? You're staying?" KyuJong's smile grew wider. "That's fantastic! We've missed you so much. What about you and the geckos, RyeoWook? Are you staying too or do you have to go back?"

"We're staying too," RyeoWook nodded with a wide smile. "I'll probably have to go back home every now and then, I don't have an excuse to stay out here for long amounts of time."

"So we're coming back to the _Proteus_!" JongWoon beamed happily at HyungJoon. JungMin whooped loudly. 

HyungJoon was up out of his chair at that, coming around and nearly knocking JongWoon out of his seat. "Thank god, I have missed you so much!" he said, squeezing JongWoon tightly. "We need to have a movie night and stay up all night talk..." HyungJoon babbled away, not letting his friend go.

"Well I'm glad someone's excited," YoungSaeng laughed, watching them with an amused smile before he turned to JungMin. "I hope you missed me just as much."

"Of course I did," JungMin grinned widely, scooting over to pull the older shifter into a hug. "Don't you dare leave for that long again, you hear me?"

JongWoon yelped as he held onto HyungJoon to stop himself from falling over, laughing loudly and hugging HyungJoon back, grip tight. "We do, we can do all that several times over," he sniffled, grinning happily. "Our room's still free, right?" 

"Of course it is," HyungJoon nodded into JongWoon's shoulder. "We wouldn't let someone else take your room."

"What are we going to do about the _Pandora_ then?" KyuJong asked, looking to HyunJoong with a pout. "We're not just going to leave HER here, are we?"

"That's up for debate," HyunJoong frowned lightly. "We don't have a large enough crew to keep it on hand...YunHo would be able to find a spot for it for sure."

"They're going to be setting up ships to carry diplomats to and from Federation space and the faction spaces," JongWoon piped up. "The _Pandora_ could be a passenger ship if you want her to be, Kyu. She's your ship." 

KyuJong sighed a little, but nodded. That was probably the best solution they would come up with. He knew that they wouldn't be able to keep her maintained and no one wanted to be split up anymore. "As long as she's useful, that sounds okay. I want her for at least one last flight though, can I do that?"

"Of course you can," HyunJoong smiled at his boyfriend.

JongWoon nodded along. "The ship's here for whenever you want to take the flight," he smiled widely at KyuJong, still holding on to HyungJoon.

JungMin leaned back into his seat, grinning. "I'm still surprised they let you all go so easily. Would have thought they'd want to argue back and forth much longer than that." 

"Oh, they tried," YoungSaeng laughed. "JongWoon didn't give them that much of a choice though. He can be absolutely ruthless sometimes, and very persistent. In fact, he did such an impressive job, they made him an ambassador."

HyungJoon pulled back, looking at YoungSaeng first and then at JongWoon. " _Seriously?_ That's great JongWoon! You're like an important person now... well... _more_ important anyway, you've always been important to me."

JongWoon had gone from pink to red, pouting lightly as he clung to HyungJoon's arm. "Not that important, I just took the job that would make it easiest to come back out here."

"Ambassador is pretty important," HyunJoong chuckled, smiling widely. "But that's great news! And I guess that makes you his bodyguard?" he looked at YoungSaeng, eyes dancing as JongWoon protested that too. 

"Of course," YoungSaeng laughed. "Someone needs to make sure he doesn't step on another tail. Which brings up a question... how are relations with other races and humans faring out here?"

"Depends on who you ask," KyuJong frowned. "Some of Sylar are still pretty bitter about what happened."

"You probably won't have to worry about them though, Sylar isn't looking too good in the other faction's eyes right now, and their new leader is kind of a whiny baby," Xander said, sniffing at the floral centerpiece. "Whatever momentum them had crashed and burned, I doubt they'll last another year."

"They probably would be gone already if it weren't for the new treaty," SungMin piped up. "Someone would have bulldozed them over already."

"Other than Sylar, things are progressing smoothly," JungMin shrugged. "Well, as smoothly as you can expect it to go with the Shinbi sticking their fingers in everything, and some Federation ships venturing out of their own borders. It will be shaky for a while, but all things considered, no one's blown anyone else up yet so we're doing good." 

"Good, I was worried all our efforts with the humans would have been for nothing," YoungSaeng nodded. "Okay, enough business, how are all of you? What have we missed?"

"We've been good," KyuJong chuckled, waving down a waiter for a glass of wine. "Just working with Valis and the Shinbi, been pretty busy actually."

"Definitely," HyunJoong nodded, smiling at KyuJong. "Barely had time to rest at all. But we do have some news to share."

"Oh?" JongWoon perked up, looking between them. "What is it?"

"Why don't you show them?" HyunJoong murmured in KyuJong's ear. 

Everyone looked to KyuJong, the pilot blushing furiously and he nudged HyunJoong in the ribs. "Way to put me on the spot," he mumbled, though he was smiling. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled something out, fumbling with his fingers for a moment before he held up his hand, showing off the thin silver band.

"Pretty," Xander said, seeming oblivious to the reaction from the others. HyungJoon stared wide eyed at KyuJong, then at HyunJoong.

"Congrats," YoungSaeng smiled. "Are we too late for the ceremony?"

"Oh, that hasn't happened yet," KyuJong shook his head, looking down at the ring. "We didn't want to take away from GyuRi's day, but soon."

"Soon," HyunJoong nodded, smiling with one arm wrapped loosely around KyuJong's waist. "Now that we finally have time to plan for it."

"We didn't know about this," JungMin pouted at KyuJong. "How long were you hiding that from us?" 

"Hm.. about three months?" KyuJong cocked his head to the side. "Yeah, about three months. We wanted to keep it to ourselves until everyone was together again."

"Everyone and their secrets, eesh," HyungJoon shook his head, looking at JungMin. "Why don't you and I have anything to share with everyone, huh?"

"Cause we haven't done anything that needed to be a secret?" JungMin blinked at him.

"They're taking each other's heads off less, that counts for something," SungMin pointed out, JongWoon chuckling as he grinned at his best friend. 

"They're still loud as ever though, so maybe that's something they can keep secret," Xander said, earning a scowl from HyungJoon.

"Well I think we've all got things to celebrate," KyuJong said. "We're all together again, we're not on the run, and we're doing good things, all of us."

"And we'll be together for the foreseeable future," YoungSaeng nodded, pulling JongWoon closer. "Right?"

"Right!" JongWoon nodded happily, leaning against him. "And we finally have a vacation!"

"Finally," HyunJoong nodded, lips curled upwards. "We've got a few weeks of down time. Did you all want to stay on this planet, or was there anywhere you wanted to go while we're not following orders?" 

"Well I know JongWoon wants to stay here," YoungSaeng said, rubbing his hand up and down JongWoon's back.

"And I want to at least get a bit of time on _Pandora_ ," KyuJong said. "Plus I'd like to just relax here for a while, it's nice."

"When were you two thinking about having the wedding?" YoungSaeng asked, looking between KyuJong and HyunJoong. "If we're going to be here for a little while, why not here?"

"That wouldn't be a bad idea, but we'll have to talk about it," HyunJoong chuckled, running his hand along KyuJong's arm. "At the least we'll have to put some space between, GyuRi will be miffed if she's too busy on her honeymoon to be there." 

"That's true," KyuJong nodded, glancing over to where the pixie was hamming it up for her guests. "There's no real rush, and I think Hyun wanted his family there too."

"It would be nice to at least give them the option of coming," HyunJoong nodded. "Even better if my brother has actually shown up rather than stay MIA." He sipped a bit of his drink. "We should play a few games later; I miss watching you both drink yourselves under the table with one shot," he chuckled as he nodded towards the twins. 

HyungJoon pouted at that. "What, are we just free entertainment for you?" he huffed, poking at his plate. "Game does sound fun though, even without drinking."

"I won't miss GyuRi interrupting our game and knocking things over," KyuJong chuckled, patting HyunJoong's leg. "I'm hungry, let's go get food before the geckos eat it all."

"It's just less fun without the whole group there," HyunJoong laughed, shaking his head at HyungJoon before standing up. "I take it both the geckos like seafood."

"Apparently," RyeoWook craned his head to see where Zhou Mi and KyuHyun still were hovering around the food table, smiling.

HyunJoong followed KyuJong away from the table, RyeoWook excusing himself to get to where the geckos were. JungMin leaned back, looking between the other three with a wide grin. "This is great, can't believe you were able to get away from those sticky fingers finally. You don't have any more surprises for us, do you? Are you getting married too?"

JongWoon choked on a shrimp, coughing into a napkin. 

Patting JongWoon's back, YoungSaeng gave JungMin a wry look. "I don't think that's really necessary," he said. "JongWoon and I are closer than any two married people could be. Why would we need to go through with a ceremony?"

"I don't know, I just wanted to see him turn into a tomato," JungMin grinned widely. JongWoon threw a shrimp at him, still coughing as the redhead ducked. "Aw JongWoon, that's not very noble-like of you." The second shrimp smacked him in the face. 

YoungSaeng chuckled softly, shaking his head a little. "Oh, I have missed you Min," he said, preventing JongWoon from throwing anymore shellfish. "I'm surprised you haven't killed him by now HyungJoon."

"It's not like I haven't been tempted," HyungJoon sighed, looking at JungMin wryly as he continued to eat.

"I'm not that bad," JungMin sniffed, sulking at HyungJoon's reply with his arms folded across his chest. 

"You can be," HyungJoon said mildly, holding up a shrimp and trying to shove it into JungMin's mouth. "Open up."

"Am not," JungMin grumbled, though after a moment he opened his mouth to accept the offering.

"How have things been for you two?" JongWoon asked, blinking at them. He couldn't tell if JungMin was actually miffed at the comments or was just pretending to be. 

"Good," HyungJoon grinned at his friend. "Ignore him, he's just a little excited. He doesn't get mad at me nearly as often as he used to."

"Oh?" YoungSaeng perked a brow. "You two are finally getting along?"

"Most days," JungMin said after swallowing the shrimp, poking HyungJoon's side. "You're not saying _why_ I stopped getting mad at you," he stuck his tongue out at the younger man.

"Why do I have to? We get along, that's enough," HyungJoon countered, holding up another shrimp. "If you want to tell everything about our relationship then go ahead and tell them yourself."

"I didn't say tha—" JungMin was shut up by the shrimp being shoved into his mouth, flailing a little.

JongWoon chuckled at them both, smiling widely as he leaned against YoungSaeng. For all their bickering back and forth, they were committed to each other, that was as clear as day. 

KyuJong and HyunJoong returned not long later with plates of food, the geckos and RyeoWook joining them. As the night wore on, eventually even Daniel and GyuRi joined them when the rest of the guests had left. 

Having the entire crew sitting around the table again, talking and laughing, KyuJong smiled a little and leaned against HyunJoong. It was as if the amount of time they'd been separated was erased with a few drinks. He knew they probably wouldn't be all together forever, but he was content for the time being.

"Well I think it's time for bed," HyungJoon said, his words slightly slurred, having had one too many drinks.

"Yes, before you pass out at the table," HyunJoong chuckled, watching him. Even drinking without the games was beyond HyungJoon. They'd already lost JongWoon, the young nobleman half-asleep with his head on YoungSaeng's shoulder.

"And I think our bride and groom want their wedding night," KyuHyun snorted, smirking at GyuRi and Daniel. RyeoWook kicked him lightly under the table.

"Okay you, up," JungMin stood and hooked one hand under HyungJoon's arm. "You can stand, right?" 

HyungJoon wobbled a little, but he nodded. "Yeah, I can stand," he said, though he did lean onto JungMin. "Night guys."

"Night," KyuJong waved, the pilot having curled up in HyunJoong's lap and looked like he was going to pass out as well.

"See you in the morning," YoungSaeng said, his arm around JongWoon to keep him from falling over.

"Maybe I should have specified, stand _straight_ ," JungMin snorted, wrapping his arm around HyungJoon's waist to help him along towards the doors. "At least we've got a comfy bed here. That needs to be one of the ship's upgrades." Leaving the reception hall, he turned the younger man down the hallway. 

"Definitely," HyungJoon nodded, trying to stand up straight and not lean on JungMin. "If the Captain can make himself a bigger room with a big window, then we should at least ask for a nicer bed. Who knows how long we'll be on the ship for." At the elevators, he sagged against the wall, waiting for the elevator doors to open.

"I don't mind being on the ship though, and what would you do without an engine to fuss over?" JungMin chuckled, leaning against the wall beside him and waiting. "You'd start talking to a toolbox instead." 

HyungJoon snorted loudly at that. "I'm just saying... I thought you wanted to the normal life, on a planet somewhere? Did you not want to do that anymore?"

"I follow you wherever, if you want to settle somewhere, that's what we'll do," JungMin shrugged. "I told you that I'll give it a try."

He got antsy sometimes, now that there was a ceasefire and the worst they had to worry about were random pirate attacks (that hadn't been happening as often as they used to). Watching their backs was something he'd done his entire life, and sometimes it had him jumping at shadows. Getting used to not needing to worry as much would take a while, but he'd give it a try. 

"Well it's not like it'd have to be tomorrow or anything," HyungJoon said, looking towards the elevator door that opened. "I'm happy with what we got right now, but a new bed is definitely on the list." Pushing away from the wall, he stumbled into the elevator, pressing the button for their floor.

"Definitely," JungMin grinned, following him into the elevator and brushing one hand lightly against the small of the engineer's back. "You have a headache from all that alcohol?" 

"No, not yet," HyungJoon said, leaning against JungMin again. "You gonna make sure I don't get one?"

"Of course, it's uncomfortable for me too," JungMin chuckled, tilting his head to look at the human as the elevator moved. When it stopped and the doors open, he slid his arm down to HyungJoon's waist again, steering him out of the elevator. "Come on you, just about there, then you can pass out." 

"Why'd you let me drink so much?" HyungJoon whined, nearly tipping over onto his face when he tripped over his own feet. "I _hate_ being drunk." He waited for JungMin to unlock the door to their room, collapsing on the bed face first when he got close enough to it.

"Cause it's fun watching you? And you should know better if you don't like being drunk," JungMin snorted, kicking off his shoes and locking the door before sitting down next to the younger man. "Want me to help?" 

Rolling over onto his side, HyungJoon smiled dazedly up at JungMin. "Sure, I love it when you help."

Chuckling, JungMin shook his head at the younger man, pulling off HyungJoon's shoes and tossing them aside as he shifted into his real form. "Which part?" He leaned down and kissed HyungJoon, fingers brushing against the man's temples and melting into them a little to remove the ache of the alcohol while still leaving him pleasantly buzzed. It was a theory he'd tested out a few months ago when HyungJoon had been unbearably grouchy from a hangover. "Better?" he murmured against HyungJoon's lips. 

"Much," HyungJoon hummed into the kiss, wrapping his arms around JungMin's neck. "You're very handy to have around you know. Except now I'm a little buzzed, and you know what alcohol does to me." To emphasize his point, his hips rolled a little against JungMin.

Groaning a little, JungMin smirked and nipped at HyungJoon's lips. "You don't need the alcohol. So you're saying I better shift back, huh?" He played with HyungJoon's collar, glass fingers sliding over the human's soft skin. 

"No, you don't have to," HyungJoon smiled at the little nips, looking up at JungMin. " _I love you just like this,_ " he whispered through the bond.

Blinking down at him, JungMin's expression softened and he smiled widely, kissing HyungJoon back as he stretched out against the human, undoing HyungJoon's clothes. _I love you too,_ he answered, and that couldn't have been more true.

Yes, they did argue a lot, and they did occasionally tick each other off for real. But that was them, and each clash of personalities brought them closer in a way, as they gained even more insight into why the other acted as they did and how they thought. 

Despite their differences, the only thing that was shared between them through the bond, was love. No matter how angry they got, they never once let go of that love. To HyungJoon, everything about them being together was perfect, and he knew JungMin felt the same.

And just as it was shown to be effective in the relations between the different races of the galaxy, it all started with a bit of common ground.


End file.
